10th Century Japanese science-fiction? Yes, please!
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, also known as Princess Kaguya , is a 10th century Japanese folktale. It is considered the oldest extant Japanese narrative and an early example of proto-science fiction. Specifically, it it is among the first texts of any culture assuming the Moon to be an inhabited world and describing travel between it and the Earth.
image: Kaguya-hime goes back to the Moon, c. 1650
It primarily details the life of a mysterious girl called Kaguya-hime, who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. She is said to be from Tsuki-no-Miyako (“The Capital of the Moon”) and has unusual hair that shines like the moon.
