People/Characters Sentaro

1. (Legendary figure) Sentaro became terrified of dying, and tried to find hermits with the Elixir of Life. Failing this, he prayed ardently to Jofuku, the god of hermits, to attain eternal life. Jofuku sent him to the Land of Perpetual Life on the back of a paper crane. Sentaro was happy at first, but grew tired of eternal life, and set out to return home with the paper crane. He began to regret leaving, then the crane melted in a storm, and Sentaro was dropped into the sea and spotted by a hungry shark.

He awoke and realized that it was dream. A messenger from Jofuku appeared with a book of precepts, and told him to go home and live a better life. (Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki)