This is the oldest extant piece of literature in which Urashima appears, and 'Article 477 during the reign of Emperor Yuryaku' in the "Nihonshoki" contains only the beginning of the story, in which Urashima went to Mt. Horai.
現存文献で浦島子の登場する最古の事例であり『日本書紀』「雄略天皇二477年条」で、蓬莱山へ行ったという発端部分だけが記載されている。