STORY NOTES

My apologies. I am not doing my reference materials justice. I can blame this on the restrictions placed by the comic-book medium, conflicting sources, and my own inadequacies as a storyteller. I have skirted over a lot of important events, choosing to tell only those that directly pertain to the plot. I have even made up scenes to enhance the story. But, hopefully, these more detailed story notes will resolve at least some of the problems.

Dates in Japanese history (especially pre-history) are very confusing at times because they are established in reference to the ruler of that period. For example: The Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, translated by Basil H Chamberlain (Boston: C.E. Tuttle & Co., 1982) states that the eighth emperor, Kogen, died at age fifty-seven; however, according to The Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, translated by William G. Aston (Boston: C.E. Tuttle & Co., 1971), he ascended the throne at age fifty-nine and ruled for fifty-six years. One source places the story of Yamato-Dake as occurring in 110 B.C. while another has his father's reign as A.D. 71-130, having ascended the throne at the age of eighty-three.

There is no exact English equivalent to the word kami. Sometimes it's been translated as "god." However, ancestors can also be kami, and the government was once known as okami. I chose to translate it as "deity" or "divinity," though this is still inaccurate. According to The Kojiki, Japan has eight million good kami and ten million evil spirits.

A note of interest is that the number eight is sacred to the Japanese and is a recurring theme, much like how seven or forty bears significance to Christians.

Prologue 1 – Izanagi & Izanami

There are seven generations of deities leading up to the creation of the Japanese islands. I skipped over the earlier ones as they had nothing to do with the story. Indeed, they seemed to do little except come into being and pass on (die). However, if you're interested in a complete genealogy, I suggest The Kojiki or The Nihongi.

"The Heavenly Bridge" could either be the Milky Way or a rainbow. Some authorities take it to mean a real bridge called "The Heavenly Stairs," which is a natural breakwater running along several points of the Japanese coastline.

Izanagi and Izanami learned the art of lovemaking from watching a pair of wagtails. These waterbirds are still associated with this couple. Even the kami of scarecrows cannot frighten wagtails, a result of a blessing given to them.

Their first child was a leech-like creature, who at the age of three, could not stand upright and was set adrift in a reed boat. Again, for a detailed account of their children, I recommend the aforementioned books.

As Izanagi was being pursued by the Hags of Yomi, he stalled them by tearing off a vine wreath from his head and dropping it behind him. It turned into a bunch of grapes which the hags stopped to devour. He next cast his comb away and it turned into a grove of bamboo shoots which the hags ate. He fought the "eight thunders and fifteen-hundred warriors" with his sword until he reached the entrance to Yomi. He plucked three peaches from a tree and hurled them at his enemies, driving them back. The peach was rewarded with the title of "Great Divine Fruit." Izanagi emerged at Himuka on the island of Kyushu. He blocked the path to Yomi with a rock that would take a thousand men to move.

When Izanagi washed himself after his escape, he inaugurated the Shinto rite of purification practiced to this day.

Prologue 2 – Susano-o

Some sources refer to Susano-o as "The God of Storms," others as "The God of the Ocean" or as "The God of Force." He is associated with the province of Izumo on the coast of the Sea of Japan on Honshu Island. It is from there that he forested the coasts of Korea, taking hairs from his beard and turning them into trees.

He is often mischievous and, at times, downright evil.

On one rampage, he destroyed fields, filled irrigation ditches, tore out dikes, and spread excrement about the temples where the Festival of the First Fruits was being held. He then flayed a horse and threw it through the roof into the room where Amaterasu and her attendants were weaving. This so frightened the maids that they committed suicide by stabbing themselves with their shuttles. The terrified Sun Deity hid herself in a cave, blocking the entrance with a great boulder. Everything was plunged in darkness and the deities of pestilence overran the world. The Eight Hundred Deities made an eight-span mirror, strings of jewels, and cloth streamers and hung them from a sakaki tree. They had a riotous celebration outside the cave, and when the curious Amaterasu emerged to investigate the noise, she was dazzled by her reflection in the mirror. One of the kami seized her arm and drew her out of the cave, while others stretched a straw rope across the cave entrance preventing her retreat. She was then escorted to a new palace and light was restored to the world.

As punishment, the deities cut off Susano-o's mustache and beard and pulled out his fingernails and toenails. He was then expelled from Heaven.

Before he had gone too far, he met up with the Deity of Food and begged for something to eat. She offered a grand feast, but taken from her mouth, nose, and other parts of her body. Susano-o was outraged because he thought she was offering him filth and slew her. From her body was born rice, barley, millet, and bean seeds, as well as farm animals and grasses.

The scene in which Susano-o went off to look at the serpent himself was created from my own imagination, as I felt it was important the he see it with his own eyes and it made for a stronger story. In legend, Susano-o merely asks the couple the serpent's description: "His eyes are fiery and red like the winter cherry. He has but one body, with eight heads and eight tails. Moreover, on his body grows moss, together with the fir and cryptomeria of the forest. In his going, he covers eight valleys and eight hills, and upon his underside he is red and gory" [Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales, Grace James, New York: Avenel Books, 1987].

Susano-o presented the sword to Amaterasu. When she saw it, she exclaimed, "This is the sword that I lost at Takama-ga-hara ["Plain of the High Sky," a home of the heavenly deities] long ago!" [The Tale of the Heike, translated by Hiroshi Kitagawa and Bruce Tsuchida, Japan: University of Tokyo Press, 1975]. The blade became lodged in the serpent's tail and huge clouds would billow above the village, hence the name "Sword of the Village of the Clustering Clouds."

Prologue 3 – Yamato-Dake

Amaterasu's grandson, Ninigi, was sent to Earth with three treasures: a mirror, a jewel, and the sword. He fell in love with Ko-No-Hana, the princess who makes trees blossom. Her father had an elder daughter, Iha-Naga (Princess-Long-as-the-Rocks). Ninigi was given the choice of either daughter in marriage, but he remained true to the flower princess. Iha-Naga said, had he chosen her their offspring would have lived as long as the rocks, but now his children would bloom and fade as do blossoms. Ninigi's great grandson was Jimmu Tenno, the first emperor of Japan.

The Temple of Amaterasu in Ise is one of the oldest religious sites in Japan, but it is not more than twenty years old. It has been rebuilt every two decades, with a few exceptions, since about 4 B.C., using traditional methods. It is built of hinoki cypress (chamaecyparis obtusa). Early carpenters' tools did not include the cross-cut saw or plane, and these fragrant trees with their grain that runs straight along the length of the timber was ideal for their limited technology. There was also a great abundance of these trees. Ise is located on the southern coast of the island of Honshu.

Yamato-Dake was the youngest son of Emperor Keiko and the hero of numerous campaigns. Many of his victories, though, were the result of cunning, as well as strength – such as disguising himself as a beautiful woman to get close to the brigands of Kumaso or replacing the sword of the outlaw, Takeru, with a wooden imitation, then challenging him to a duel.

"Wo-Usu" was the birth name of this hero. He was given the name Yamato-Dake (Bravest of the Yamato) by one of the Kumaso bandits soon before the prince "ripped him up like a ripe melon and slew him."

Yamato-Dake was married to Princess Ototachibana, a faithful wife who followed him on all his campaigns. As a result, her skin became deeply tanned and her garments soiled and tattered. He met Princess Miyazu, a beauty with skin as delicate as cherry blossoms, and professed his love for her. He promised to one day return and make her his bride. Then he noticed Ototachibana had seen and heard everything. When Yamato-Dake and his entourage were crossing the straits of Kazusu, a great storm arose which threatened to capsize the boats. Ototachibana pleaded to the sea king to accept her life and deliver her husband safely to shore. Whereupon, she threw herself into the water. No sooner had she gone under when the storm abated and the clouds dispersed. Too late, Yamato-Dake realized what a treasure he had lost and remained loyal to Ototachibana's memory, forgetting Princess Miyazu.

The Yemishi that Yamato-Dake was to subjugate are the ancestors of the modern Ainu of Hokkaido Island. In earlier times, the Yemishi extended from the north down the eastern section of Japan, as far south as present-day Tokyo. The Yemishi appeared to have been a peaceful people and offered no resistance. In The Nihongi, they were called "kami of the country" and so were held in some respect by the Japanese. It should be noted that the people of Suruga were not Yemishi.

There are two versions of the story of how the hero was tricked onto the moors. In the first, the Suruga lord suggests a deer hunt. In the other, he invites Yamato-Dake to see an unusually violent lake kami. I chose to incorporate both versions of my story. The area this incident took place in is now called Yakizu, or "The Port of Burning."

Yamato-Dake died in the seventh month of his thirtieth year at Atsuta in Owari Province. It is unclear whether he died from fatigue and exposure or from a poisoned arrow. His spirit ascended to heaven in the form of a white bird.

Kusanagi is a ken or tsurugi-type sword. These swords are about two-and-a-half to three feet long, straight, double-edged, and very heavy. The scabbards were generally made of wood bound with metal bands.

Kusanagi was given to Atsuta Shrine. In the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Tenchi (A.D. 668), a Korean named Dogyo stole the sword, hoping to make it a treasure of his own country. During the voyage to his homeland, a terrible storm appeared. Dogyo begged forgiveness and returned the sword to the shrine. In 686, Emperor Temmu placed the sacred sword in his court.