STORY NOTES

The tenth emperor, Sujin, ascended to the throne in the first century B.C. By this time, society had developed to the point where a clear distinction had to be made between worldly and spiritual affairs. Sujin established a shrine at Kasanui Village in Yamato Province dedicated to Amaterasu , the Sun Goddess, and installed there the sacred mirror and sword. The emperor ordered replicas of them made, which he kept in the Imperial Palace.

His successor, Suinin , established a new shrine in Ise Province and transferred the mirror and sword and a third treasure, a jewel, to be housed there. His daughter was given charge of Ise Shrine.

Yamato-Dake is the most famous hero of legendary times. He was the third son of Emperor Keiko. He was initially named Wousu (Little Mortar) and had an elder twin named Oouso (Big Mortar), whom he killed before being sent to quell the Kumaso rebels at the age of sixteen.

Before the start of a later campaign, Yamato-Dake paid his respects to the Grand Shrine at Ise and was given the sword Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi by his aunt. He renamed it Kusanagi no Tsurugi (The Grass-Cutting Sword) after it saved his life in an open field.

There are many variations of the story of Yamato-Dake and the Kami of Mt. Ibuki. In one, the hero is unable to slay either the boar or the snake but is repulsed from the mountain by a violent ice-rain, and later dies, seemingly from fatigue. In another, he goes to a hot spring after the killing of the serpent and regains his health and strength. The events I've recounted are probably the most familiar and are found in The Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, the oldest history of the Japanese people, written in 712 A.D. by O no Yasumaro .

The hot spring Yamato-Dake came to after meeting the kami is now called Isame no Shimizu, "Clear Water Where He Came to His Senses." The area where he could hardly stand is Tagino, or "Totter." And when exhaustion finally took him, he walked with a stick at Tsuetsuki-zake , or "Slope with a Walking Stick."

His consorts sang four songs at the prince's funeral. These four were sung at every emperor's death since, until the funeral of Emperor Meiji in 1912 A.D.

References

References for Yamato-Dake came from: The Kojiki, translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain, published in 1981 by Charles E. Tuttle Co. of Rutland, VT, and Tokyo, Japan; Legends of the Samurai by Hiroyuki Sato, 1995, Overlook Press of Woodstock, NY; Myths and Legends of Japan by F. Hadland Davis, 1992, Dover Publications of Mineola, NY; The Japanese Fairy Book, compiled by Yei Theodora Ozaki, 1970, Charles E. Tuttle Co.; Myths and Legends Series: China and Japan by Donald A. Mackenzie, 1985, Bracken Books of London; History of the Japanese from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by Capt. F. Brinkley, 1915, Encyclopedia Britannica Co. of NY; and Japan, a Country Founded by "Mother": An Outline History by Hajime Hoshi, 1937, Columbia University Club in Tokyo, Japan.

References for the Japanese culture during that era came from Early Samurai: 200-1500 A.D. by Anthony Bryant and Angus McBride, 1991, Osprey Press of Great Britain; The Atlas of Japanese Culture by Martin Collcutt, Marius Jansen, and Isao Kumakura, 1988, Facts on File Inc., of NY; and Step Into Ancient Japan by Fiona Macdonald, 1999, Anness Publishing Ltd. of NY.