Sep 16, 2020
In many ways Japan traces its "founding" as a nation to thestory of Iware Biko--aka the Sovereign Jimmu--and the establishmentof his court in the central land of Yamato in the Nara Basin.This is the story of how Iware Biko is said to have marched fromSouthern Kyushu east to the eventual central land, where the firsttrue capitals of Japan would be located.
For more go to: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-25
Rough Transcript
Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles ofJapan. My name isJoshua, and this is Episode 25: The Heavenly Grandson on theMarch.
Before I get into it, I want to addresssomething that has been coming up in the text, and that is apronunciation issue.We have already discussed that the “H” sound we often hear inmodern Japanese wasn’t a part of the old Japanesephonology. It was “P”or “B”, depending on whether or not it was voiced orunvoiced. However,over time that “P” sound became more like an “H” sound in manyinstances. So we have “Pimiko” becoming “Himiko”, “Pime” becoming“Hime”, and “Piko” becoming “Hiko”. In some cases it goes even astep further, so that “Ipa” becomes “Iha” becomes “Iwa” and “Kapa”becomes “Kaha” and eventually “Kawa”. So for everyone who has wonderedwhy the particle “Wa” is spelled with the character for “Ha”, Ithink you have your answer.
In previous episodes, I referred to JimmuTenno as IHare Biko, as I was using John Bentley’s transliteration,but the more I think about it, I’m going to try to stick with themore common pronunciation, where I can find it. In this case, that appears to beIware Biko, so we’ll go with that and I’ll put more about this inthe blog post at Sengokudaimyo.com/podcast. Just realize that “Hiko” and“Biko” are just different pronunciations of the same title.
This episode we are going to get into thestory of how Ninigi’s great-grandson left Kyushu and marched northto take his place in Yamato, which was considered the center of thearchipelago. In manyways, we can consider this the actual founding myth of Yamato andthe royal lineage.
Now according to Nihon Shoki, this is thepoint where we transition from myth, the Age of the Gods, toso-called history. Upto this point in the narrative we’ve had no dates, just stories andthe genealogies that give us a basic framework. But now the Chronicle starts totransition, providing actual dates. Of course, we can see on theface of them that these dates are completelyfictitious. Afterall, the first date we are given is 667 BCE. This would put us in the EarlyYayoi Period.
As you may recall, the Yayoi period wasoriginally thought to have started around 300 BCE or so, thoughmore recently we’ve pushed that back to about 800 or 900 BCE, butthat is just the beginnings of rice cultivation in thearchipelago. In the7th century BCE, the Korean peninsula had just entered its middleMumun bronze age period, and China was in the Summer and Autumnperiod of the Eastern Zhou. This is still some 300 yearsfrom the Korean peninsula’s iron age.
On the archipelago at this point, there werevarious settlements, but nothing resembling a consolidated statelike these stories would suggest. And of course, the kofun that wesee identified as their burial places are much toolate. There is evenquestion as to when writing even started in Japan, meaning that allof this would have been transferred through the ages as oralhistory, which can be remarkable but is unlikely to provide clear,accurate dates.
That said, one could argue that there arekernels of truth to the stories. Yayoi culture did start inKyushu and work its way up to the rest of the peninsula, andperhaps there was some memory of this. Some of the Kyushu theoryproponents might suggest that this proves that Yamatai was inKyushu, and all of the rest of these stories take place after that,detailing the move from the Yamatai to Yamato. Perhaps these were stories fromvarious states or other polities—or perhaps even stories from theKorean peninsula—which were then grafted onto the story of theroyal household of Yamato. Whatever the actual truth, I’m going tocontinue to treat this as myth, at least for now, but it is myththat helps build up to our actual history.
So let’s dig in, shall we?
When last we left the Kyushu lineage, Ugayaf*ckiaezu had married his aunt, Tamayori Hime, and they had at leastfour sons. Thisincluded Itsuse, Inahi, Mikerino or Mikenu, and Sano, who was latercalled Kamu Yamato Iware Biko no Mikoto—or just Iware Biko, akaPrince Ihare. Ofcourse, they’ve already gone and spoiled the ending—guess which oneof these four we’ll be focused on? If you guessed Iware Biko—ding!Ding! Ding!—you are correct!
Now even though he was the youngest son, IwareBiko was made the heir to the throne, or Crown Prince, at 15 yearsof age. He marriedAhira tsu Hime of Ata—Ahira also being the name of the mountainwhere his father was supposedly buried. Ahira Hime was the youngersister of Ata no Wobashi no Kimi, who would appear from his titleto be a local lord of some kind. The two of them had twosons—Tagishi Mimi and Kisu Mimi.
Together they lived in a palace at Takachiho,but it wasn’t enough for Iware Biko, and as he reached 45 years ofa*ge, he had an idea.After all, hadn’t his ancestor been given all of this island chainto rule? And herethey were, stuck in the southernmost end of it. Surely there was a better placefrom which to rule the entire land?
Indeed, Iware Biko had heard about just such aplace. It was in thecenter of the land, surrounded by mountains on allside. Not only that,but stories told of a previous Heavenly descendant who haddescended there in a Heavenly Rock Boat, so it must have somethinggoing for it.
And so he gathered up an armada and he headedout. They would havesailed from Himuka, in Southern Kyushu, up along the easterncoastline, and through the Hayasuhi Gate, also known as the BungoChannel, between Kyushu and Shikoku. The name of this channel is the“Rapid Sucking Gate”, and it is thought that this is because of itsrapid tides. It washere that the armada is approached by a fisherman – not just anyfisherman, but, in fact, an earthly deity named Utsu Hiko, the RarePrince. Just asSarutahiko had been waiting for Ninigi, so was Utsu Hiko waitingfor Iware Biko, and he agreed to be Iware Biko’s guide. The DivineDescendant had a pole made of shihi, or chestnut, wood, and he hadit given to Utsu Hiko, providing him a new name, Shihine TsuHiko—the Prince of Shihine, or Shihi Root.
With their guide, they continued theirjourney, arriving at their first stop: Tsukushi.
Alright, so I can already hear some confusedlooks out there, because you may remember that I said Tsukushirefers to Kyushu, and Himuka is in Kyushu. So didn’t they just go fromKyushu to Kyushu?
Well, yes, technically. However, Tsukushi was also thename, specifically, for northern Kyushu, and you can still find theword hidden in the names of the old provinces of Chikuzen andChikugo, literally “Front” and “Back” Tsukushi, but it also seemsto have encompassed the area later known as Toyo Province, andeventually divided up in Buzen and Bungo, for which the BungoChannel is so named.
Northern Kyushu was certainly more connectedwith Yamato in the Kofun period, and was part of any major traderoute between Yamato and the mainland, so it should be littlewonder that the name of the northern region became shorthand forthe entire island, since that’s no doubt how most people thought ofKyushu at the time.This also makes even more sense if Southern Kyushu was seen asculturally distinct and outside of the Yamato polity for much oftheir history.
Ihare and his fleet arrived in Usa, inTsukushi—in modern Oita prefecture—where they were met by theChieftains of Usa:Usa tsu Hiko and Usa tsu Hime. As with Utsu Hiko, word hadapparently preceded the armada, and they had set up an entiretemporary structure for Iware Biko and threw him abanquet. Andapparently if we’ve learned anything, it isn’t a real banquet untilsomebody gets married. Of course, Iware Biko wasalready married, and in this case he ended up playing matchmakerwith Usa tsu Hime and Ame no Tane no Mikoto, one of the ancestorsof the Nakatomi clan.
Now, I should probably point out that justbecause Usa tsu Hiko and Usa tsu Hime are paired male-femaletitles, it doesn’t mean that they were necessarilymarried. They werelikely related, but even that isn’t definitively known. But then again, this wholesection is still highly suspect so I wouldn’t put too much stock init, anyway.
After feasting and resting, the Kojiki tellsus they stayed in Tsukushi for another year, specifically shackingup at the Okada Palace. However, the other sourcessuggest they passed through Oka harbor, but continued on up thearchipelago until they came to the land of Aki, staying at the YePalace—I assume named for the Ye river, aka the Gounokawa, which wetalked about in regards to Susanowo and which winds its way upthrough the mountains, emptying out into the Japan Sea at the portof Goutsu. Again, theKojiki describes this adventure in a somewhat leisurely timeframe,with a 7 year hiatus in Aki before they proceed, while the NihonShoki and the Kujiki suggest a mere three months—from the 12th tothe 3rd month, effectively wintering in Aki before moving on totheir next stop, building a temporary palace at Takashima inKibi—the modern prefecture of Okayama.
Here, Iware Biko held up and prepared his armyto fight, spending three years as they readied theirprovisions—though the Kojiki, once again draws this out evenfurther, for a total of 8 years. Of course, while the Kojikithrows out these kinds of things, its writers don’t even bother totry to put an actual year to the events happening.
It’s unclear just what their preparationslooked like that took them that long, given that they already hadtheir armada and were on the march.
Still, once they had prepared, they were backunderway, sailing east out of Kibi for the land ofYamato. It is herethat that Kojiki inserts the story about meeting their guide, butit is differnet. Itcalls him Udo Hiko, and it adds he was riding around on aturtle. Furthermore,just as in the previous story, Iware Biko hands him a pole, calledhere “Sawo”, and so his name in the Kojiki is Sawone-tsu Hiko.
This Sawone tsu Hiko or Shihine Tsu Hiko—Theyare said to be the ancestors of the Yamato no Atahe or the Yamatono Miyatsuko—which would seem to make them chieftains of Yamato,which is to say the actual province within the larger Yamatostate.
However it happened, it was from there thatIware Biko and his entourage continued to Naniwa, modern Osaka, andcontinued up river until they came to the port of Shiradate inKusaka. From there they tried to take the road to Tatsuta, whichmodern maps would appear to correspond to the Ikaruga area whereNigi Hayahi supposedly came down from Heaven. However, the road was narrow,and the army was forced to march single file. That would have put them in anextremely vulnerable position, spread out over a great distance andif they met with any resistance they wouldn’t be able to bringtheir full force to bear. So Iware Biko ordered the armyto pull back and try another route. This time they went up the sideof Mt. Ikoma.
As they reached the top of Kusaka Hill,however, they met with the forces of Nagasune Biko,Chieftain ofTomi, who claimed to be fighting on behalf of his nephew,Umashimaji, son of Nigi Hayahi.
I find this fascinating for a few reasons,chief among them is that this is the first time that anyone hasactually resisted the Heavenly Task. Up to this point in thenarrative, everyone had more or less just rolled over for theHeavenly Grandson and his progeny. Now, not only are there otherpeople inconveniently living in the land where Iware Biko hadchosen as the best place to rule from, but they weren’t just goingto hand it over.
There is a thought that this whole conflictwas designed to mirror the conflict in the 7th century, between theTenji and Temmu dynasties. That, too, was an armed conflictbetween different lines of the same lineage, and so perhaps this waswritten so as to legitimize Temmu’s own rebellion and, effectively,usurpation of power.I know we keep bringing this up and I promise that we’ll get to it,eventually. It isdefinitely one of the things that really intriques me and reallyforms the political basis for much of what happens in the Naraperiod.
Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that IwareBiko’s story also emphasizes the natural supremacy of the royalline, with the ancestors of other noble lineages submittingthemselves to the rulership of the line of the HeavenlyGrandson.
So here, at the hill of Kusaka, the forces ofIware Biko were arrayed against the forces of NagasuneBiko. Since this isalready a fictional account, we can’t exactly draw conclusionsbased on when it was actually happening. However, we know that thewestern forces could make no headway against their opponents.
Eventually, Iware Biko’s own brother, Itsuse,was struck in the elbow with an enemy arrow, and Iware Biko’sforces withdrew. Theyset up a temporary fortification using their shields to create awall, but the enemy did not pursue.
Iware Biko thought long and hard about hisloss. After all, itcouldn’t have anything to do with his brilliant strategy of “chargeup the nearest hill”.No, instead, Iware Biko determined that the flaw of this plan wasnot that he had tried to attack a well defended position, climbingup and over the mountains to do so, or some similar tacticalerror. No, the issuewas that they were marching west to east and therefore they wereattacking into the sun, and thus they were effectively attackingagainst Amaterasu. As long as the enemy hadAmaterasu on their side, it would do no good to attack.
It is telling that this isn’t just a matter ofattacking into the sun. If that were the case, oneassumes that Iware Biko could have just waited until the afternoon,but it would appear that this specifically had to do with attackingtowards the East, where the sun rises. Of course, by the time theChronicles were being put together, eastwas also the direction ofIse—though of course, Ise Shrine wouldn’t be founded for some timeyet, even in the timeline of the Chronicles. One could explain this away asMt. Miwa, where the Chronicles claim Amaterasu was originallyenshrined, along with Miwa no Kami, Ohom*ononushi. That said, the name thatthe Japanese would eventually settle on for their own country,Nihon, seems to include a connotation that the Origin of the Sunwas in the East, where the sun rises.
This also puts me in mind of the idea ofdirectional taboos, known as kata-imi. The idea that certain directionswere unlucky some or all of the time, and therefore to succeed onewould need to approach from a different direction, which mightnecessitate a longer course that allows a person—or an army—toavoid the prohibited direction.
Normally, as part of the yin-yang science thatwas imported from China, these directional taboos often had to dowith things like timing—what day it was, and various othercalendrical and astrological calculations. In this case,though, it is clear that it is personal—the ties between Iware Bikoand Amaterasu. Itisn’t something that can just be done on another day. And this is why Iware Bikoloaded his troops back on their ships and sailed south. The goal appears to have been tosail down around the Kii Peninsula and to approach Yamato from thesouth.
As they left modern Osaka Bay and entered theKii Channel, they put in, it is said, at Yamaki, which would seemto be near modern Wakayama city. Iware Biko’s brother, Itsuse,was continuing to worsen. Though they don’t go into greatdetail, one can imagine that even an arrow to the elbow, though notimmediately fatal, would have had a high likelihood for infectionback in those ancient times. Itsuse seems to have realizedthat the curtain was drawing closed on his act in this play, but hewasn’t going to go quietly. It is said he struck a manlypose, and one can imagine him spouting some inspiring words to thetroops, like a character in one of Shakespeare’s plays. Spirit and grit and divinelineage will only take you so far, though, and he eventually passedaway. This was at theField of Blood—Chinu—and the port was called Wo-no-Minato—or theManly Port—for his efforts. The chronicles tell us that theyburied him at Kamayama, and then moved on from there.
By the way there are some versions of thestory that have Itsuse, as the older brother, leading the campaigneast, with Iware Biko picking up the banner after his brother diesfighting Nagasune Biko.
Now, whether or not they stopped for a fullburial, kofun and all, is not stated, but given the amount of timeit takes to raise a tomb mound, you would think they would havecontinued on. Today,there is a Kamayama Shrine dedicated to Itsuse since at least thetime of the Engi Shiki, and they say he was buried somewhere inthat area. There isalso a 6th or 7th century Kamayama Kofun in the north of Wakayama,but they use a different spelling for Kamayama than do thechronicles, and I did not immediately see a link between it andItsuse. Of coursesince this whole episode is a myth, any tomb identified would bespecious, anyways.
Moving on from Kamayana, Iware Biko’s troopswent to Nagusa, where they attacked and killed Nagusa no Tobe—theNagusa Chieftain. Bentley notes that this specific title, “Tohe” or“Tobe”, appears to be specifically a feminine title. A similar title, Tome, is foundin the Harima Fudoki, and it shows up several more times in thissection.
The Nihon Shoki suggests that they crossedmoor of Sano towards Kumano, but then had some slow going on theocean. In fact, itwas going so slowly, that Iware Biko’s two remaining brothers—who,with Iware Biko and Itsuse were also descended from the SeaGod—seem to have been offended, and railed against the sea, whichblew them back with violent winds. Finally, one of his brothersdrew his sword and plunged into the sea, while the other one was soindignant that he stepped off the boat and walked across the wavesto the Eternal Land.This left only Iware Biko and his son, Tagishi Mimi, but the seasmust have calmed down, because they eventually reached theirdestination.
Now I don’t know about you, but this seems abit of an extreme reaction to bad weather. It does put me in mind of thecustom of the abstainers, or Jisai—those who would fast and abstainfrom various activities, such as bathing, etc., in order to bringgood luck to a journey. If successful, they would bewell rewarded, but if misfortune found them, the abstainer would beblamed, and could even be put to death. It also brings up images ofhuman sacrifices to gods of the waters—could that be what was goingon? Could thisrepresent the brothers sacrificing themselves to calm the winds andthe waves? It wouldcertainly seem more noble than them just nope’ing out because theywere frustrated.
And so with the wind and waves pacified, thearmada continued.They arrived at the Port of Arazaka, aka Nishiki Bay, where theyonce again subdued the locals, defeating Nishiki no Tobe, andproceeding on the village of Kumano.
While they were there, the troops saw a bear,or “kuma”, moving in and out of the forest around Kumano, until itfinally disappeared from view. Shortly after this, Iware Bikoand his troops felt faint and lost consciousness. Some have suggested that thebear was some kind of shaman, and the other Chronicles blame apoisonous vapor, vomited up by evil deities. Either way, Iware Biko and histroops were fast asleep, like Dorothy and her friends in a field ofpoppies.
All might have been lost, except that therewas a man who lived in Kumano who was known as Takakuraji—possiblybecause of his many tall storehouses. In some of the stories thisTakakuraji is none other than Ama no Kagoyama, the son of NigiHayahi and Ame no Michi Himi, and thus a great grandson ofAmaterasu, which could explain the next part. You see, Takakuraji had a dream,and in the dream Amaterasu had summoned Takemikazuchi. You may recall that we metTakemikazuchi when he went down to pacify Izumo. Well, Amaterasu wanted him to goback down and finish chastising the land, since clearly it wasstill in disorder.After all, weren’t there people standing in the way of the HeavenlyTask? Takemikazuchitook one look at the situation, and suggested that all it neededwas his sword, Futsu no Mitama—aka Sajifutsu no Kami, or elseMikafutsu no Kami.And so he sent his sword down into one of Takakuraji’s storehousesand told him to take the sword to Iware Biko so that he could use it tocomplete his heavenly task.
Takakuraji awoke form his dream and went intohis storehouse. Sureenough, just as he had seen in the dream, there was the sword,Futsu no Mitama.Takakuraji took this sword and found Iware Biko and his men stillasleep. As soon asTakakuraji presented the sword, however, Iware Biko awoke from hisslumber, and he immediately commenced striking down all of theunruly deities of the Kumano mountains. With the unruly deities thussubdued, his men awoke.
With his army once again awake and ready tomove, Iware Biko and his army attempted to move inland through themountains, but it doesn’t take much imagination to understand whathappened next—they found themselves hopelessly lost, and they weremaking no headway forward. And so Amaterasu, or possiblyTakami Musubi, depending on the chronicle, sent down a giantcrow—the Yatagarasu.This crow would lead Iware Biko and his troops through themountains and eventually to the central land of Yamato.
There isn’t much more description of the crow,but tradition often associates it with the Yang-wu, the Chinese suncrow. It has threefeet and is usually depicted as living in the sun. What better creature to lead adescendant of the Sun Goddess through the mountains then a suncrow?
Iware Biko sent Hi no Omi—whose name literallytranslates to “Minister of the Sun”—to follow the Yatagarasu withthe grand army through the mountains. Hi no Omi was one of theancestors of the Ohotomo—the house of the royal guards—so it makessome sense that they would be shown taking the lead.
This march would have taken severaldays—possibly a week or more—until they came to the headwaters ofwhat would be known as the Yoshino river. They came across several men,many of whom are described as “men with tails”—though what kind oftails it isn’t explained. I should caution that while thismay sound like an ancient Furry subculture, the tails were likelymetaphorical and meant to indicate wild men, living in themountains and not under the sway of any particularstate. No doubt therewere still plenty of independent communities tucked away in themountains and valleys, even during Himiko’s time. Evidence suggests that themembers of the central polity considered them to be wild andbestial.
In a later part of the account, men with tailswould also be styled with another name: Tsuchigumo. Literally “earth spiders”, thisepithet is thought to have referred to the belief that theseoutsiders lived in caves, or possibly pit buildings, which had beenpopular since Jomon times but were in the process of beingreplaced. Still, thisanswer seems less than satisfactory given that pit-style housescontinuedto be used by at least the common people up into the Naraperiod.
Finally, they found their way—or perhaps moreappropriately “pierced”—there way to Uda. For helping to find a paththrough the mountains—though, to tell the truth, it seems thatYatagarasu, that giant sun crow, deserved most of the credit—Hi noOmi was given another name: Michi no Omi—the minister of theroad or path.
This area is known as Uda no Ukashi, and itwas governed by two brothers. As they approached, theYatagarasu was sent ahead as a messenger, to summon the chieftainsof the area to submit to Iware Biko and his forces. The elder brother fired ahummingbulb arrow at the sun crow, forcing him to turnback. Where thearrow, the kaburaya, came to rest is said to be known asKaburazaki. Afterthat, the elder brother raised troops and went out to meet IwareBiko in battle, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of Iware Biko’sarmy, he knew it would be impossible, and so he devised a newstrategy.
It must have been around this point that theYounger brother and co-chieftain of Ukashi made his way to IwareBiko and submitted himself and his men. He then told Iware Biko that hisbrother had ill intentions towards him.
As it turns out, the Elder Ukashi had decidedto set a trap. Hebuilt a temporary palace, much as had been built in Tsukushi, justas Iware Biko and his troops were leaving. This was no honor,however. As soon asIhare Hiko entered the hall, the trap would be sprung. Learning of all of this, IwareBiko traveled into the village of Ukashi as thought to meet withthe Elder Brother.Sure enough, there was a temporary structure that Iware Biko wasinvited to enter and rest, no doubt with promises of a banquet soonto come. Instead ofentering, however, Iware Biko and his troops forced the ElderBrother into the building himself. Sure enough, the trap was sprungand the Elder Brother’s deceit was revealed, and he wascrushed.
Iware Biko had the Elder Brother removed fromthe trap and promptly executed. His head was cut off and IwareBiko’s aremy hacked him to bits. His blood seeped into thefields, and that place was called Uda no Chihara.
And then, no doubt not wishing to join hisbrother in this gruesome fate, the Younger brother laid out anactual feast, with meat and alcohol, for Iware Biko and histroops. He alsoentertained Iware Biko and his troops with song, recitingone—possibly two—songs. One was about catching a largeanimal, or possibly agreat whale—no doubt referencing the trap that the Elder brotherhad laid, and then another one is not so clear, but seems to speaksof the polygamous practices of the time, something that would seemto fit with the Japan since at least the 3rd century.
The next part varies a bit in the differentChronicles, but the Nihon Shoki seems to be the most detailed, sowe’ll go with that.It seems that Iware Biko climbed to the peak of Mt. Takakura in Udaand looked out over the land. From there he made out numerousenemies on Kunimi Hill, an army of women on Mezaka and an army ofmen at Wozaka, and charcoal was burning over at the village ofSumizaka. The army ofShiki the Elder covered the village of Ihare. According to the Chronicles,there was no way for Ihare and his army to easily march in and takethe land.
Iware Biko prayed for guidance and went tosleep. Sure enough,in a dream, Amaterasu told Iware Biko that he should take earthfrom within the sacred area of Mt. Kagu, in Asuka, and makeplatters and jars to sacrifice to the kami of Heaven andEarth—Amatsu Kami, Kunitsu Kami—and then speak an imprecation, orcurse upon his enemies. Iware Biko awoke and decided todo just that. Therewas one problem, however—Mt. Kagu was in the Nara Basin, and as wehave already established, there were enemy forces guarding theentrances. And soIware Biko came up with a ruse.
He had Shihinetsu Hiko put on ragged oldgarments and disguise himself as an old man, while Ukashi theYounger would do likewise and disguise himself as an oldwoman—Shihinetsu Hiko’s wife. Together they would use stealthto get through the hostile forces and to the mountains.
Sure enough, as they walked along the road,praying that this plan would somehow work, the enemy soldiers tookone look at the couple dismissed them as harmless, and laughed asthey went along their way. And so they were able to sneakup to the mountain and grab the earth they would need for thesacred clay vessels.
With the sacred vessels prepared, Iware Bikomade some divinatory statements—Ukehi—calling forvictory. He made asweet malt extract without water and made the fishdrunk. He then had a500 branched Masakaki tree harvested from the upper waters andbegan to worship the gods. It is claimed that this was theorigin of setting up sacred jars in the royal courtyard as part ofthe court’s ritual observances. Similarly, Iware Biko nextdecided to celebrate a public festival to the High God of Heaven,Takami Musubi no Mikoto. He appointed Michi no Omi as IzuHime, the Sacred Princess. Later comentators note that thisposition was usually a woman—as indicated by the title of“Hime”—and found at Ise, Kamo, and Kasuga. Therefore they suggest that inthis case Michi no Omi was serving in a woman’s role, since theyneeded a chief officiant. However, there is no realindication of Michi no Omi’s gender, other than some patriarchalassociations with the term “Minister”, so who knows.
More importantly is the fact that thisceremony was set up for Takami Musubi no Mikoto, and not forAmaterasu no Ohokami.In fact, it seems to be the origin of one of the most importantfestivals in the royal court, as recorded in the Engi Shiki, whereTakami Musubi was the one worshipped. It isn’t until much later thatAmaterasu would be worshipped outside of her shrine in Ise.
With all of the rituals complete, the armyfinally sallied forth and slew their enemies at Mt.Kunimi. Iware Bikothen composed a song—something he would do several othertimes. In fact, Ihave to wonder if these songs don’t form the primary basis for thestories that the various chroniclers appear to have puttogether.
Despite their victory at Kunimi, there werestill many enemy forces in the Yamato area. So Iware Biko had his troopsbuild a large muro—generally thought to be a large pit building—inOsaka, in Yamato. Bythe way, that isn’t Ohosaka, that “Big Slope” known for their greatfood and comedic stylings. This is “Osaka”, which as I’msure you can hear, is completely different. Just a short O, Osaka, not thelong O of Ohosaka.All clear? Good.
Anyway, they put together this building andinvited numerous enemies—the Kojiki again refers to them as Menwith Tails or Earth Spiders—and offers to treat them to afeast. As they allgathered in the large building, he stationed his men along theoutside edges of the building. He then sang a song in front ofthe assembled crowds, but in the song was a code, and as soon ashis men heard it they drew their swords and murdered the assembledthrongs.
Even then, there were still many enemies inthe Nara basin, so next Iware Biko took his army against the dualprinces of Shiki.
As before, they sent the Yatagarasu to requestthe presence of Shiki the Elder, but he refused. He aimed his bow at the Sun Crowand it flew off. Thenit went to Shiki the Younger, who responded by making an offeringto the crow on oak leaf plates, and then agreed to go see IwareBiko. Once there, hetold Iware Biko of the troops his brother had been able toraise.
Iware Biko sent Shiki the Younger, along withtwo other Chieftains, Kuraji the Elder and Kuraji the Younger, totry to convince Shiki the Elder to put down his arms and submit,but Shiki the elder refused and stood fast against the invadingforces.
Therefore, Iware Biko came up with aplan. He sent forwardsome of his weaker troops to occupy the Shiki forces, and thenmoved his more robust troops over to Sumizaka andaround. In this waythey were able to flank Shiki’s forces and put them to route,killing Shiki the Elder.
With the Shiki forces dealt with, Iware Bikohad only one obstacle left. Like the final boss battle, hestill had to defeat Nagasune Biko. Nagasune Biko, brother-in-law tothe other Heavenly Grandson, Nigi Hayahi, and uncle to Umashimaji,whom he claimed to serve. Naga Sunehiko, who hadpreviously defeated Iware Biko’s forces at Kusaka Hill and who hadkilled Iware Biko’s brother, Itsuse.
Nagasune Biko claimed to be serving the son ofthe Divine Descendant, and then he proclaimed: “There should not betwo children of the Heavenly Deity. I do not know if there isanother ruler.” Andusing this excuse, he persisted in his resistance and blocked theway for Iware Biko and his forces
Again and again the two forces clashed, butneither side was able to make any headway against theother. Then, one day,the sky went dark and hail began to rain down from the heavens abrightly shining kite flew down and it dazzled Nagasune Biko’sforces.
This must have brought about a briefcease-fire, because Iware Biko and Nagasune Biko had a chance totalk. Iware Bikoasked Nagasune Biko to prove the case of Nigi Hayahi’s lineage byshowing the heavenly regalia. At this, Nagasune Biko happilybrought forward a heavenly feathered arrow and a foot quiver,displaying them proudly. But then, Iware Biko showedNagasune Biko his own arrow and quiver, proving that he, too, wasof a divine lineage.
Nagasune Biko refused to accept this, however,and he went back to his troops to restart their campaign ofresistance.
What happened next varies a littlebit. In some of thestories, Nigi Hayahi came down, and realizing that Nagasune Bikowould not accept Iware Biko’s authority, he had Nagasune Biko putto death, and then surrendered the army to Iware Biko. In the Kojiki, Iware Biko simplysmites Nagasune Biko.And in the Kujiki it is Nigi Hayahi’s son, Umashimaji, the ancestorof the Mononobe, who refuses to go along with hisuncle. He hasNagasune Biko and others executed and then went with those soldiersloyal to him to submit to Iware Biko, presenting him with one ofthe ten heavenly symbols that had been given to NigiHayahi. After that,he took charge of the Ame no Mononobe and cut down the rest of theopposition. The NihonShoki refers to all of the those who resisted as Tsuchigumo.
Finally, the land was at peace, and Iware Bikoand his men could rest. They retired to the Kashiwaraarea, specifically in the area of Mt. Unebi, where Iware Bikocommanded his officials to build a palace and he began to set uphis court. Though hehad married Ahira Hime back in Himuka, in Southern Kyushu, he tookanother wife in Kashiwara: Hime Tatara Isukeyori Hime, also knownas Hime Tatara Isuzu Hime, who would eventually become his royalconsort. With theland subdued, and his palace completed, Iware Biko was raised up,and took his place as the first official sovereign ofYamato. That was in660 BCE, according to the Nihon Shoki. He reigned until his death, in585 BCE, aged an incredulous 127 years old. Even if some of the oldesthumans ever have lived in Japan, given the times and Iware Biko’shard run life, forgive me if I don’t take this age at facevalue. His mausoleumis said to be at the foot of Mt. Unebi, at or near the location ofhis palace.
The Coronation of Iware Biko, aka Jinmu,factual or not, has long been important to the story ofJapan. His formalcoronation is recorded as 660 BCE, the second month, the 11th day,and it is from this date that the traditional line of Yamatosovereigns is counted, as is the founding of Yamato, known today asJapan. Even in themodern age, just as the 4th of July, 1776 is used to mark thefounding of the United States of America, the 11th of February, 660BCE is taken as the founding date of Japan, even though the year isclearly a fabrication. February 11th is Kenkoku Kinenno Hi—National Foundation Day. It was originallyinstituted by the Meiji Government, in the 1870s, as the governmentwas still working to promote the Imperial majesty after more than250 years under the rule of the Tokugawa shoguns, and continues tobe practiced today, though with a more national character.
In addition the importance of the year 660 BCEwas rather a key component in ensuring that the history of Japan,at the time the chronicles were written, was of sufficientantiquity to conform with Chinese concepts of historical cycles,and it meant that the time was ripe in the late 7th century foranother great change.At one end of the cycle stood Iware Biko, later known as Jinmu,whose posthumous name translates to something like Divine or GodlyWar. In completion ofthe Heavenly Task, he assembled his forces and marched on Yamato,eventually installing himself as the royal sovereign. On the other side of thishistorical cycle was Ohoama, aka Tenmu, a sovereign with theposthumous name meaning “Heavenly War”, and who likewise raisedforces to come and attack the capital.
In addition, the location for Jinmu’spalace—and the kofun associated with him—was at the foot of Mt.Unebi, which was one of three mountains, including Mt. Kagu and Mt.Miminashi, which made up the Yamato Sanzan. These three mountains surroundedthe Fujiwara Palace, which was started by Temmu towards the end ofhis reign, and which served as the first permanent Chinese stylecapital, until it was moved in 710. Though this move happened beforeany of our Chronicles were completed, it is reasonable to assumethat the stories had already largely taken form during the reign ofTemmu and his immediate successors.
Further along those lines are thecommonalities between Jimmu and Temmu’s means of coming topower. Just as Yamatoalready had a sovereign through a previous Heavenly line, Tenmu’snephew sat on the throne during his usurpation. Both were still legitimate,however—or at least the stories portray them as such. And both had the help ofAmaterasu Ohokami—though admittedly those details seem to be moreprominent in the later Nihon Shoki than they are in the Kojiki,where Takami Musubi still takes center stage. We can see how the story came tobe and thus how it may have been seen by its contemporaries.
That is not to say that the Chroniclers cameup with all of this themselves. I suspect that there were acombination of stories, many of them revolving around the originsof various placenames, or possibly from other oral traditions fromaround the area. Forall I know, there may have been stories about a Prince Ihare, andthe various encounters may have come from otherstories. I suspectthat the Chroniclers were not making up everything from scratch,but rather fitting what they had to the Truth as they knew it.
Even if we can’t accept these stories as true,there are still plenty of interesting tidbits. For instance, the various Tobe,which may refer to female chieftains, and then the numerousinstances in the text of Elder and Younger chieftains, which seemto point to a common practice of dual leadership. The assumption is often thatthese are pairs of brothers, but whether that was regularly thecase I couldn’t say, though it seems unlikely. Of course, as usual gender isoften not stated but assumed under a patriarchal model unlessexplicitly stated otherwise.
We also see a tendency in these stories todesignate those who resist the Royal lineage as being not justoutsiders, but as other than human. They are called earthspiders—tsuchigumo—and described as having tails. This term also appears in otherchronicles, such as the Hitachi Fudoki. Hitachi province was far tothe east, in modern Ibaraki prefecture, and one of the storiestells about two groups, native to the area, known as the Tsuchikumoand the Yatsukahagi.It is said that they would dig caves throughout the hills, and thisis where they lived.According to the elders of the area, they would come out at nightor after the new settlers had left, and they would help themselvesto whatever they needed. Therefore the local governmentset up a trap. Whilethe Tsuchikumo were out in the fields, the Yamato people set a wallof thorn bushes inside the entrance to their cave, and the officerin charge, Kurosaka, then gave the signal for men on horseback toride in and chase the Tsuchikumo back. The plan worked remarkably well,and all of the Tsuchikumo were driven into the thorny wall andkilled.
This seems to show how the people of Yamatoviewed those they called Tsuchikumo—as non-human outsiders whocould not be civilized and therefore deserved little more thanextermination, possibly subjugation. Just like with the Hayato, wedon’t know just how different these people were from the people ofYamato—were they just other members of the Wa ethnicity that hadchosen a different way of life? Were they the descendants of theold Jomon people, who hadn’t fully adopted the Yayoi agriculturallifestyle? Or wasthis just the standard human tendency to dehumanize those who areagainst us, or just in our way? We can make some inferences,perhaps, but that’s all they really are.
So there you have it. The story of Iware Biko, who iswidely heralded as the first sovereign of Yamato. Even though he is supposed tohave reigned for many decades after his ascension, it isunquestionably his path to the throne, that is of paramountimportance in the chronicles. Once he comes to the throne,there are a few other stories, which we may get into next episode,but those were really more about others—ancestors to various noblehouses—or else it was a pathway to the next sovereign, and thecontinued lineage of the royal house.
Next episode I expect we’ll dig into some ofthat and move on with the legendary royal lineage. We have a few more names to getthrough before we see anything that might touch on historical fact,and even that is tenuous at best.
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That’s all for now. Thank you again, and I’ll seeyou next episode on Sengoku Daimyo’s Chronicles of Japan.
