Emperor Keiko景行天皇

Emperor Ohotarashihikooshirowake dwelt in the palace of Hishiro in Makimuku (纒向之日代宮) and ruled all under heaven.

This Emperor took to wife Inabi no Ohoiratsume of Harima (針間之伊那毗能大郎女), the daughter of Wakatakekibitsuhiko, the ancestor of the Kibi no Omi and others, and the children born were Kushitsunuwake no Miko (櫛角別王), next Ohousu no Mikoto (大碓命), next Ousu no Mikoto (小碓命), whose other name was Yamatooguna no Mikoto (倭男具那命), next Yamatoneko no Mikoto (倭根子命), next Kamukushi no Miko (神櫛王).

He also took to wife Yasakanoirihime no Mikoto (八坂之入日賣命), the daughter of Yasakanoirihiko no Mikoto, and the children born were Wakatarashihiko no Mikoto (若帶日子命), next Ihokinoirihiko no Mikoto (五百木之入日子命), next Oshiwake no Mikoto (押別命), and next Ihokinoirihime no Mikoto (五百木之入日賣命).

The children of a concubine were Toyotowake no Miko (豐戸別王) and next Nushiro no Iratsume (沼代郎女); and the children of another concubine were Nunaki no Iratsume (沼名木郎女), next Kagoyorihime no Mikoto (香余理比賣命), next Wakakinoirihiko no Miko (若木之入日子王), next Ehiko no Miko of Kibi (吉備之兄日子王), next Takakihime no Mikoto (高木比賣命), next Otohime no Mikoto (弟比賣命).

He also took to wife Mihakashibime of Himuka (美波迦斯毗賣) and the son born was Toyokuniwake no Miko (豐國別王).

He also took to wife Inabi no Wakairatsume (伊那毗能若郎女), the younger sister of Inabi no Ohoiratsume, and the children born were Mawaka no Miko (眞若王), next Hikohito no Ohoe no Miko (日子人之大兄王).

He also took to wife Kagurohime (訶具漏比賣), the daughter of Sumeiroohonakatsuhiko no Miko (須賣伊呂大中日子王), the great-grandson of Yamatotakeru no Mikoto, and the son born was Ohoe no Miko (大枝王).

Of the children of this Emperor Ohotarashihiko, twenty-one are set down here and fifty-nine are not set down, eighty in all. Of these eighty, three — Wakatarashihiko no Mikoto, Yamatotakeru no Mikoto and Ihokinoirihiko no Mikoto — bore the name of crown prince, and the other seventy-seven were all given out as kuni no miyatsuko of the several lands, and as wake, inagi and agatanushi.

So Wakatarashihiko no Mikoto ruled all under heaven. Ousu no Mikoto subdued the wild gods of the east and the west and the people who would not submit.

Next, Kushitsunuwake no Miko was the ancestor of the Mamuta no Shimo no Muraji and others; next, Ohousu no Mikoto was the ancestor of the Mori no Kimi and others; next, Kamukushi no Miko was the ancestor of the Sakabe no Abiko of the land of Ki; next, Toyokuniwake no Miko was the ancestor of the Himuka no Kuni no Miyatsuko.

At this time the Emperor heard that the two daughters of Kamuohone no Miko, the ancestor of the kuni no miyatsuko of Mino — Ehime and Otohime by name — were fair of form, and he sent his son Ohousu no Mikoto to call them up. But the Ohousu no Mikoto who was sent did not call them up. He took the two maidens to himself, and then sought out other women, gave them the maidens' names falsely, and offered them up. The Emperor knew that they were other women. He only looked upon them long and always, and did not take them, and was troubled.

So that Ohousu no Mikoto took Ehime to wife and the son born was Oshikuro no Ehiko no Miko (押黒之兄日子王), who was the ancestor of the Unesuwake of Mino; and he took Otohime to wife and the son born was Oshikuro no Otohiko no Miko (押黒弟日子王), who was the ancestor of the Mugetsu no Kimi and others.

In this reign the Tabe (田部) were established, and the sea-gate of Awa in the east (淡水門) was established, and the Kashiwade no Ohotomobe (膳之大伴部) were established, and the Yamato no Miyake (倭屯家) was established, and the pond of Sakate (坂手池) was made, and bamboo was planted on its bank.

The Emperor said to Ousu no Mikoto, "Why does your elder brother not come out to the morning and evening meals? Do you yourself negi — admonish and teach him."

Five days passed after he said this, and still his brother did not come out. Then the Emperor asked Ousu no Mikoto, "Why has your elder brother not come out for so long? Have you not yet admonished him?"

He answered, "I have already admonished him."

The Emperor said again, "How did you admonish him?"

He answered, "In the early morning, when he went into the privy, I caught him and crushed him, and tore off his limbs, and wrapped them in a mat and threw them away."

At this the Emperor was afraid of his son's fierce and wild heart, and said, "In the west there are two Kumasotakeru (熊曾建). They are men who do not submit and have no manners. Take them." So he sent him. At this time his hair was bound at the forehead.

Ousu no Mikoto received the robe and the skirt of his aunt Yamatohime no Mikoto, put a small sword in his bosom, and went.

When he came to the house of the Kumasotakeru and looked, there were soldiers around the house in three rings, and they had built a chamber and were living in it. They were talking loudly of holding a feast for the new chamber, and were making the food ready. So he walked about nearby and waited for the day of the feast.

When the day of the feast came, he combed down his bound hair like a girl's and put on his aunt's robe and skirt, and became altogether a girl in form. He stood mingled among the women and went into that chamber.

The two Kumasotakeru brothers saw the maiden and were taken with her, and set her between them, and the feast was at its height.

When it was at its merriest, he drew the sword from his bosom, took the Kumaso by the collar of his robe, and ran the sword through his breast. His younger brother Takeru saw it and was afraid and fled out. He followed him to the foot of the steps of the chamber, took him by the back, and ran the sword through him from the buttocks.

Then that Kumasotakeru said, "Do not move the blade. I have something to say." He let him lie a little while, pressed down. Then he said, "Who are you, my lord?"

He said, "I am the son of Emperor Ohotarashihikooshirowake, who dwells in the palace of Hishiro in Makimuku and rules the land of Ohoyashima. My name is Yamatooguna no Miko. He heard that you ore — you two Kumasotakeru — do not submit and have no manners, and he sent me, saying, 'Take them and kill them.'"

Then that Kumasotakeru said, "Truly it must be so. In the west there is no brave and strong man but us two. Yet in the great land of Yamato there is a man braver than us two. So let me offer up my name. From this time on you should be called Yamatotakeru no Miko (倭建御子)."

When he had said this, he cut him down and killed him as one splits a ripe melon. From that time his name has been called Yamatotakeru no Mikoto (倭建命).

On his way back up, he admonished and calmed the gods of the mountains and the gods of the rivers and the god of the strait, all of them, and came up.

He went into the land of Izumo, meaning to kill the Izumotakeru (出雲建). When he came there he made friends with him at once. In secret he made a false sword of red oak and wore it, and they bathed together in the river Hi.

Yamatotakeru no Mikoto came up out of the river first, took the long sword that Izumotakeru had loosed and laid down, and wore it, and said, "Let us change swords." So afterwards Izumotakeru came up out of the river and wore the false sword of Yamatotakeru no Mikoto.

Then Yamatotakeru no Mikoto challenged him, saying, "Come, let us cross swords." When each drew his sword, Izumotakeru could not draw the false sword. At once Yamatotakeru no Mikoto drew his sword and struck Izumotakeru dead. Then he sang:

Yatsumesasu izumotakeruga Hakerutachi tsuzurasawamaki Saminashiniaware

— Takeru of Izumo, where the clouds rise, has wound many vines about the sword he wears, but it has no blade. What a pity.

Having struck them down in this way, he went up and made his report.

Then the Emperor again commanded Yamatotakeru no Mikoto, saying, "Admonish and calm the wild gods of the twelve roads of the east and the people who matsurowanu — who do not submit." He sent with him Misukitomomimitakehiko (御鉏友耳建日子), the ancestor of the Kibi no Omi and others, and gave him a spear of hihiragi wood eight fathoms long (比比羅木之八尋矛).

When he had received the command and was setting out, he went into the great shrine of Ise and did homage at the court of the god, and said to his aunt Yamatohime no Mikoto, "Does the Emperor already wish me to die? He sent me to strike the bad men of the west, and no long time had passed since I came back up when, without giving me soldiers, he now sends me to calm the bad men of the twelve roads of the east. Thinking upon this, he wishes me to die soon after all." As he went away grieving and weeping, Yamatohime no Mikoto gave him the sword Kusanagi, and gave him a bag as well, saying, "If anything urgent should come, loose the mouth of this bag."

He came to the land of Owari and went into the house of Miyazuhime (美夜受比賣), the ancestor of the Owari no Kuni no Miyatsuko. He wished to take her at once, but he thought he would take her when he came back up, and made only a promise. Then he went on to the lands of the east, and admonished and calmed all the wild gods of the mountains and the rivers and the people who would not submit.

When he came to the land of Sagamu (相武國), the kuni no miyatsuko of that land lied to him, saying, "In the middle of this moor there is a great marsh. The god who lives in that marsh is a very fierce god."

So he went into the moor to look upon that god, and the kuni no miyatsuko set fire to the moor. Knowing that he had been deceived, he loosed the mouth of the bag his aunt Yamatohime no Mikoto had given him and looked, and there was a fire striker inside.

Then he first cut away the grass with his sword, and struck fire with the fire striker, and set a fire to meet the fire, and drove it back by burning. He came out again and cut down all those kuni no miyatsuko, and set fire to them and burned them. So that place is called Yakizu (燒津) to this day.

He left that place, and when he crossed the sea of Hashirimizu (走水海), the god of that crossing raised the waves, and the ship turned round and round and could not go on.

Then the queen, Ototachibanahime no Mikoto (弟橘比賣命) by name, said, "I will go into the sea in the prince's stead. The prince must finish the work he was sent to do and go back and report."

When she was about to go into the sea, they spread eight layers of rush mats, eight layers of leather mats and eight layers of silk mats upon the waves, and she went down and sat upon them. At this the raging waves grew calm of themselves, and the ship could go on. Then the queen sang:

Sanesashi sagamunoononi Moyuruhino honakanitachite Tohishikimiwamo

— On the moor of Sagamu, standing in the midst of the burning fire, you who asked after me.

Seven days later the queen's comb came in to the shore. He took up the comb, made a tomb, and laid it there.

He left that place and admonished all the wild Emishi (蝦夷), and calmed the wild gods of the mountains and the rivers. As he came back up, he reached the foot of the pass of Ashigara (足柄) and was eating his dried rice when the god of that pass came and stood before him in the form of a white deer. He waited and struck it with a piece of garlic left over from his meal. It hit the deer in the eye and killed it.

So he climbed the pass and stood there and sighed three times, and said, "Azumawaya (阿豆麻波夜)" — my wife. So that region is called Azuma (阿豆麻).

He crossed over from that land into Kahi (甲斐), and when he was in the palace of Sakaori (酒折宮) he sang:

Niibari tsukubaosugite Ikuyokanetsuru

— Passing Niibari and Tsukuba, how many nights have we slept?

Then the old man who kept the fire went on with the song and sang:

Kaganabete yoniwakokonoyo Hiniwatookao

— Counting up the days, by night it is nine nights, by day it is ten days.

He praised the old man and gave him at once the office of kuni no miyatsuko of Azuma.

From that land he crossed into the land of Shinano and admonished the god of the pass of Shinano, and came back to the land of Owari and went into the house of Miyazuhime, as he had promised before. When she offered up the great meal, Miyazuhime lifted up a great cup of wine and offered it. Now there was the blood of her monthly courses on the skirt of Miyazuhime's osuhi — her outer robe. Seeing that blood, he sang:

Hisakatano amenokaguyama Tokamani sawatarukubi Hiwaboso tawayagahinao Makamutowa arewasuredo Sanemutowa arewaomohedo Nagakeseru osuhinosusoni Tsukitachinikeri

— Across the Kagu Mountain of the far heavens a swan goes over like a sickle. Your arms, slender and soft as its neck, I thought to pillow my head upon, and I thought to sleep beside you, but on the skirt of the outer robe you wear the moon has risen.

Then Miyazuhime answered with a song:

Takahikaru hinomiko Yasumishishi wagaohokimi Aratamano toshigakihureba Aratamano tsukiwakiheyuku Ubenaubena kimimachigatani Wagakeseru osuhinosusoni Tsukitatanamuyo

— Son of the sun that shines on high, my great lord who rules over all in peace. As the new years come and go, the new moons too come and pass away. Well may it be, well may it be — waiting for you and waiting, on the skirt of the outer robe I wear the moon has risen.

So they were wedded, and he left his sword Kusanagi at Miyazuhime's house and went to take the god of Mount Ibuki (伊服岐能山).

He said, "I will take the god of this mountain with my bare hands." As he climbed that mountain he met a white boar at the foot of it, as big as an ox. He spoke out boldly and said, "This thing changed into a white boar must be the messenger of the god. Though I do not kill it now, I will kill it when I come back." And he climbed on.

At this a great hail came down and struck Yamatotakeru no Mikoto and dazed him.

He came back down, and when he came to the clear spring of Tamakurabe (玉倉部) and rested there, his mind came a little to itself. So that spring is called the spring of waking (居寤清泉).

He left that place, and when he came up to the moor of Tagi (當藝野) he said, "My heart was always minded to fly through the sky. But now my legs cannot walk. They have gone tagishiku — they stagger." So that place is called Tagi (當藝).

He went on a little way from that place, and being very weary he leaned on a staff and walked slowly. So that place is called the pass of the leaning staff (杖衝坂).

He came to the single pine tree on the cape of Ozu (尾津). The sword he had forgotten and left in that place when he ate there before was not lost but still there. Then he sang:

Owarini tadanimukaheru Otsunosakinaru hitotsumatsu aseo Hitotsumatsu hitoniariseba Tachihakemashio kinukisemashio Hitotsumatsu aseo

— Facing straight across to Owari, single pine on the cape of Ozu, my brother. Single pine, if you were a man I would gird you with a sword, I would clothe you in robes. Single pine, my brother.

He went on from that place, and when he came to the village of Mie (三重村) he said again, "My legs are weary, bent like something folded in three." So that place is called Mie (三重).

He went on from there, and when he came to Nobono (能煩野) he longed for his land and sang:

Yamatowa kuninomahoroba Tatanazuku aokaki Yamagomoreru yamatoshiuruwashi

— Yamato is the best of all lands. Ringed with green fences, fold upon fold, Yamato, held in the mountains, is fair.

He sang again:

Inochino matakemuhitowa Tatamikomo hegurinoyamano Kumakashigahao uzunisase sonoko

— Those whose life is whole, from Mount Heguri, folded like layered mats, set the leaves of the great oak in your hair, you men.

This song is a song of longing for the land (思國歌). He sang again:

Hashikeyashi wagihenokatayo Kumoitachikumo

— How dear it is — from the side where my home lies the clouds are rising.

This is a katauta (片歌). At this time his sickness grew very urgent. Then he sang:

Otomeno tokonobeni Wagaokishi tsuruginotachi Sonotachihaya

— Beside the maiden's bed, the keen long sword that I left there, ah, that sword!

When the song was finished he died at once. Then a post horse messenger was sent up.

His queens and his children who were in Yamato all came down and made a tomb, and they crawled round and round in the nazuki rice field of that place, weeping, and sang:

Nazukino tanoinagarani Inagarani hahimotohorofu Tokorozura

— Over the rice stalks of the field beside the tomb, over the rice stalks, creeping and winding round, like the yam vine we weep.

Then he turned into a white bird eight fathoms long (八尋白智鳥), rose into the sky, and flew away toward the shore.

His queens and his children tore their feet on the cut stumps of the bamboo grass, but they forgot the pain and wept and followed him. At this time they sang:

Asajinohara koshinazumu Sorawayukazu ashiyoyukuna

— In the field of low bamboo grass our waists sink, and the going is hard. We cannot go by the sky; we must go on foot.

Again they went into the salt water, and as they went nazumi — floundering along — they sang:

Umigayukeba koshinazumu Ohokawarano uegusa Umigawa isayofu

— When we go by the sea our waists sink, and like the water grass of the great river bed we sway in the sea and cannot go on.

Again, when he flew and settled on the rocks of that shore, they sang:

Hamatsuchidori hamayowayukazu Isozutafu

— The plover of the shore does not go by the beach but goes along the rocks.

These four songs were all sung at his funeral. So to this day these songs are sung at the great funeral of an Emperor.

From that land the bird flew up and stayed at Shiki (志幾) in the land of Kawachi (河内國). So they made a tomb in that place and laid him there. That tomb is called the tomb of the white bird (白鳥御陵). But from that place too he rose into the sky again and flew away.

Now when this Yamatotakeru no Mikoto went about calming the lands, Nanatsukahagi (七拳脛), the ancestor of the Kume no Atahi, always served him as his cook.

This Yamatotakeru no Mikoto took to wife Futajinoirihime no Mikoto, the daughter of Emperor Ikume, and the son born was Tarashinakatsuhiko no Mikoto (帶中津日子命).

He also took to wife Ototachibanahime no Mikoto, who went into the sea, and the son born was Wakatakeru no Miko (若建王).

He also took to wife Futajihime (布多遲比賣), the daughter of Ohotamuwake (意富多牟和氣), the ancestor of the kuni no miyatsuko of Yasu in Chikatsuafumi, and the son born was Inayoriwake no Miko (稻依別王).

He also took to wife Ohokibitakehime (大吉備建比賣), the younger sister of Takehiko of the Kibi no Omi, and the son born was Takekaiko no Miko (建貝兒王).

He also took to wife Kukumamorihime (玖玖麻毛理比賣) of Yamashiro, and the son born was Ashikagamiwake no Miko (足鏡別王).

The child of another wife was Okinagatawake no Miko (息長田別王).

The children of this Yamatotakeru no Mikoto were six in all. So Tarashinakatsuhiko no Mikoto ruled all under heaven.

Next, Inayoriwake no Miko was the ancestor of the Inukami no Kimi and others; next, Takekaiko no Miko was the ancestor of the Aya no Kimi of Sanuki and others; and Ashikagamiwake no Miko was the ancestor of the Kamakura no Wake and others.

Next, the son of Okinagatawake no Miko was Kuhimatanagahiko no Miko (杙俣長日子王), and the children of this prince were Iinonomakurohime no Mikoto (飯野眞黒比賣命), next Okinagamawakanakatsuhime (息長眞若中比賣), next Otohime (弟比賣).

So Wakatakeru no Miko, spoken of above, took Iinonomakurohime to wife and the son born was Sumeiroohonakatsuhiko no Miko; and this prince took to wife Shibanohime (柴野比賣), the daughter of Shibanoiriki (柴野入杵) of Afumi, and the child born was Kagurohime no Mikoto (迦具漏比賣命).

So Emperor Ohotarashihiko took this Kagurohime no Mikoto to wife and the son born was Ohoe no Miko (大江王); and this prince took to wife his half sister Shirokane no Miko (銀王) and the children born were Ohonakata no Miko (大名方王) and next Ohonakatsuhime no Mikoto (大中比賣命). This Ohonakatsuhime no Mikoto was the mother of Kagosaka no Miko (香坂王) and Oshikuma no Miko (忍熊王).

This Emperor Ohotarashihiko was a hundred and thirty-seven years old. His tomb is above the road of Yamanobe (山邊之道上).