Emperor Ojin應神天皇

Homudawake no Mikoto dwelt in the palace of Akira at Karushima (輕嶋之明宮) and ruled all under heaven.

This Emperor took to wife three princesses, the daughters of Homuda no Mawaka no Miko (品陀眞若王): the first was Takaki no Iribime no Mikoto (高木之入日賣命), next Nakatsuhime no Mikoto (中日賣命), next Otohime no Mikoto (弟日賣命).

The children of Takaki no Iribime were Nukata no Ohonakatsuhiko no Mikoto (額田大中日子命), next Ohoyamamori no Mikoto (大山守命), next Iza no Mawaka no Mikoto (伊奢之眞若命), next their sister Ohohara no Iratsume (大原郎女), next Takamoku no Iratsume (高目郎女).

The children of Nakatsuhime no Mikoto were Ki no Arata no Iratsume (木之荒田郎女), next Ohosazaki no Mikoto (大雀命), next Netori no Mikoto (根鳥命).

The children of Otohime no Mikoto were Abe no Iratsume (阿倍郎女), next Aguchi no Mihara no Iratsume (阿具知能三腹郎女), next Ki no Uno no Iratsume (木之菟野郎女), next Mino no Iratsume (三野郎女).

He also took to wife Miyanushiyakawaehime (宮主矢河枝比賣), the daughter of Hifure no Ohomi of Wani (丸邇之比布禮能意富美), and the children born were Uji no Wakiiratsuko (宇遲能和紀郎子), next his sister Yata no Wakiiratsume (八田若郎女), and next Metori no Miko (女鳥王).

He also took to wife Onabe no Iratsume (袁那辨郎女), the younger sister of that Yakawaehime, and the child born was Uji no Wakairatsume (宇遲之若郎女).

He also took to wife Okinagamawakanakatsuhime (息長眞若中比賣), the daughter of Kuhimatanagahiko no Miko, and the child born was Wakanukefutamata no Miko (若沼毛二俣王).

He also took to wife Itoihime (糸井比賣), the daughter of Shimatarine (嶋垂根), the ancestor of the Tabe no Muraji of Sakurai (櫻井田部連), and the child born was Hayabusawake no Mikoto (速總別命).

He also took to wife Izuminonagahime (泉長比賣) of Himuka, and the children born were Ohohae no Miko (大羽江王), next Ohae no Miko (小羽江王), next Hatabi no Wakiiratsume (幡日之若郎女).

He also took to wife Kagurohime (迦具漏比賣), and the children born were Kawarada no Iratsume (川原田郎女), next Tama no Iratsume (玉郎女), next Osaka no Ohonakatsuhime (忍坂大中比賣), next Tohoshi no Iratsume (登富志郎女), next Kataji no Miko (迦多遲王).

He also took to wife Nonoirome (野伊呂賣) of Kazuraki, and the child born was Iza no Mawaka no Miko (伊奢能麻和迦王).

The children of this Emperor were twenty-six kings in all. Among them Ohosazaki no Mikoto ruled all under heaven.

At this time the Emperor asked Ohoyamamori no Mikoto and Ohosazaki no Mikoto, "Which do you love more, an elder child or a younger child?"

Ohoyamamori no Mikoto said, "I love the elder child." Next Ohosazaki no Mikoto, understanding the great intent behind the Emperor's question, said, "The elder child is already grown, and there is nothing to trouble us there. The younger child is not yet grown. It is he whom I love."

Then the Emperor said, "'Sazaki,' 'agi' — your words are as I think."

At once he divided their charges. Ohoyamamori no Mikoto was to take the affairs of the mountains and the sea; Ohosazaki no Mikoto was to take the government of the realm and report upon it; and Uji no Wakiiratsuko was to succeed to the heavenly sun-lineage. And so Ohosazaki no Mikoto did not disobey the Emperor's command.

Once, when the Emperor crossed over to the land of Chikatsuafumi, he stood upon the moor of Uji (宇遲野), looked out over Kazuno (葛野), and sang:

Chibano kazunoomireba Momochidaru yaniwamomiyu Kuninohomomiyu

— Looking out over leafy Kazuno, I see a village full of houses, I see the rich land of the country.

When he came to the village of Kohata (木幡村), he met a lovely maiden at a crossroads.

The Emperor asked the maiden, "Whose daughter are you?" She answered, "I am the daughter of Hifure no Ohomi of Wani. My name is Miyanushiyakawaehime."

The Emperor said to the maiden, "Tomorrow, on my way back, I will come into your house."

Yakawaehime told her father all of this, and her father answered, "This is the Emperor. It is an awesome thing. My child, serve him well." Then he adorned the house richly and waited, and the next day the Emperor came in.

When the great feast was offered, he had his daughter Yakawaehime raise the great cup of rice wine and present it. Then the Emperor, taking the cup as she held it out, sang:

Konokaniya izukunokani Momozutafu tsunuganokani Yokosarafu izukuniitaru Ichijishima mishimanitoki Mihodorino kazukiikizuki Shinadayufu sasanamijio Sukusukuto wagaimasebaya Kohatanomichini awashishiotome Ushirodewa odaterokamo Hanamiwashi hishinasu Ichihiino wanisanonio Hatsuniwa hadaakarakemi Shihaniwa nigurokiyue Mitsugurino sononakatsunio Kabutsuku mahiniwaatezu Mayogaki konikakitare Awashishiomina Kamogato wagamishikora Kakumogato agamishikoni Utatakedani mukahiorukamo Isohiorukamo

— This crab, where is it from? It is a crab of Tsunuga, come from afar. Crawling sideways, where has it come to? It touched at Ichijishima and Mishima, diving and breathing like a grebe, and along the rising and falling road of Sasanami I came on without pause, and on the road at Kohata I met a maiden. Seen from behind she is slender as a shield, her teeth are even as water-chestnut fruit, and the earth of the Wani slope at Ichihii — the top earth is red, deep red, the earth within is black, deep black, so the earth between the two, the earth not scorched in the fire, she has drawn dark along her brows. This is the woman I met. The girl I looked on and wished were thus, the girl I looked on and wished were so, sits facing me now, beyond my hoping, sits close beside me.

The child born of this union was Uji no Wakiiratsuko.

The Emperor heard that the daughter of the Morogata no Kimi (諸縣君) of the land of Himuka, whose name was Kaminagahime (髮長比賣), was lovely of face, and he summoned her up to serve him. When she put in at the harbour of Naniwa, the crown prince Ohosazaki no Mikoto saw the maiden and was taken with the grace of her form. He asked Takeuchi no Sukune, the prime minister, "This Kaminagahime who has been summoned up from Himuka — ask the Emperor in his great hall, and have her given to me."

When Takeuchi no Sukune, the prime minister, asked for this great command, the Emperor gave Kaminagahime to his son. He gave her in this way. On the day of the feast the Emperor had Kaminagahime hold the oak-leaf cup for the rice wine, and gave her to the crown prince. Then he sang:

Izakodomo nubirutsumini Hirutsumini wagayukumichino Kaguwashi hanatachibanawa Hotsuewa toriigarashi Shizuewa hitotorigarashi Mitsugurino nakatsueno Hotsumori akaraotomeo Izasasaba yorashina

— Come, my children, to gather field garlic, to gather garlic — and on the road I walk the fragrant flowering orange tree: its upper branches the birds have perched on and withered, its lower branches the people have picked and withered, and like the middle branch of a three-nut burr is the rosy maiden. Come, if I take her with me, it will be well.

He sang again:

Mizutamaru yosaminoikeno Iguhiuchiga hishigarano Sashikerushirani nunawakuri Hahekekushirani wagakokoroshizo Iyaokonishite imazokuyashiki

— In the pond of Yosami where the water stands, as the man driving stakes does not know that the water-chestnut stems are set there, as he does not know that the water-shield stems have spread, so my heart was truly foolish, and only now am I galled and sorry.

So he sang as he gave her. After he had received the maiden, the crown prince sang:

Michinoshiri kohadaotomeo Kaminogoto kikoeshikadomo Ahimakuramaku

— The maiden of Kohada at the road's far end, of whom I had heard only in rumour loud as thunder — now we lie pillowed together.

He sang again:

Michinoshiri kohadaotomewa Arasowazu neshikuoshizomo Uruwashimiomofu

— The maiden of Kohada at the road's far end lay with me without contending, and for that I love her the more.

Again, the Kuzu (國主) of Yoshino saw the sword that Ohosazaki no Mikoto wore, and sang:

Homudano hinomiko Ohosazaki ohosazaki Hakaserutachi mototsurugi Suefuyu fuyukinosu Karagashitakino sayasaya

— Sun-child of Homuda, Ohosazaki, Ohosazaki! The sword you wear is keen at its base and shakes at its tip, and under a winter tree it rings sayasaya like a dry branch.

Again, on the oak moor of Yoshino (白檮上) they made a crosswise mortar, and in that mortar they brewed the great rice wine. When they offered that wine, they beat the mouth-drum and made sport and sang:

Kashinofuni yokusuotsukuri Yokusuni kamishiohomiki Umarani kikoshimochiose Marogachi

— On the oak moor we made a crosswise mortar, and the great wine brewed in that mortar — drink it with relish, we pray you, our father.

This song is the one the Kuzu have always sung, down to this day, whenever they offer their great tribute.

In this reign the Amabe (海部), the Yamabe (山部), the Yamamoribe (山守部) and the Isebe (伊勢部) were established, and the pond of Tsurugi (劍池) was made.

Also, people of Silla came over. Takeuchi no Sukune no Mikoto led them and set them to the work of building embankments, and they made the pond of Baekje (百濟池).

Also, King Jogo (照古王), the ruler of Baekje, presented one stallion and one mare, sent in the charge of Ajikki (阿知吉師). He also presented a long sword and a great mirror.

Also the Emperor commanded the land of Baekje, "If there is a wise man among you, send him up." The man sent up in answer to that command was named Wangin (和邇吉師), and with him were sent the Analects in ten volumes and the Thousand Character Classic in one volume, eleven volumes in all.

Also two men were presented: the smith Karakanuchi (韓鍛), named Takuso (卓素), and the weaver Kurehatori (呉服), named Nishiso (西素).

Also the ancestor of the Hata no Miyatsuko (秦造), the ancestor of the Aya no Atai (漢直), and a man who knew how to brew rice wine, named Niho (仁番), also called Susukori (須須許理), came over.

This Susukori brewed the great rice wine and offered it. The Emperor, 'urage' — his heart eased by the wine set before him — sang:

Susukoriga kamishimikini Wareehinikeri Kotonagushi egushini Wareehinikeri

— On the wine that Susukori brewed I have become drunk. On the care-dispelling wine, the laughing wine, I have become drunk.

As he went along singing thus, he struck with his staff a great stone in the middle of the road at Ohosaka (大坂), and the stone ran away. And so the proverb says, "Even a hard stone gives way before a drunken man."

After the Emperor died, Ohosazaki no Mikoto followed the Emperor's command and yielded all under heaven to Uji no Wakiiratsuko.

But Ohoyamamori no Mikoto disobeyed the Emperor's command. He still wished to take all under heaven, and, having it in his heart to kill his younger brother the prince, he secretly gathered soldiers and made ready to attack.

Ohosazaki no Mikoto heard that his elder brother had gathered soldiers, and at once sent a messenger to tell Uji no Wakiiratsuko. Hearing this, he was startled. He hid soldiers along the riverbank, and on the hill above he stretched a fence and hung curtains, and he made a retainer pass for the king and seated him on a stool, so that the officials came and went and paid him respect, and it looked in every way like the seat where the prince sat.

Then, against the time when his elder brother would cross the river, he had the boat and its oars finely fitted out. He pounded the root of the sana vine (佐那葛) and smeared its slippery juice on the duckboards inside the boat, so that whoever trod there would fall. And the prince himself put on a hemp coat and hemp trousers, so that he had the look of a low man, and he took the oar and stood in the boat.

His elder brother hid his soldiers, put armour on beneath his clothes, and came to the riverbank. As he was about to board the boat, he looked at the richly adorned place and thought his younger brother was sitting there on the stool. He did not know at all that his brother was the one holding the oar, standing in the boat.

He asked the man at the oar, "I hear it said that there is an angry great boar on this hill. I wish to take that boar. Can it be taken?"

The man at the oar answered, "It cannot." He asked again, "Why is that?" He answered, "Many times and in many places men have tried to take it and could not. That is why I say it cannot."

When they had crossed to the middle of the river, he tipped the boat and threw him into the water. Then the elder brother rose to the surface and, drifting with the current, sang:

Chihayaburu ujinowatarini Saotorini hayakemuhitoshi Wagamokonikomu

— At the ford of Uji where the water runs swift, you who are quick to take the pole, come to me.

At this the soldiers hidden along the riverbank rose all at once, on this side and on that, and shot their arrows and let him drift. He came to the cape of Kawara (訶和羅) and sank.

When they felt with a hook for the place where he had sunk, it caught on the armour under his clothes and rang kawara. And so that place is called the cape of Kawara.

When his bones were hooked up, the younger prince sang:

Chihayahito ujinowatarini Watarizeni dateru azusayumi mayumi Ikiramuto kokorowamohedo Itoramuto kokorowamohedo Motohewa kimioomohide Suehewa imooomohide Iranakeku sokoniomohide Kanashikeku kokoniomohide Ikirazusokuru azusayumi mayumi

— Standing at the crossing of the ford of Uji, the catalpa bow, the spindle-tree bow. Though I set my heart on cutting it, though I set my heart on taking it up, at its base I thought of my lord, at its tip I thought of my wife, and bitterness came over me there, and sorrow came over me here, and I came back without cutting it — the catalpa bow, the spindle-tree bow.

The bones of that Ohoyamamori no Mikoto were buried on Mount Nara (那良山). This Ohoyamamori no Mikoto is the ancestor of the Hijikata no Kimi and others.

While Ohosazaki no Mikoto and Uji no Wakiiratsuko, the two of them, were each yielding all under heaven to the other, a fisherman brought great tribute. The elder declined it and had it offered to the younger; the younger declined it and had it offered to the elder; and while they yielded back and forth, many days went by. Since this yielding happened not once or twice, the fisherman grew weary of going to and fro, and he wept. And so the proverb says, "A fisherman indeed — he weeps over his own goods."

But Uji no Wakiiratsuko died early, and so Ohosazaki no Mikoto ruled all under heaven.

Again, in old times there was a son of the ruler of Silla, whose name was Amenohiboko (天之日矛). This man came over. The reason he came over was this.

In the land of Silla there was a marsh named Agunuma (阿具奴摩). By this marsh a low woman was sleeping at midday, and the sunlight struck her private parts like a rainbow. A low man thought this strange, and from then on he always watched what the woman did. From the time of that midday sleep the woman conceived, and she bore a red jewel. The low man who had been watching asked for the jewel and took it, and he always kept it wrapped at his waist.

This man had made a rice field in a mountain valley, so he loaded the food of the men who tilled it on one ox and went into the valley, and there he met Amenohiboko, the son of that ruler.

He asked the man, "Why are you going into the mountain valley with food loaded on an ox? You mean surely to kill this ox and eat it." He seized the man and was about to put him in prison. The man answered, "I am not going to kill the ox. I am only carrying the food of the men who till the field." Still he would not release him. So the man untied the jewel at his waist and presented it to the ruler's son.

So he released the low man, and he brought the jewel and set it beside his bed, and it turned at once into a lovely maiden. He married her and made her his principal wife.

The maiden always set out all sorts of rare dishes and fed her husband with them. But the ruler's son grew proud in his heart and reviled his wife. Then the woman said, "I am not a woman who should be your wife. I will go to the land of my forebears." And she secretly took a small boat and fled, and came over and stayed at Naniwa.

Amenohiboko heard that his wife had fled, and he followed her across. But as he was about to enter Naniwa, the god of that crossing blocked him and would not let him in. So he turned back and put in at the land of Tajima (多遲摩國).

He stayed in that land and took to wife Sakitsumi (前津見), the daughter of Matao (俣尾) of Tajima, and the son born was Tajimamorosuku (多遲摩母呂須玖). His son was Tajimahine (多遲摩斐泥); his son was Tajimahinaraki (多遲摩比那良岐); his children were Tajimamori (多遲麻毛理), next Tajimahitaka (多遲摩比多訶), next Kiyohiko (清日子).

This Kiyohiko took to wife Mehi of Tagima (當摩之咩斐) and the son born was Suganomoroo (酢鹿之諸男), next his sister Sugakamayuradomi (菅竈由良度美).

And so Tajimahitaka, spoken of above, took to wife his niece Yuradomi and the child born was Takanukahime no Mikoto (高額比賣命) of Kazuraki.

The things that Amenohiboko brought over with him were called the jewel treasures: two strings of beads, and a scarf that stirs the waves, a scarf that cuts the waves, a scarf that stirs the wind, a scarf that cuts the wind, and a mirror of the offing and a mirror of the shore — eight kinds in all.

The daughter of this god, named Izushiotome no Kami (伊豆志袁登賣神), dwelt there. Many gods wished to win this Izushiotome, but not one of them could marry her.

There were two gods. The elder was the man of the autumn hill, Shitahi (秋山之下氷壯夫); the younger was the man of the spring hill, Kasumi (春山之霞壯夫).

The elder said to the younger, "I asked for Izushiotome, but I could not marry her. Can you win this maiden?" He answered, "I will win her easily."

The elder said, "If you win this maiden, I will take off my upper and lower garments, and brew wine in a jar as tall as I am, and set out everything of the mountains and the rivers, and pay you my 'urezuku' — the stake of our wager."

The younger told his mother everything his elder brother had said. Then his mother took wisteria vines and in a single night wove and sewed a coat and trousers, socks and shoes, and made a bow and arrows, and she dressed him in that clothing, put that bow and those arrows in his hands, and sent him to the maiden's house. And the clothing and the bow and arrows all became wisteria flowers.

Then the man of the spring hill, Kasumi, hung the bow and arrows at the maiden's privy. When Izushiotome thought the flowers strange and was bringing them in, he stood behind the maiden, went into the house after her, and married her at once. And so she bore one child.

The younger said to his elder brother, "I have won Izushiotome."

The elder was galled that his younger brother had married her, and he did not pay the stake of the wager. When the younger grieved and told his mother, the mother answered, "In the things of our world one should follow the gods. Will you follow the 'utsushiki aohitokusa' — the people of this world — and not pay what you owe?" And resenting her elder son, she took jointed bamboo from an islet in the river of Izushi (伊豆志河), made a coarse basket of eight meshes, took stones from that river, mixed them with salt, wrapped them in the bamboo leaves, and had him lay this curse:

"As these bamboo leaves grow green and wither, so grow green and wither. As this salt fills and dries, so fill and dry. As this stone sinks, so sink and lie low."

So she cursed him, and set it above the smoke of the fire. Because of this the elder brother withered and sickened and dried away for eight years. The elder brother grieved and wept and begged his mother, and she had the curse turned back. Then his body became as it was before, and he was at peace.

Again, this Emperor Homuda's son Wakanukefutamata no Miko took to wife his mother's younger sister Momoshikiirobe (百師木伊呂辨), also called Otohimemawakahime no Mikoto (弟日賣眞若比賣命), and the children born were Ohoiratsuko (大郎子), also called Ohohodo no Miko (意富富杼王), next Osaka no Ohonakatsuhime no Mikoto (忍坂之大中津比賣命), next Tai no Nakatsuhime (田井之中比賣), next Tamiya no Nakatsuhime (田宮之中比賣), next Kotofushi no Iratsume of Fujiwara (藤原之琴節郎女), next Torime no Miko (取賣王), next Sane no Miko (沙禰王).

Ohohodo no Miko is the ancestor of the Mikuni no Kimi and others.

Again, Netori no Miko took to wife his half-sister Mihara no Iratsume and the children born were Nakatsuhiko no Miko (中日子王), next Iwashima no Miko (伊和嶋王). And the son of Katashiwa no Miko (堅石王) was Kunu no Miko (久奴王).

In all, this Emperor Homuda was one hundred and thirty years old. His tomb is on the hill of Mofushi at Ega in Kawachi (惠賀之裳伏岡).