Emperor Sushun崇峻天皇

Emperor Hatsusebe (泊瀬部天皇) was the twelfth son of Emperor Amekunioshiharakihironiwa. His mother was called Oane no Kimi.

In the second year, in summer, the fourth month, Emperor Tachibana no Toyohi died.

In the fifth month the army of Mononobe no Ōmuraji was startled three times. The Ōmuraji had wished from the first to do away with the other princes and to set up Prince Anahobe as emperor. Now he came to plot a change of ruler under cover of a hunt. He secretly sent a man to Prince Anahobe to say, "I pray to ride out and hunt with the prince at Awaji." The plot leaked out.

In the sixth month, the first day being a gapjin day, on the gyeongsul day, Soga no Umako no Sukune and the rest served Kashikiyahime no Mikoto and gave a command to Saeki no Muraji Nifute, Haji no Muraji Iwamura, and Ikuha no Omi Makui. "Make your soldiers ready, and go quickly and put Prince Anahobe and Prince Yakabe to death."

At midnight of that day Saeki no Muraji Nifute and the rest surrounded the palace of Prince Anahobe. Then a guard climbed first onto the tower and struck the shoulder of Prince Anahobe. The prince fell from the tower and ran into a side room. The guards raised candles and cut him down.

In the sixth month, on the sinhae day, Prince Yakabe was cut down. He had been on good terms with Prince Anahobe, and for that he was cut down.

On the gapja day Zenshin Ani (善信阿尼) and the rest said to the great minister, "The way of leaving the world takes the precepts for its root. We pray to go to Baekje and learn the law of receiving the precepts."

In this month an envoy of Baekje came to court bearing tribute. The great minister said to the envoy, "Take these nuns with you and cross over to your country, and let them learn the law of the precepts. When it is finished, send them back."

The envoy answered, "Your servants will go back to our land and speak first to the king. To send them after that will not be too late."

In autumn, the seventh month, Soga no Umako no Sukune no Ōomi urged the princes and the many officers, and they plotted to destroy Mononobe no Moriya no Ōmuraji.

Prince Hatsusebe, Prince Takeda, Prince Umayado, Prince Naniwa, Prince Kasuga, Soga no Umako no Sukune no Ōomi, Ki no Omaro no Sukune, Kose no Omi Hirabu, Kashiwade no Omi Katabu, and Kazuraki no Omi Onara led their soldiers together and went forward to strike the Ōmuraji.

Ōtomo no Muraji Kui, Abe no Omi Hito, Heguri no Omi Kamute, Sakamoto no Omi Nukate, and Kasuga no Omi led their soldiers together and came from the district of Shiki to the house at Shibukawa.

The Ōmuraji himself led his sons and his younger brothers and an army of his slaves, and he built a fort of rice sheaves and fought. Then the Ōmuraji climbed among the branches of a sumac, the tree that is used for dyeing clothes, and shot arrows down like rain. His army was strong and full. It filled the house and overflowed the fields.

The soldiers of the princes and the host of the many officers grew afraid and weak, and three times they drew back and returned.

At this time Prince Umayado had his hair bound at the forehead, and he followed behind the army. He reckoned with himself and said aloud, "Shall we be beaten after all? If I make no vow, it will be hard to win."

Then he cut a sumac and quickly made images of the Four Heavenly Kings. He set them on the hair of his crown and made a vow. "If now I am made to overcome the enemy, I will surely raise a temple and a pagoda for the Four Kings who guard the world."

Soga no Umako no Ōomi also made a vow. "If all the heavenly kings and the great spirit kings help me and guard me and bring me gain, then I pray that for all the heavens and the great spirit kings I will

raise a temple and a pagoda and spread the Three Treasures abroad."

When the vow was ended, he made all his soldiers ready and went forward and struck. Then there was Tomi no Obito Ichii, who shot the Ōmuraji down from the branches, and he cut down the Ōmuraji and his sons with him.

Because of this the army of the Ōmuraji broke of itself all at once. The whole army put on black clothes and scattered at Magarihara in Hirose, riding as though they hunted.

In this battle, of the children and the kin of the Ōmuraji, some fled and hid in the reed fields and changed their surnames and their names, and some ran away and no one knew where they had gone.

At that time men said to one another, "The wife of Soga no Ōomi is the younger sister of Mononobe no Moriya no Ōmuraji. The great minister used his wife's plan rashly and killed the Ōmuraji."

After the disorder was put down, Shitennōji (四天王寺) was built in the land of Settsu. Half of the slaves of the Ōmuraji and his house were divided off and made the slaves and the fields and the estates of the great temple. Ten thousand furrows of field were given to Tomi no Obito Ichii. Soga no Ōomi also followed his first vow and raised Hōkōji (法興寺) in the land of Asuka.

Toribe no Yorozu, the retainer of Mononobe no Moriya no Ōmuraji, was guarding the house at Naniwa with a hundred men. When he heard that the Ōmuraji had been destroyed, he rode away by night toward the village of Arima in the district of Chinu. He passed his wife's house and at last hid in the mountains.

The court took counsel. "Yorozu holds rebellion in his heart. That is why he hides in these mountains. His kindred must be destroyed quickly. Can we be slack in this?"

The clothes of Yorozu were worn and soiled and his face was thin, yet he came out alone, holding his bow and wearing his sword. The office in charge sent several hundred guards and surrounded Yorozu.

Yorozu was startled and hid in a bamboo thicket. He tied a rope to a bamboo and pulled it and shook it, so that others should mistake the place where he had gone in. The guards were deceived, and they pointed at the shaking bamboo and ran and cried out,

"Yorozu is here."

Yorozu then shot his arrows, and there was not one that did not hit. The guards were afraid and did not dare come near.

Yorozu then loosened his bowstring and put the bow under his arm and ran away toward the mountains. The guards followed along the river and shot at him, but none of them could hit him.

Then there was one guard who ran fast and got ahead of Yorozu and lay down by the river, and he shot and hit his knee.

Yorozu pulled out the arrow, and he drew his bow and shot. Then he lay down on the ground and cried out.

"Yorozu would have been the shield of the emperor and offered up his courage. He was not asked and examined, but instead he was driven hard and has come to this end. Let one who can speak with me come. I would hear whether I am to be killed or taken alive."

The guards vied with one another and ran and shot at Yorozu. Yorozu struck the flying arrows aside and killed more than thirty men.

Then with the sword he held he cut his bow into three pieces, and he bent the sword and threw it into the water of the river. With a small knife apart from these he stabbed his own throat and died.

The kuni no tsukasa of Kawachi sent up a writing to the court on the manner of Yorozu's death. The court sent down a writing and said, "Cut him into eight pieces and hang them up, scattered through eight lands."

The kuni no tsukasa of Kawachi followed the meaning of the writing, and as he was about to cut and hang the body, thunder rolled and a great rain fell.

Then there was a white dog that Yorozu had kept. It looked down and looked up and went round the body, barking. At last it took the head in its mouth and lifted it and laid it in an old grave, and it lay down beside the head and starved to death before it.

The kuni no tsukasa of Kawachi thought the dog most strange, and he sent up a writing to the court. The court grieved and could not bear to hear it, and sent down a writing and said, "This dog is a thing seldom heard of in the world. It is fit to be shown to those who come after. Let the kindred of Yorozu make a tomb and bury them."

Because of this the kindred of Yorozu raised two tombs side by side in the village of Arima, and buried Yorozu and the dog.

The land of Kawachi said, "By the river plain of Ega there are men who have been cut down, and they number some hundreds. Their heads and bodies are already rotted, and their surnames and names are hard to know. Only by the color of the clothes were their bodies taken away. Then there was a dog kept by Sakurai no Tabe no Muraji Inu, which took a body and a head in its mouth and joined them, and lay down beside them and guarded them fast. When the men who gathered the bodies came, it rose and went away."

In the eighth month, the first day being a gyemyo day, on the gapjin day, Kashikiyahime no Mikoto and the many officers urged the emperor forward, and he ascended the throne of the emperor. Soga no Umako no Sukune was made great minister as before, and the places of the lords and the great officers were also as before.

In this month the palace was made at Kurahashi.

In the first year, in spring, the third month, Oteko, the daughter of Ōtomo no Nukate no Muraji, was set up as consort. She bore Hachinoko and Princess Nishikite.

In this year the land of Baekje sent an envoy, and with him the monks Hyechong (惠總), Yeonggeun (令斤), and Hyesik (惠寔), and offered relics of the Buddha.

The land of Baekje sent the eunsol Susin (首信), the deoksol Ikmun (益文), and the nasol Bokbumisin (福富味身) to bring tribute, and with them it offered relics of the Buddha. It offered also the monks Yeongjo, master of the precepts (聆照律師), Yeongwi (令威), Hyejung (惠衆), Hyesuk (惠宿), Doeom (道嚴), and Yeonggae (令開); the temple builders Taeryangmitae (太良未太) and Mungagoja (文賈古子); the master of pagoda finials (鑪盤博士), the jangdeok Baekmaesun (白昧淳); the masters of tiles (瓦博士) Manamunno (麻奈文奴), Yanggwimun (陽貴文), Neunggwimun (陵貴文), and Seokmajemi (昔麻帝彌); and the painter Baekga (白加).

Soga no Umako no Sukune called the monks of Baekje and asked them the law of receiving the precepts. He put Zenshin and the other nuns in the charge of the envoys of Baekje, the eunsol Susin and the rest, and sent them away to study.

The house of Konoha, the ancestor of Asuka no Kinunui no Miyatsuko, was pulled down, and Hōkōji was built for the first time. The name of this land is Asuka no Makami no Hara, and its other name is Asuka no Tomada.

In this year the year sign was musin.

In the second year, in autumn, the seventh month, the first day being an imjin day, Ōmi no Omi Mitsu was sent on the Tōsandō to look at the borders of the land of the Emishi. Shishihito no Omi Kari was sent on the Tōkaidō to look at the borders of the lands by the sea to the east. Abe no Omi was sent on the Hokurikudō to look at the borders of Koshi and the other lands.

In the third year, in spring, the third month, the nuns who had gone to study, Zenshin and the rest, came back from Baekje and dwelt at Sakuraidera.

In winter, the tenth month, they went into the mountains and took timber for the temple.

In this year nuns were ordained. They were Zentoku, the daughter of Ōtomo no Sadehiko no Muraji; Lady Ōtomo no Koma; Zenmyō (善妙), a woman of Silla; and Myōkō (妙光), a woman of Baekje; and also the Ayahito Zensō, Zentsū, Myōtoku, Hōjō, Shōzen, Chisō, Zenchie, and Zenkō.

Tasuna, the son of Kuratsukuribe no Shiba Datto, left the world at the same time, and his name was called the Dharma Master Tokusai.

In the fourth year, in summer, the fourth month, the first day being an imja day, on the gapja day, Emperor Osada was buried in the tomb at Shinaga. This was the tomb where his mother the empress had been buried.

In autumn, the eighth month, the first day being a gyeongsul day, the emperor gave a command to the many officers. "I think to set up Imna. How does it seem to you, my lords?"

The many officers said in answer, "The government house of Imna may well be set up. We are all of the same mind as what Your Majesty has commanded."

In winter, the eleventh month, the first day being a gimyo day, on the imo day, Ki no Omaro no Sukune, Kose no Omi Hirabu, Ōtomo no Muraji Kui, and Kazuraki no Onara no Omi were chosen and made great generals. They led the omi and the muraji of the many houses as their under generals and their companies, and with more than twenty thousand soldiers they went out and stayed in Tsukushi.

Kishi no Kane was sent to Silla and Kishi no Itabi was sent to Imna, to ask about the affairs of Imna.

In the fifth year, in winter, the tenth month, the first day being a gyeyu day, on the byeongja day, there was one who offered a wild boar. The emperor pointed at the boar and gave a command. "When shall I cut off the man I hate, as the throat of this boar is cut?"

He made ready many weapons, more than was his wont.

On the imo day Soga no Umako no Sukune heard what the emperor had commanded. He feared that the hatred was for himself, and he called his party together and plotted to kill the emperor.

In this month the Buddha hall and the covered galleries of the great Hōkōji were raised.

In the eleventh month, the first day being a gyemyo day, on the eulsa day, Umako no Sukune lied to the many officers and said, "Today the tribute of the eastern lands is presented." Then he had Yamato no Aya no Atai Koma kill the emperor.

On that day the emperor was buried in the tomb at Kurahashi no Oka.

On the jeongmi day a post messenger was sent to the place of the generals in Tsukushi and said, "Do not be slack in the affairs abroad because of the disorder within."

In this month Yamato no Aya no Atai Koma stole away Kawakami no Iratsume, a consort of the Soga house, and hid her and made her his wife. Umako no Sukune did not know all this while that Kawakami no Iratsume had been stolen by Koma, and thought that she was dead. The matter of Koma's wrong against the consort came to light, and he was killed by the great minister.