The art of writing and printing was not introduced into Japan until A.D.
284, when it was brought from China. Up to that time therefore no written
accounts existed or could exist of the early history of the country. Oral
tradition was the only agency by which a knowledge of the events of that
epoch could be preserved and transmitted. That such a method of preserving
history(28) is uncertain and questionable no one can doubt. We may expect
to find therefore in the accounts which have come down to us of those
centuries which transpired before written records were introduced, much
that is contradictory and unintelligible, and much out of which the truth
can be gleaned only by the most painstaking research.
The oldest book of Japanese history which has come down to us is called
_Kojiki_,(29) or _Records of Ancient __ Matters_. This work was undertaken
by the direction of the Emperor Temmu (A.D. 673-686), who became impressed
with the necessity of collecting the ancient traditions which were still
extant, and preserving them in a permanent record. Before the work was
ended the emperor died, and for twenty-five years the collected traditions
were preserved in the memory of Hiyeda-no-are. At the end of that time the
Empress Gemmyō superintended its completion, and it was finally presented
to the Court in A.D. 711. By a comparison of this work with _Nihongi_, or
_Chronicles of Japan_, which was completed A.D. 720, only nine years after
the other, we are convinced that the era of Chinese classicism had not yet
fallen upon the country. The style of the older book is a purer Japanese,
and imparts to us the traditions of Japanese history uncolored by Chinese
philosophical ideas and classic pedantry which shortly after overwhelmed
Japanese literature. But in many particulars these two works, almost
equally ancient, supplement and explain each other. The events given in
the two are in most respects the same, the principal difference being that
the _Chronicles_ is much more tinctured with Chinese philosophy, and the
myths concerning the creation especially show the influence of that dual
system which had been introduced to give a philosophical aspect to the
Japanese cosmogony.
The _Kojiki_(30) has been translated into English, to which have been
added a valuable introduction and notes. The _Nihongi_ (_Chronicles of
Japan_) has never been translated entire into English, but has been used
by scholars in connection with the _Kojiki_. Among the Japanese it has
always been more highly esteemed than the _Kojiki_, perhaps because of its
more learned and classical style.
Besides these two historical works the student of early times finds his
chief assistance in the Shintō rituals(31) contained in a work called
_Yengishiki_ (_Code of Ceremonial Law_). They have been in part translated
by Mr. Satow, who for many years was the learned Japanese secretary of the
British legation, and who read two papers on them before the Asiatic
Society of Japan, and afterward prepared an article on the same subject
for the _Westminster Review_.(32)
It will be apparent from these circumstances that the knowledge of the
earlier events, indeed of all preceding the ninth century, must be derived
from tradition and cannot claim the same certainty as when based on
contemporaneous documents. Not only the whole of the so-called divine age,
but the reigns of the emperors from Jimmu to Richū, must be reckoned as
belonging to the traditional period of Japanese history, and must be
sifted and weighed by the processes of reason.
Relying on the narratives of the _Kojiki_ and the _Nihongi_, Japanese
scholars have constructed a table of the emperors which has been accepted
by the great mass of the readers, both foreign and native. It will be
found in the Appendix.(33) It must be remembered that the names of these
early emperors, their ages at the time of accession and at the time of
death, and the length of reign, must have all been handed down by
tradition during almost a thousand years. That errors and uncertainties
should have crept in seems inevitable. Either the names and order of the
successive emperors, or the length of time during which they reigned would
be liable to be misstated. If we examine the list of emperors(34) we find
that the ages at death of the first seventeen, beginning with Jimmu and
ending with Nintoku, sum up 1853 years, with an average of 109 years(35)
for each. The age of Jimmu is given as 127 years; of Kōan 137 years, of
Kōrei 128 years, of Keikō 143 years, of Nintoku, the last, 110 years, etc.
Then suddenly the ages of the emperors from Richū onward drop to 67, 60,
80, 56, etc., so that the ages of the seventeen emperors, beginning with
Richū, have an average of only 61-½ years. This reasonable average extends
down through the long series to the present time. It is plain that up to
this time there must have existed a different system of reckoning the ages
than that which pertained afterwards. Either the original epoch of the
Emperor Jimmu has been rendered more remote and the lives of the emperors
have been prolonged to fill up the space, or, if we assume the epoch of
Jimmu to be correct, we must suppose that a number of the emperors have
been dropped from the count.
The sudden depression in the ages occurs about the time of the
introduction of writing from China, which occurred in A.D. 284. Wani, who
came from Korea to Japan bringing continental culture with him, was
appointed tutor to the heir-apparent who became the Emperor Nintoku.
During his and subsequent reigns a knowledge of Chinese writing gradually
spread, so that the annals of the Imperial court were kept in regular and
stated order. This will account without difficulty for the sudden change
and for the irregularity of the early chronology.
Notwithstanding the almost absolute certainty of error which exists in the
received Japanese chronology, it is by far more convenient to accept it in
the form it is presented to us, and use it as if it were true. The early
history must be treated as traditional and only the later period from the
beginning of the fourth century can be accepted as in any sense
historical. Yet the events of the earlier period which have been preserved
for us by oral tradition are capable with due care and inspection of
furnishing important lessons and disclosing many facts in regard to the
lives and characteristics of the primitive Japanese.
In writing the history of Rome, Dr. Thomas Arnold(36) said that the only
way to treat its early history was to give the early legends in as nearly
the form in which they had been handed down as possible; that in this way
the spirit of the people would be preserved and the residuum of truth in
them would become the heritage of the present generation. We have tried to
treat the myths and legends of Japanese history in this manner, and have
given the principal stories as they are preserved among the Japanese.
_The Origin of the Celestial Deities._
The scene opens in the plain of high heaven. When heaven and earth began
there were three deities(37) in existence, that is:
Master-of-the-August-Centre-of-Heaven,
High-August-Producing-Wondrous-Deity,
Divine-Producing-Wondrous-Deity.
These three came into existence without creation and afterwards died.
Then two other deities were born from a thing that sprouted up like unto a
reed shoot when the earth, young and like unto floating oil, drifted about
medusa-like, viz.:
Pleasant-Reed-Shoot-Prince-Elder-Deity,
Heavenly-Externally-Standing-Deity.
These two deities likewise came into existence without creation and
afterward died.
The five deities above named are called the Heavenly Deities.
Next were born,
Earthly-Eternally-Standing-Deity,
Luxuriant-Integrating-Master-Deity.
These two deities likewise came into existence without creation and
afterwards died.
Next were born,
Mud-Earth-Lord and Mud-Earth-Lady,
Germ-Integrating-Deity and Life-Integrating-Deity,
Elder-of-the-Great-Place and Elder-Lady-of-the-Great-Place,
Perfect-Exterior and Oh-Awful-Lady,
The-Male-who-invites and The-Female-who-invites;
or Izanagi and Izanami.
The two deities named above together with these five pairs are called the
seven divine generations.
_The Creation of the Japanese Islands._
Then the heavenly deities gave commandment to Izanagi and Izanami to make,
consolidate, and give birth to this drifting land. For their divine
mission they received a heavenly jewelled spear. With this, standing on
the floating bridge of heaven, they reached down and stirred the brine and
then drew up the spear. The brine that dripped from the end of the spear
was piled up and became the island of Onogoro(38) or Self-Coagulated
Island. Then the pair descended upon this island and erected thereon a
palace eight fathoms long. Here they lived and begat successive islands.
The first was the island of Hirugo, which, as it was a miscarriage, they
put in a boat of bulrushes and let it float away. The second was the
island of Awa, which also is not reckoned among their offspring. The next
was the island of Awaji,(39) and the next the land of Iyo by which is
understood the present island of Shikoku.
So in succession they produced the islands of Mitsugo, near the island of
Oki, the island of Tsukushi, which is now called Kyūshū, the island of
Iki, the island of Tsu, and the island of Sado, and lastly the
Great-Yamato-the-Luxuriant-Island-of-the-Dragon-Fly, which is supposed to
mean the principal island, named in these pages the Main island. Afterward
they produced Kojima in Kibi, Ōshima, the island of Adzuki, the island of
Hime, the island of Chika, and the islands of Futago.
Thus were finished the labors of this industrious pair in producing the
islands of Japan. Then they turned to the duty of begetting additional
deities, and thirty-five are named as their descendants. But as their
names do not appear in the record of subsequent events, we omit them here.
Finally the Deity of Fire was born, and the mother in giving birth to this
child died and departed into hades. Izanagi was overwhelmed with grief at
his wife’s death. The tears which he shed turned into the
Crying-Weeping-Female-Deity. In his madness he drew the ten-grasp(40)
sabre with which he was augustly girded, and cut off the head of the Deity
of Fire. Three deities were born from the blood that stuck to the blade;
three were born from the blood that besprinkled the sword guard; two were
born from the blood which oozed out through his fingers as they grasped
the hilt; and eight were born from the head and trunk of the slaughtered
deity.
_Descent into Hades._
Then Izanagi resolved to follow his spouse into the land of hades. At the
gate of the palace of hades she came out to meet him. After an interview
with him she went back to seek the advice of the deities of hades. To her
impatient husband she seemed to tarry too long. So he broke off the
end-tooth of the comb stuck in his hair, and kindling it as a torch he
went in. He was appalled by the dreadful pollution of the place, and by
the loathsome condition of his spouse. He fled from the scene followed by
the furious guards. By guile and by force, however, he escaped and came
again to the upper regions.
_Purification of Izanagi._
Then Izanagi, in order to purify himself from the pollution of hades, came
to a small stream on the island of Tsukushi. So he threw down the august
staff which he carried and it became a deity. He took off his girdle and
it became a deity. He threw down his skirt and it became a deity. And he
took off his upper garment and it became a deity. And from his trousers
which he threw down there was born a deity. Three deities were born from
the bracelet which he took from his left arm, and three from the bracelet
which he took from his right arm. Thus twelve deities were born from the
things which he took off.
Then he found that the waters in the upper reach were too rapid, and the
waters in the lower reach were too sluggish. So he plunged into the waters
of the middle reach. And as he washed, there were born successive deities,
whose names it is not needful to mention. But when he washed his left
august eye there was born from it the
Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity,(41) or as she is often called the Sun
Goddess.
When he washed his right august eye there was born
His-Augustness-Moon-Night-Possessor. Then when he washed his august nose
there was born His-Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness. Thus fourteen
deities were born from his bathing. All these deities, as well as those
before produced, seem to have come into being in full maturity, and did
not need years of growth to develop their final powers.
Izanagi was greatly delighted with the beauty and brilliancy of these last
three children. He took from his neck his august necklace and gave it to
the Sun Goddess, saying, Rule thou in the plains of high heaven. Then he
gave command to the Moon-Night-Possessor, Rule thou the dominion of the
night.
And to His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness he commanded, Rule thou the plain of
the sea. But His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness did not assume command of his
domain, but cried and wept till his beard reached the pit of his stomach.
Then Izanagi said to him, How is it that thou dost not take possession of
thy domain, but dost wail and weep? He replied, I weep because I wish to
go to my mother in hades. Then Izanagi said, If that be so thou shalt not
dwell in this land. So he expelled him with a divine expulsion (whatever
that may mean).
_Visit of His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness to the Heavenly Plains._
Then His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness said, I will first take leave of my
sister who rules in the plains of heaven. When the Sun Goddess saw her
brother coming she put jewels in her hair and on her arms, slung two
quivers of arrows on her back, put an elbow pad upon her left arm, and,
brandishing her bow, she went out to meet him. She demanded of him why he
ascended hither. Then he replied that he had no malicious intentions; that
his august father had expelled him with a divine expulsion, and that he
had come to take leave of her before departing to the land of hades.
Thereupon she proposed to him a test of his sincerity. They stood on
opposite sides of the tranquil river of heaven. She begged him to reach
her his mighty sabre. She broke it into three pieces and crunched the
pieces in her mouth, and blew the fragments away. Her breath and the
fragments which she blew away were turned into three female deities. Then
His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness took the jewels which she wore in her hair,
and the jewels which she wore in her head-dress, and the jewels she wore
on her left arm, and the jewels she wore on her right arm, and crunched
them and blew them out, and they were turned into five male deities. Then
the Sun Goddess declared that the three female deities which were produced
from her brother’s sword belonged to him, and the five male deities which
were produced from her own jewels belonged to her. But
His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness was angry at this decision, and broke down
the fences of her rice fields, and filled up the water sluices, and
defiled her garden. And as she sat with her maidens in the weaving hall,
he broke a hole in the roof and dropped upon them a piebald horse which he
had flayed with a backward flaying.(42)
_Retirement of the Sun Goddess._
Then the Sun Goddess closed the door of the cave in which the weaving hall
was, and the whole plain of heaven and the Central-Land-of-Reed-Plains
were darkened, and night prevailed, and portents of woe were seen on every
hand. Myriads of deities assembled in the bed of the tranquil river of
heaven and besought the deity Thought-Includer, child of the
High-August-Producing-Wondrous-Deity, the second of the original trio of
deities, to propose a plan for inducing the Sun Goddess to reappear. They
gathered the cocks of the barn-door fowl and made them crow; they wrought
a metal mirror; they constructed a string of beautiful jewels; they
performed divination with the shoulder-blade of a stag; they took a plant
of Sakaki and hung on its branches the strings of jewels, the mirror, and
offerings of peace. Then they caused the rituals to be recited, and a
dance to be danced, and all the assembled deities laughed aloud. The Sun
Goddess heard these sounds of merriment and was amazed. She softly opened
the door and looked out, and asked the meaning of all this tumult. They
told her it was because they had found another goddess more illustrious
than she. At the same time they held before her luminous face the mirror
which they had made. Astonished, she stepped out, and they shut and
fastened the door behind her. And the plain of heaven and the
Central-Land-of-Reed-Plains became light again.
Then the assembled deities took council together, and caused
His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness to be punished and expelled with a divine
expulsion.
_His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness in Izumo._
So His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness came to the river Hi in Izumo. And he
found there an old man and an old woman and a young girl, and they were
weeping. And he asked them why they wept. And the old man answered. I once
had eight daughters; but every year an eight-forked serpent comes and
devours one of them; and now it is the time for it to come again. Then the
deity said, Wilt thou give me thy daughter if I save her from the serpent?
And he eagerly promised her. Then the deity said, Do you brew eight tubs
of strong _saké_, and set each on a platform within an enclosure. So they
brewed and set the _saké_ according to his bidding. Then the eight-forked
serpent came and putting a head in each tub drank up all the _saké_, and
being intoxicated therewith went to sleep. The deity then with his sabre
hacked the serpent in pieces, and the blood flowed out and reddened the
river. But when he came to the middle tail his sabre was broken, and when
he searched he found that within the tail was a great sword which he took
out. And this is the herb-quelling-great-sword.
Then His-Impetuous-Male-Augustness built for himself a palace and dwelt
there with his wife, and made the old man the master of his palace.
Here follows a line of legends relating to the deities of the land of
Izumo, which do not concern particularly our story, except that they show
that Izumo was closely connected with the early migrations from the
continent. It must be remembered that Izumo lies almost directly opposite
to Korea, and that this would be a natural point to which the nomadic
tribes of Asia would turn in seeking for new fields in which to settle.
_Plans for Pacifying the Land._
Then the heavenly deities consulted together how they might pacify the
lands of Japan. They sent down one of their number to report on its
condition. But he went no farther than the floating bridge of heaven, and
seeing the violence which prevailed he returned. Then they sent another;
but he made friends with the insurgent deities and brought back no report.
Again they sent an envoy, who married the daughter of the insurgent deity,
and for eight years sent back no report. After this they sent a pheasant
down to inquire why a report was not sent. This bird perched on a cassia
tree at the palace gate of the delinquent envoy, and he hearing its
mournful croaking shot it with an arrow, which flew up through the ether
and landed in the plains of heaven. The arrow was shot down again and
killed the envoy. Finally two other envoys were sent down, who landed in
Izumo, and after some parley with the refractory deities of the land
received their adhesion and settled and pacified the land. Then they
returned to the heavenly plains and reported that peace was established.
_Descent of the August Grandchild._
The Central-Land-of-Reed-Plains(43) being now reported as peaceful, the
heavenly deities sent
His-Augustness-Heaven-Plenty-Earth-Plenty-Heaven’s-Sun-Height-Prince-Rice-Ear-Ruddy-Plenty,(44)
who was a grandson of Her-Augustness-the-Sun-Goddess, to dwell in and rule
over it. There were joined to him in this mission(45) the
Deity-Prince-of-Saruta as his vanguard and five chiefs of companies. They
gave him also the string of jewels and the mirror with which the Sun
Goddess had been allured from the cave, and also the
herb-quelling-great-sword which His-Augustness-the-Impetuous-Male-Deity
had taken from the tail of the serpent. And they charged him saying,
Regard this mirror precisely as if it were our august spirit, and
reverence it as if reverencing us.
Then His-Augustness-Heaven’s-Prince-Rice-Ear-Ruddy-Plenty, taking leave of
the plains of heaven, and pushing asunder the heavenly spreading clouds,
descended upon the peak of Takachiho(46) in Tsukushi, a mountain which is
still pointed out in the present island of Kyūshū. And noting that the
place was an exceedingly good country, he built for himself a palace and
dwelt there. And he married a wife who was the daughter of a deity of the
place, who bore him three sons whom he named Prince Fire-Shine, Prince
Fire-Climax, and Prince Fire-Subside.
_Princes Fire-Shine and Fire-Subside._
Now Prince Fire-Shine was a notable fisherman and Prince Fire-Subside was
a hunter. And Prince Fire-Subside said unto his elder brother, Let us
exchange our occupations and try our luck. And after some hesitation on
the part of the elder brother the exchange was made. But Prince
Fire-Subside was not successful and lost the fish-hook in the sea. Then
Prince Fire-Shine proposed to his younger brother to exchange back the
implements which they had used. But the younger brother said he had had no
luck and had lost the hook in the sea. But Prince Fire-Shine was angry and
demanded his hook. Then Prince Fire-Subside broke his sword into many
fragments and made them into fish-hooks, which he gave to his brother in
place of the one he had lost. But he would not receive them. Then he made
a thousand fish-hooks and offered these. But he said, I want my original
hook.
And as Prince Fire-Subside was weeping by the sea shore the Deity
Salt-Possessor came to him and asked him why he wept. He replied, I have
exchanged a fish-hook with my elder brother, and have lost it, and he will
not be satisfied with any compensation I can make, but demands the
original hook. Then the Deity Salt-Possessor built a boat and set him in
it, and said to him, Sail on in this boat along this way, and you will
come to a palace built of fishes’ scales. It is the palace of the Deity
Ocean-Possessor. There will be a cassia tree by the well near the palace.
Go and sit in the top of that tree, and the daughter of the
Ocean-Possessor will come to thee and tell thee what to do.
So he sailed away in the boat and came to the palace of the
Ocean-Possessor, and he climbed the cassia tree and sat there. And the
maidens of the daughter of the Sea Deity came out to draw water, and saw
the beautiful young man sitting in the tree. Then he asked them for some
water. And they drew water and gave it to him in a jewelled cup. Without
drinking from it he took the jewel from his neck and put it in his mouth
and spat it into the vessel, and it clung to the vessel. So the maidens
took the vessel and the jewel clinging to it into the palace to their
mistress. And they told her that a beautiful young man was sitting in the
cassia tree by the well.
The Sea Deity then went out himself and recognized the young man as Prince
Fire-Subside. He brought him into the palace, spread rugs for him to sit
on, and made a banquet for him. He gave him his daughter in marriage, and
he abode there three years.
At last one morning his daughter reported to the Sea Deity that Prince
Fire-Subside, although he had passed three years without a sigh, yet last
night he had heaved one deep sigh. The Sea Deity asked him why he sighed.
Then Prince Fire-Subside told him about his difficulty with his brother,
and how he would accept no compensation for his lost fish-hook, but
demanded the return of the original. Thereupon the Sea Deity summoned
together all the fishes of the sea and asked them if any one of them had
swallowed this hook. And all the fishes said that the _tai_ had complained
of something sticking in its throat, and doubtless that was the lost hook.
The throat of the _tai_ therefore being examined, the hook was found and
given to Prince Fire-Subside.
Then the Sea Deity dismissed him to his own country, and gave him two
jewels, a flow-tide jewel and an ebb-tide jewel. And he set him on the
head of an immense crocodile and bade the crocodile convey him carefully
and come back and make a report. And Prince Fire-Subside gave the
recovered hook to his brother. But a spirit of animosity still dwelt in
his heart, and he tried to kill his brother. Then Prince Fire-Subside
threw out the flow-tide jewel, and the tide came in upon the Prince
Fire-Shine and was about to drown him. And he cried out to his brother and
expressed his repentance. Then Prince Fire-Subside threw out the ebb-tide
jewel and the tide flowed back and left him safe.
Then Prince Fire-Shine bowed his head before his younger brother, and
said, Henceforth I will be thy guard by day and night, and will faithfully
serve thee.
And His-Augustness-Prince-Fire-Subside succeeded his father and dwelt in
the palace of Takachiho five hundred and eighty years. The place of his
tomb is still shown on Mount Takachiho in the province of Hyūga of the
island of Kyūshū. And he left as his successor his son, whom the daughter
of the Sea Deity had borne him. And this son was the father of
His-Augustness-Divine-Yamato-Iware-Prince, who is known to posterity by
his canonical name of Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan.