Of old, Izanagi no Miketo, in naming this country, said:—"Yamato is the Land of Ura-yasu:[1] it is the Land of Hoso-hoko no Chi-taru:[2] it is the Land of Shiwa-Kami-Ho-tsu-ma."[3]
(III. 35.)Afterwards Oho-namuchi no Oho-kami named it the Land of Tama-gaki no Uchi-tsu-kuni.[4]
Finally, when Nigi-haya-hi no Mikoto soared across the Great Void in a Heaven-rock-boat, he espied this region and descended upon it. Therefore he gave it a name and called it Sora-mitsu-Yamato.[5]
B.C. 619. 42nd year, Spring, 1st month, 3rd day. He appointed Prince Kami-nunagaha-mimi no Miketo Prince Imperial.
B.C. 585. 76th year, Spring, 3rd month, 11th day. The Emperor died in the palace of Kashiha-bara. His age was then 127.[6] The following year, Autumn, the 12th day of the 9th month, he was buried in the Misasagi[7] N.E. of Mount Unebi.
- ↑ Bay-easy. Explained to mean "which has peace within its coasts."
- ↑ Slender-spears-thousand-good. "Well supplied with weapons," say the commentators.
- ↑ Rock-ring-upper-pre-eminent-true (land).
- ↑ Jewel-fence-within-land.
- ↑ Sky-saw-Yamato. But Sora-mitsu really means "that fills the sky," i.e. that reaches to the farthest horizon. These names are merely poetical inventions. They were never in actual use.
- ↑ The "Kojiki" makes him 137.
- ↑ The Misasagi are still to be seen in large numbers in Japan, especially in the Gokinai or five metropolitan provinces. They are particularly numerous in Kahachi and Yamato.
In the most ancient times, say the Japanese antiquarians, the Misasagi or tombs of the Mikados were simple mounds. At some unknown period,
Misasagi, side view.
however, perhaps a few centuries before the Christian epoch, a highly specialized form of tumulus came into use for this purpose, and continued for several hundreds of years without much change. It consists of two
above, p. 13. It has nothing to do with akitsu, the dragon-fly. This insect may often be seen with its tail touching its mouth, so that its body forms a ring. The appearance of the province of Yamato, which is a plain surrounded by a ring of mountains, suggested the sitnile in the text. Later historians have converted this into a comparison of Japan to a dragon-fly with outstretched wings.
