it was called the Palace of Ihare no Wakazakura.[1] This was the origin of the name.
In this month the original title of "Nagamake no Muraji" was altered to "Wakazakura Be no Miyakko," and the Lord Steward, Areshi, was styled Wakazakura Be no Omi.
A.D. 403. 4th year,[2] Autumn, 8th month, 8th day. Local Recorders were appointed for the first time in the various provinces, who noted down statements, and communicated the writings of the four quarters.
Winter, 10th month. The Iso no kami conduit was excavated.
A.D. 404. 5th year, Spring, 3rd month, 1st day. The three Deities[3] who dwell in Tsukushi appeared within the palace and said:—"Why are we robbed of our people? We will now disgrace thee." Hereupon the Emperor prayed, but his prayer was not answered.
Autumn, 9th month, 18th day. The Emperor went a-hunting to the Island of Ahaji. On this day the Kahachi Horse-keepers' Be were in attendance on the Emperor, and held the bit. Before this the (XII. 9.) Horse-keepers' Be had been branded,[4] on the face, and none of their wounds had yet healed. Now the God Izanagi, who dwells in the island, spoke by the mouth of a hafuri, saying:—"I cannot endure the stench of blood." Accordingly divination was made, and the answer was, "The God dislikes the smell of the branding of the Horse-keepers' Be." Therefore from that time forward the branding of the Horse-keepers' Be was utterly discontinued.
19th day. There was a sound as of a blast of wind which cried aloud in the Great Void, saying:—"O thou Prince, inheritor of The Sword!"[5] Again there was a voice which
- ↑ i.e. young cherry. This cannot be correct. See above, 3rd year of Jingō Kōgu, whose capital was also at Ihare, and was called Wakazakura.
- ↑ We have not yet got down to times of accurate chronology. Wani's arrival was in 405, and it is not likely that recorders were appointed till a good many years later. Examples of these "statements" occur frequently below. Most of them fall under the description of folk-lore.
- ↑ Probably the three children of the Sun-Goddess mentioned at p. 37.
- ↑ The branding here is not a criminal punishment, but only a distinctive mark.
- ↑ The sword was one of the Regalia.
