072 Great Prince Yamato Takeru no Mikoto Yamato Takeru no Mikoto met a terrible storm when he was crossing Sagami Bay, to get from Sagami Province (Kanagawa Prefecture) to Kazusa Province (Chiba Prefecture). To calm the storm and save the fleet, his consort Princess Oto Tachibana Hime sacrificed ferself to the Deity of the Sea by leaping into the sea. Yamato Takeru no Mikoto quelled the uprising of the Eastern Provice. On his return passage he passed by the Slope of Usui (Usui Rass, Gunma Prefecture). From the top of the pass he viewed the Kantou Plain, and missing the beautiful consort Princess Oto Tachibana Hime who scrificed herself for his eastern campaign, he sighed and sang, "Azuma haya ! (Alas, my wife !)" The Eastern Province thus came to be called "Azama" country. Yamato Takeru no Mikoto then came into Kai Province (Yamanashi Prefecture) and rested in Sakaori Palace. When dusk fell, he was served dinner. Seeng the lights that were being lit, he asked his servants in a song, "Since I passed Tsukuba And Niibari, How many night have I slept ?" While no one was able to reply, the man in charge of the lights sang back, "Counting the days - Of nights there ar nine nights, Of days there are ten days." Yamato Takeru no Mikoto praised this reply. In Owari Province (Aichi Prefecture), he stayed at the house of Princess Miyazu Hime, the daughter of the Owari Clan leader. Here he heard of a violent and cruel Deity who lived in Mt. Ibuki in Oumi Province (Shiga Prefecture), and went to subjugate him, but without the Grass-Cutting Sword. He should have taken it, but it was left in the house of Princess Miyazu Hime. The violent Mountain Deity changed himself into a big snake, and blocked the mountain road. Yamato Takeru no Mikoto stapped over the snake without concern, considering it to be a mere messenger from the Mountain Deity. The Mountain Deity then brough clouds and heavy rain, darkening the mountains and the valleys. It was impossible to find the way, but Yamato Takeru no Mikoto pushed forward and finally came out of heavy fog. Light-headed from this, as though he had too mach to drink, he drank the water from a spring at the foot of the mountain and it awakened him. Thus he named the spring Sit-Sober Spring. When he return to Nobono in Ise Province (Mie Prefecture), he became seriously ill, end passed away. His father Emperor Keikou lemented the death of his son, and constructed an imperial tomb in Nobono to rest his body. However, Yamato Takru no Mikoto turned into a white bird and flew out of the tomb. People pursued it, and seeing that it landed in Kotohiki no Hara Plain in Minami Katsuragi District, Nara Prefecture, they constructed another imperial tomb. Yet the white bird flew out of it again, and this time landed in Furuichi in Kawachi Province (Minami Kawachi District, Ohsaka Prefecture). Another imperial tomb was built there, but all three are called by the same name: "The Imperial Tomb of the White Bird." This has been the outline of the record of Yamato Takeru no Mikoto, according to Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki) and Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki). It is indeed a lively, interesting story, and therefore some people consider it a fabrication, rather than factual. After all, a sixteen year-old boy went all the way to Kyuushuu and dressed up like a maiden and stabbed a robust enemy; during the campaign to the Eastern Province he was tricked to find himself in a burning field in Suruga Province (Shizuoka Prefeture), mowed the grass, turned the fire towards the enemy and vanquished them; he encountered a snake's poisonous vapour in Mt. Ibuki; after death he turned into a white bird and flew out of his graves. What a delightful set of tales. The legends, over time, became exaggerated and acquired false details, each of which propagated more. However, the general outline must have been factual. That is, the great ideal of the founding of the nation was set and executed by Emperor Jinmu, the first Emperor. The tenth Enperor Sujin pushed the ideals forward, dispatching Generals of the Four Roads. Yet much of the land must have remained untamed by the imperial house. Kyuushuu and the Eastern Province had to be subjugated, an imperative and important enterprise. Emperor Keikou, as well as his son Yamato Takeru no Mikoto, must have campaigned to cultivate and pacify the faroff land. I shall cite two examples as evidence. History of Liu-Song Dynasty (Liu-Song Shu) is an ancient atate history record of China, which was compiled in 487. In this record, a diplomatic document from Emperor Yuuryaku is included, which states: "From of old our forebearers have clad themselves in armor and helmet and gone across the hills and waters, sparing no time for rest. In the east, they conquered fifty-fyve countries of hairy men; and in the west, they brought to their knees sixty-six countries of various barbarians." From this entry it seems clear that several generations prior to the reign of Emperoe Yuuryaku, the members of the imperial house armed themselves to subjugate and pacify the peripheral areas in the eastern and western parts of Japan. Their genealogy is: Emperor Keikou - Yamato Takeru no Mikoto - Emperor Chuai - Emperor Ohjin - Emperor Nintoku - Emperor Ingyou - Emperor Yuuryaku. Yamato Takeru no Mikoto was the great grandfather of the grandfather of Emperor Yuuryaku. Therefore, the splendid campaigns by Yamato Takeru no Mikoto, covering the west and the east, seem to be portrayed in the diplomatic document of Emperor Yuuryaku. The other evidence is that the imperial house was always willing to commit itself to lead at times of national crisis, disregarding personal suffering and distress. This has been the attitude throughout history, as can be seen from the actions of Prince Shoutuku, Prince Naka no Oh-e, Emperor Go-Toba, Emperor Juntoku, Emperor Go-Daigo, and so on. In particular, the princes of Enperor Go-Daigo were all courageous. Prince Daitou no Miya Morinaga, Prince Takanaga, Prince Tsunenaga, Prince Munenaga, and Prince Kanenaga all faced up to the troubles and never flinched. If the descendants were thus, the ancestors must have been the same. The lineage was never broken, so we may surmise from the valour and bravery of the descendants the superb gallantry of their ancestors.

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