Yamato Takeru
The statue of Yamato Takeru at Ōtori taisha
SpouseMiyazu-hime,
Futajiiri-hime [ja]
IssueEmperor Chūai
FatherEmperor Keikō
MotherHarima no Inabi no Ōiratsume [ja]

Yamato Takeru (ヤマトタケルノミコト, Yamato Takeru no Mikoto), originally Prince Ousu (小碓命, Ousu no Mikoto), was a Japanese semi-legendary prince of the Yamato dynasty, son of Emperor Keikō, who is traditionally counted as the 12th Emperor of Japan. The kanji spelling of his name varies: it appears in the Nihon Shoki as 日本武尊 and in the Kojiki as 倭建命.

The story of his life and death are told principally in the Japanese chronicles in Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720), but also mentioned in Kogo Shūi (807) and some histories like the Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki (常陸国風土記) (721). One of his sons became Emperor Chūai, the 14th Emperor of Japan.

His history is uncertain but based on the chronicles his life can be calculated.[citation needed] He was born circa 72 and died in 114. Details are different between the two books, and the version in Kojiki is assumed to be loyal to the older form of this legend.

Legendary narrative

Yamato Takeru dressed as a maidservant, preparing to kill the Kumaso leaders. Woodblock print on paper. Yoshitoshi, 1886.
Yamato Takeru attacking the Kumaso leader.
Yamato Takeru and his sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi

Prince Takeru slew his elder brother Prince Ōusu (大碓皇子, Ōusu no Miko). His father, the emperor Keikō, feared his brutal temperament. To keep him at a distance, the father sent him to Izumo Province, today the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture, and then the land of Kumaso, today Kumamoto Prefecture. However, Takeru succeeded in defeating his enemies, and in the latter case, he achieved this by cross-dressing as a maid attendant at a Kumaso drinking party to get close to the chieftain and stab him to death. One of the enemies he defeated praised him and gave him the title Yamato Takeru, meaning The Brave of Yamato. But Emperor Keikō's mind was unchanged.

Keikō sent Yamato Takeru to the eastern land whose people disobeyed the imperial court. Yamato Takeru met his aunt Princess Yamato-hime, the highest priestess of Amaterasu at Ise Grand Shrine (in Ise Province) and grieved, "my father wishes I would die?" Princess Yamatohime-no-mikoto showed him compassion and lent him a holy sword named Ame no Murakumo no tsurugi (Kusanagi no tsurugi), which Susanoo, the brother god of Amaterasu, found in the body of the eight-headed great serpent, Yamata no Orochi. Yamato Takeru went to the eastern land. He lost his wife Oto tachibana-hime during a storm when she sacrificed herself to soothe the anger of the sea god. He defeated many enemies in the eastern land, and legend has it that he and a local old man composed the first sedōka in Kai Province with Mount Tsukuba (now in Ibaraki Prefecture) as its theme. On his return he blasphemed a local god of Mount Ibuki, which sits on the border of Ōmi Province and Mino Province. The god cursed him with disease and he fell ill.

The story above is found in the Kojiki. In the Nihonshoki version, the father and Yamato Takeru keep a good relation. Takeru was also a god slayer who killed many evil deities, including the deity of the pass of Ashigara.

According to traditional sources, Yamato Takeru died in the 43rd year of Emperor Keiko's reign (景行天皇43年).[1] The possessions of the dead prince were gathered together along with the sword Kusanagi; and his widow venerated his memory in a shrine at her home. Some time later, these relics, including the sacred sword were moved to the current location of Atsuta Shrine.[2]

The statue of Yamato Takeru at Kenroku-en

Yamato Takeru is believed to have died somewhere in Ise Province. According to the legend, the name of Mie Prefecture was derived from his final words. After death, his soul turned into a great white bird and flew away. His tomb in Ise is known as the Mausoleum of the White Plover. A statue of Yamato Takeru stands in Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.

Worship

Owing to the legend of Yamato Takeru's death, he is worshiped as Otori-sama (The Great Bird). Otori shrines exist throughout Japan, and every November a festival is held on a day of the Rooster known as Tori no Ichi, literally "Market of the Bird". Worshipers pray for prosperity and vendors sell charms on shrine grounds known as kumade, which are miniature rakes adorned with auspicious objects like Maneki-neko or rice. Hanazono Shrine and Otori Shrine in Asakusa, Tokyo are famous for their large-scale Tori no Ichi. Larger Tori no Ichi can span multiple days and are referred to numerically as Ichi no Tori, Ni no Tori etc.

Comparative legends

Anthropologist C. Scott Littleton has described the Yamato Takeru legend as "Arthurian"[3] due to some structural similarities with the King Arthur legend. Common points include the use of two magic swords, of which the first validates the authority of the hero; the leadership role of a war band; the death to an enemy after giving up the sword to a female figure; a transportation to the after world; and others.[4] Littleton proposed that both legends descend from a common northeast Iranian ancestor.[5]

Shrines to worship

In popular culture

This article may contain irrelevant references to popular culture. Please remove the content or add citations to reliable and independent sources. (April 2018)

Family tree

Genealogy of early Japanese emperors and empresses
Nunakawahime[6] Ōkuninushi[7][8]: 278 
(Ōnamuchi)[9]		Kamotaketsunumi no Mikoto[10]
Kotoshironushi[11][12] Tamakushi-hime[10] Takeminakata[13][14] Susa Clan[15]
1 Jimmu[16]1Himetataraisuzu-hime[16]Kamo no Okimi[11][17]Mirahime [ja]
2 Suizei[18][19][20][21][22][23] 2Isuzuyori-hime[21][22][23][17][24]Kamuyaimimi[18][19][20]
3 Annei[25][11][21][22][23]〔Ō clan[26][27]〕〔Aso clan[28]〕3 Nunasokonakatsu-hime [ja][29][11]Kamo clan
TakakurajiMiwa clan
4 Itoku[25][11]Ikisomimi no mikoto [ja][25]Ame no Murakumo [ja]
4Amatoyotsuhime no Mikoto [ja][25]Amaoshio no mikoto [ja]
5 Emperor Kōshō[25][11][30]5Yosotarashi-hime[11]Okitsu Yoso [ja]
6 Emperor Kōan[11]Prince Ameoshitarashi [ja][30]Owari clan
6Oshihime [ja][11][30]〔Wani clan〕[31]
7 Emperor Kōrei[32][11][30][33] 7Kuwashi-hime[33]
8 Emperor Kōgen[34][33]8Utsushikome [ja][34]Princess Yamato Totohi Momoso[32]Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto[35]Wakatakehiko [ja]
9Ikagashikome[a] [37][38]
Hikofutsuoshi no Makoto no Mikoto [ja][38]9 Emperor Kaika[34]Prince Ohiko [ja][39]〔Kibi clan〕
Yanushi Otake Ogokoro no Mikoto [ja][38]10 Emperor Sujin[40][41]10Mimaki-hime [ja][42]〔Abe clan〕[39]
Takenouchi no Sukune[38]11 Emperor Suinin[43][44]11Saho-hime [ja][45]12Hibasu-hime [ja][46]Yasaka Iribiko[47][48][49]Toyosukiiri-hime [ja][50]Nunaki-iri-hime [ja][32]
Yamatohime-no-mikoto[51]
〔Katsuragi clan〕13Harima no Inabi no Ōiratsume [ja]12 Emperor Keiko[44][46]14Yasakairi-hime [ja][47][48][49]
Otoyo no mikoto [ja]
Futaji Irihime [ja][52]Yamato Takeru[53][54]Miyazu-himeTakeinadane [ja] Ioki Iribiko13Emperor Seimu[53][54]
14Emperor Chūai[53][54] [55]15Empress Jingū[56] Homuda
Mawaka
15Emperor Ōjin[56]16Nakatsuhime[57][58][59]
16Emperor Nintoku[60]


See also

Notes

  1. ^ There are two ways this name is transcribed: "Ika-gashiko-me" is used by Tsutomu Ujiya, while "Ika-shiko-me" is used by William George Aston.[36]

References

Citations
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  3. ^ Littleton, C.S. (1983).
  4. ^ Littleton, C. S. (1995), p. 262.
  5. ^ Littleton, C. S. (1995).
  6. ^ Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. pp. 104–112.
  7. ^ Atsushi, Kadoya; Tatsuya, Yumiyama (20 October 2005). "Ōkuninushi". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  8. ^ Herbert, J. (2010). Shinto: At the Fountainhead of Japan. Routledge Library Editions: Japan. Taylor & Francis. p. 402. ISBN 978-1-136-90376-2. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  9. ^ Atsushi, Kadoya (21 April 2005). "Ōnamuchi". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  10. ^ a b The Emperor's Clans: The Way of the Descendants, Aogaki Publishing, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. Columbia University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780231049405.
  12. ^ Atsushi, Kadoya (28 April 2005). "Kotoshironushi". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  13. ^ Sendai Kuji Hongi, Book 4 (先代舊事本紀 巻第四), in Keizai Zasshisha, ed. (1898). Kokushi-taikei, vol. 7 (国史大系 第7巻). Keizai Zasshisha. pp. 243–244.
  14. ^ Chamberlain (1882). Section XXIV.—The Wooing of the Deity-of-Eight-Thousand-Spears.
  15. ^ Tanigawa Ken'ichi [de] 『日本の神々 神社と聖地 7 山陰』（新装復刊） 2000年 白水社 ISBN 978-4-560-02507-9
  16. ^ a b Kazuhiko, Nishioka (26 April 2005). "Isukeyorihime". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  17. ^ a b 『神話の中のヒメたち　もうひとつの古事記』p94-97「初代皇后は「神の御子」」
  18. ^ a b 日本人名大辞典+Plus, デジタル版. "日子八井命とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-06-01.
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  23. ^ a b c Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida (1979). A Translation and Study of the Gukanshō, an Interpretative History of Japan Written in 1219. University of California Press. p. 251. ISBN 9780520034600.
  24. ^ 『図説　歴代天皇紀』p42-43「綏靖天皇」
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  26. ^ Grapard, Allan G. (2023-04-28). The Protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Kasuga Cult in Japanese History. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-91036-2.
  27. ^ Tenri Journal of Religion. Tenri University Press. 1968.
  28. ^ Takano, Tomoaki; Uchimura, Hiroaki (2006). History and Festivals of the Aso Shrine. Aso Shrine, Ichinomiya, Aso City.: Aso Shrine.
  29. ^ Anston, p. 143 (Vol. 1)
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  31. ^ Watase, Masatada [in Japanese] (1983). "Kakinomoto no Hitomaro". Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典 (in Japanese). Vol. 1. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. pp. 586–588. OCLC 11917421.
  32. ^ a b c Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, Volume 2. The Japan Society London. pp. 150–164. ISBN 9780524053478.
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  35. ^ Louis-Frédéric, "Kibitsu-hiko no Mikoto" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 513.
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  37. ^ Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, Volume 2. The Japan Society London. p. 109 & 149–150. ISBN 9780524053478.
  38. ^ a b c d Shimazu Norifumi (March 15, 2006). "Takeshiuchi no Sukune". eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
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  41. ^ Henshall, Kenneth (2013-11-07). Historical Dictionary of Japan to 1945. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7872-3.
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