“ Formerly there was a man, who riding in a ship, cast anchor in the land of Tajima. He was therefore asked, saying:—"Of what country art thou?" He answered and said:—"I am a son of the king of Silla, and my name is Ama no hihoko." So he dwelt in Tajima, and took to wife Mata no wo, daughter of Mahetsu mimi [One version has Mahetsu mi and another Futo-mimi] of that province, who bore to him Tajima Morosuke, the grandfather of Kiyo-hiko. ”

“ Inishiki no Mikoto said:—"Although the divine storehouse [62] is high, I can make for the divine storehouse a ladder. How, then, should it be hard to ascend to the storehouse?" Hence the proverbial saying, "You can ascend even to the divine storehouse of Heaven, if you only plant a ladder." This was its origin. Ultimately Oho-naka-tsu-hime no Mikoto gave them to Mononobe no Tochine no Oho-muraji, and made him to have charge of them. Therefore the Mononobe no Muraji retain charge of the divine treasures of Iso no kami up to the present time. ”

“ The Emperor, hearing the sound of their weeping and wailing, was grieved in heart, and commanded his high officers, saying:—"It is a very painful thing to force those whom one has loved in life to follow him in death. Though it be an ancient custom, why follow it, if it is bad? From this time forward, take counsel so as to put a stop to the following of the dead." [48]
A.D. 1. 30th year, Spring, 1st month, 6th day. The Emperor commanded Inishiki no Mikoto and Oho-tarashi-hiko no Mikoto, saying:—"Do ye each tell me the thing ye would dearly like to have." ”

“ Thereupon, Kiyo-hiko, when he received the Imperial orders, brought the divine treasures himself, and laid them before His Majesty. There was one Ha-buto gem, one Ashi-daka gem, one Uka no Akashi (red-stone) gem, one sun-mirror, and one Kuma-himorogi. [64] But there was one short sword called Idzushi, [65] which it suddenly occurred to Kiyo-hiko not to offer to the Emperor; so he concealed it in his clothing, and wore it himself. The Emperor, unaware of the circumstance of the concealment of the short sword, and wishing to be gracious to Kiyo-hiko, sent for him and gave him sake in the palace. ”

“ For this reason do thou, our august descendant, now show regret for the shortcomings of the late Emperor and be watchful in regard to the ceremonies of worship. If thou dost so, the life of thine augustness will be long, and moreover the Empire will have peace."
Now when the Emperor heard these words, he caused Fukayu nushi, the ancestor of the Nakatomi no Muraji, to use divination in order to discover who should be appointed to conduct the worship of the Great God of Yamato. Thereupon Nunaki-waka-hime no Mikoto answered to the divination, and was consequently appointed. ”

“ The Emperor Iku-me-iri-hiko-i-sachi was the third child of the Emperor Mimaki-iri-hiko-iniye. The Empress his mother was called Mimaki-hime. She was the daughter of Oho-hiko no Mikoto. The Emperor was born in the Palace of Midzu-gaki in the 29th year of the Emperor Mimaki, the 50th year of the cycle, Spring, the 1st month, the 1st day. From his birth he was of a distinguished appearance; when he grew to manhood, he had superior talent and large principles. His disposition was to be guided implicitly by truth and to avoid dissimulation. ”

“ Then he enticed the Empress, saying:—"If one serves a man by beauty, when the beauty fades, his affection will cease. [17] There are now many beautiful women in the Empire. They will come one after another and seek affection. How, then, canst thou trust always to thy beauty? It is my wish, therefore, to ascend to the immense felicity, [18] and of a certainty to rule over the Empire along with thee. So making high our pillows, [19] we shall complete a long hundred years. Would not this be (VI. 8.) ”

“ One writing says:—"In the beginning, when Tsunoga Arashito was still in his own land, he went into the country with an ox loaded with implements of husbandry. The ox suddenly disappeared, and seeking for it by its tracks, he found that the foot-prints ceased in a certain village. Now there was here an old man who said:—'The ox which thou art in search of entered this village, and the village chiefs said:—"With the implements which he is carrying let us fell the ox. We must surely prepare to slay and eat him. If the owner comes in search of him, we shall indemnify him with something." ”

“ The "Kojiki" mentions eight objects, not at all the same, however, and calls them the Eight Great Deities of Idzushi. Vide Ch. K., p. 261. Possibly the Idzushi short sword and the Idzushi spear were stone weapons. This passage is one of several evidences that Japan owes to Corea one element of the Shintō religion. The "Yengi-shiki" mentions several Corean Gods as being worshipped in Japan. The "Kojiki" mixes up this legend with that of Arashito given above. Indeed both are probably founded on the same occurrence. ↑ I can't find any king of this name in Silla History. ”

“ They are probably names of places. ↑ Mirror-valley. ↑ A Chinese saying. ↑ i.e. to take possession of the throne. ↑ A Chinese metaphor meaning "in security." ↑ Taka-miya means high-palace or shrine. ↑ Chinese expression for the State. ↑ The Japanese word for rice-castle is inaki. It may be doubted whether there ever was any such castle as that described here. Artless attempts at derivation furnish a considerable portion of the old myths and legends of Japan. Inaki is the term used for the Imperial granaries in the provinces, and was also applied to their custodians. ”

“ There is at present a village of this name in Yamato, but it was no doubt originally the barrack quarter, and the storehouses here referred to were to contain grain for the food of the army. The original commentary gives miyake as the Japanese name for these granaries. At a later period the miyake were local government offices. ↑ The "Kojiki" (Ch. K., p. 174) says that this was the first time a hedge of men was set up round a tumulus. ”