Biographies XXXIV: Early Retainers and Naturalized Settlers

Hikokunifuku

¶Hikokunifuku was a third-generation descendant of Ame-tarashi-hiko-kuni-oshihito-no-mikoto, a son of Emperor Kōshō (Note: following the Shinsen Shōjiroku; some accounts in that work make him a fourth-generation descendant). In the tenth year of Emperor Sujin's reign, Takehaniyasuhiko and his wife Ata-hime plotted rebellion. Haniyasuhiko was to attack the capital from Yamashiro and Ata-hime from Ōsaka, each by a separate road. The emperor ordered Hikokunifuku and Ōhiko-no-mikoto to strike Haniyasuhiko. Hikokunifuku took up a position facing Haniyasuhiko across the Wakara River. Haniyasuhiko stood on the riverbank and called out to Hikokunifuku from afar, "Why have you come leading an army?" Hikokunifuku answered, "You have defied Heaven and turned your back on the Way, and you mean to overthrow the royal house. That is why I have received the emperor's command and come to destroy you." Haniyasuhiko drew his bow and shot at Hikokunifuku but missed. Hikokunifuku shot back, and the arrow struck Haniyasuhiko in the chest and brought him down. Haniyasuhiko's army collapsed in rout, and more than half of them were killed or taken. In the reign of Emperor Suinin he became a Maetsukimi, a Great Minister (Note: following the Nihon Shoki). His son was called Ōkuchinou-no-mikoto. Ōkuchinou's son was called Naniwa-no-Sukune. Naniwa's son was called Ōyata-no-Sukune. Ōyata took part in Empress Jingū's campaign against Silla, and on the day of the army's triumphant return he remained behind as Chinju-shōgun, General in Command of the Garrison. He took as his wife Yūtōjo, a daughter of the king of that country, and had two daughters by her (Note: following the Shinsen Shōjiroku). Hikokunifuku had three grandsons (Note: this work does not record the name of their father). One was called Ōnaoro-u-no-mikoto, who in the reign of Emperor Seimu became Nukata-no-kuni-no-miyatsuko, Provincial Governor of Nukata. One was called Yachitari-no-sukune, who in the reign of Emperor Keikō became Kibi-no-Ana-no-kuni-no-miyatsuko, Provincial Governor of Ana in Kibi (Note: following the Kuji Ki). One was called Shionoritsuhiko, who was brave and strong; on top of his head he had a growth divided into three, five sun long, like a pine tree, and so he was styled Matsunoki-no-kimi, the Lord of the Pine. In the reign of Emperor Sujin, the land of Mimana sent up a memorial: "To the northeast of our country lies a district called Sanibun, three hundred ri on each side, whose people are prosperous. Silla wishes to take this land, and there is no end to the fighting, so that the people have no means of living. We beg that you send one general to seize it." The emperor was greatly pleased and ordered his ministers to choose a commander. The assembled ministers recommended Shionoritsuhiko, and the emperor accordingly sent him to guard the place. In that country an official was called "kichi," so his descendants took "Kichi" as their clan name (Note: following the Shinsen Shōjiroku).

Naniwaneko Takefuruguma

¶Naniwaneko-no-Takefuruguma (Note: this work and the Kojiki both write "Naniwaneko-no-Takefuruguma, ancestor of the Wani-no-Omi." The Shinsen Shōjiroku says that the Wanibe descend from Hikokunifuku-no-mikoto, a third-generation descendant of Ame-tarashi-hiko-kuni-oshihito-no-mikoto; another account says they descend from Naniwa-no-Sukune, a third-generation descendant of Hikooketsu-no-mikoto. Since this work and the Kojiki also name Hikokunifuku as the distant ancestor of the Wani-no-Omi, Naniwaneko was probably either the same person as Naniwa-no-Sukune or his son. It cannot now be examined in detail, so it is added here for reference), at the time of the rebellion of Prince Oshikuma, led troops together with Takeuchi-no-Sukune and destroyed him. In the sixty-fifth year of Emperor Nintoku's reign, there was in Hida a man named Sukuna. He had two faces, front and back, four hands and four feet, and no hollows behind the knees and no heels; he was nimble and swift and strong. He wore swords at his left and right and could shoot his bow both forward and backward; relying on his strength, he refused to obey orders and plundered the people. Takefuruguma received an imperial command and put him to death (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The Jingū chronicle of this work writes the name as Takefuruguma, and since there is a gap of one hundred and seventy years between the rebellion of Oshikuma and this event, the two seem to be different men. Yet the Kojiki, too, in its account of the killing of Prince Oshikuma, has "Naniwaneko-no-Takefuruguma," and in fact they are the same person).

Nomi-no-Sukune

¶Nomi-no-Sukune was a man of Izumo (Note: following the Nihon Shoki). He was a descendant of the fourteenth generation of Ame-no-Hohi-no-mikoto (Note: following the entry for the first year of Ten'ō in the Shoku Nihongi and the Shinsen Shōjiroku). He was known for his valor and strength. In the reign of Emperor Suinin there was in the village of Taima a man called Taima-no-Kehaya, who was fierce and strong enough to break horns and straighten hooks. He used to say to people, "Seeking strength in all four quarters, is there anyone who can match my strength? If I could meet a truly powerful man, I would settle the contest between us at the risk of death." The emperor heard this and asked his ministers, "Taima-no-Kehaya is the strongest man under Heaven. Is there anyone in the present age who can be his equal?" Someone recommended Nomi-no-Sukune. The emperor sent a messenger the same day and summoned him. When Nomi arrived, the emperor ordered a sumo bout, and the two men raised their feet and kicked at each other. Nomi stamped and broke Kehaya's ribs and loins, and Kehaya died. Thereupon all Kehaya's lands were granted to Nomi, and from this the village kept the place name Koshiore-da, "Broken-Loin Field." Nomi remained in the court's service. In the thirty-second year, Empress Hibasu-hime died, and the day of the funeral was fixed. Earlier, the emperor had forbidden followers to die with their lord. He therefore had his ministers discuss the funeral of the Empress. Nomi came forward and said, "To bury living people beside a tomb is truly inhumane and is not something to be shown to later ages. I have a good method; please let me follow it." He then called one hundred Hajibe, clay-workers, of Izumo, directed them himself, and had them make figures of men and horses and various other things out of clay; these he presented to the court, saying, "From now on, let these be used in place of living people and set up at tombs, and let this be the rule for later ages." The emperor was pleased and set up the clay objects at the Empress's tomb. For this reason these clay objects were called haniwa, and also tatemono, "things set upright." The emperor issued an edict making this a fixed institution, rewarded Nomi generously, and granted him the land of Sue. He appointed him to the office of Hajibe and changed his surname to Haji-no-Omi. From then on the Haji-no-Muraji held charge of imperial funerals in every generation (Note: following the Nihon Shoki).

Ame-no-Hiboko

¶Ame-no-Hiboko (Note: the Kogo Shūi writes the name Umi-no-Hiboko) was a prince of Silla. In the third year of Emperor Suinin's reign he crossed the sea and arrived at the village of Shisawa in Harima. The emperor sent Ōtomonushi and Naga-ochi to ask his circumstances. Ame-no-Hiboko replied, "I am a son of the king of Silla. I heard that a sacred sovereign reigns in Japan, so I yielded my country to my younger brother Chiko and came to submit." He then presented the treasures he had brought, one of each: the Hafuto-no-tama (Note: one text of this work has Hahoso-no-tama), the Ashitaka-no-tama, the Ukaka, the Akashi-no-tama, the Izushi dagger, the Izushi spear, the Hi-no-kagami, and the Kuma-no-himorogi (Note: one version in the notes of this work adds the Ikisasa sword, making eight kinds. The Kojiki lists eight kinds: two strings of jewels, the wave-raising scarf, the wave-calming scarf, the wind-raising scarf, the wind-calming scarf, the mirror of the offing, and the mirror of the shore, and these are the Great Deity of the Eight Shrines of Izushi). The emperor proclaimed to Ame-no-Hiboko, "Of the villages of Shisawa in Harima and Idesa on Awaji Island, I shall grant you whichever of these two you please." Ame-no-Hiboko asked, "If by Heaven's favor I may follow my own wish, I should like to travel through the provinces myself and choose the place." The emperor permitted it. Ame-no-Hiboko then went north from the Uji River into Ōmi and settled in the village of Ana, but left before long. He went on through Wakasa and westward to Tajima, where he finally made his permanent home. He took as his wife Matatori, daughter of Futomimi of Izushi (Note: this work also writes Futomimi as Maetsumimi or Maetsumi, and writes Matatori in other characters, Matano-o). From them was born Tajima-no-Hinaraki, and Hinaraki fathered Kiyohiko (Note: following the Nihon Shoki; the notes to this work were also consulted. The Kojiki gives the following account. In the land of Silla there was a marsh called Agunuma. A woman was sleeping by the marsh in the daytime when a ray of sunlight, like a rainbow, shone straight upon her private parts. A farmer nearby saw this and thought it strange. Before long the woman conceived and gave birth to a red jewel. The farmer begged the jewel from her and always wore it at his waist as he farmed in the mountain valleys. One day, as he was taking food loaded on an ox to the laborers, he met Ame-no-Hiboko, a son of the king. Ame-no-Hiboko assumed that he meant to go into the mountains and kill the ox, and was about to punish him. The farmer offered the jewel to atone for the offense. Ame-no-Hiboko set the jewel beside his bed, and it turned into a beautiful woman. Ame-no-Hiboko was delighted and made her his wife. After a long time, however, he began to treat her with contempt and abuse, and the wife grew angry and said, "I am not by origin a woman fit to be your wife. I shall return to the land of my parents." She boarded a small boat and came to Naniwa. This is the Goddess Akaru-hime, who is enshrined at the Himekoso shrine in Naniwa. Ame-no-Hiboko pursued her and likewise reached Naniwa, but the deity blocked the way and he could not advance; he withdrew and remained in Tajima. There he married Maetsumi, daughter of Tajima-no-Matao, and fathered Tajima-morosuku. Morosuku fathered Tajima-hine, and Hine fathered Tajima-hinaraki. Hinaraki had three sons, called Tajima-mori, Tajima-hitaka, and Kiyohiko. Tajima-hitaka married his niece Yuradomi and had Katsuragi-no-Takanuka-hime-no-mikoto. Takanuka-hime became the consort of Okinaga-no-Sukune-no-mikoto and bore Okinaga-tarashi-hime-no-mikoto). Kiyohiko lived in Tajima for generation after generation. Earlier, the various treasures that Ame-no-Hiboko had presented had been stored in Tajima, and the local people revered them and treated them as sacred treasures (Note: following the Nihon Shoki).

¶In the eighty-eighth year, the emperor issued an edict expressing his wish to see them and sent a messenger to have Kiyohiko present them. Kiyohiko came himself, bearing the treasures, but in his heart he cherished the Izushi dagger above all and secretly hid it inside his garments. The emperor did not know this and summoned Kiyohiko and gave him wine in his presence. Just then the dagger appeared from inside his clothing; the emperor saw it, wondered at it, and questioned him. Kiyohiko, knowing he could not conceal it, answered truthfully. The emperor said, "How can a sacred treasure be separated from its companions?" and had everything placed in the Kamu-no-kura, the sacred storehouse. Later, however, when the storehouse was opened, the dagger could not be found. The emperor sent to ask Kiyohiko, who answered, "Last night that dagger came of its own accord to my house, and in the morning it was lost again." The emperor thought this all the more marvelous and did not search for it further. Afterward the dagger was found on Awaji Island. The islanders took it for a god, built a shrine, and worshiped it. Kiyohiko's son was called Tajimamori (Note: following the Nihon Shoki).

Tajimamori

¶Tajimamori (Note: the "Tensho" quoted in the Shaku Nihongi has "Tajima-no-motsuka," but the character 果 (ka) is probably an error for 裹 (also ka); "Tajima-no-motsuka" and "Tajimamori" are close in their kun readings) was sent in the ninetieth year of Emperor Suinin's reign to the land of Tokoyo and ordered to seek the tokijiku-no-kaku-no-konomi, the fragrant fruit of unfailing season. Tajimamori put out to sea, crossed perilous waters, and at last reached Tokoyo, where he obtained eight poles and eight strings of the fragrant fruit and returned home. This was in the third month of the first year of Emperor Keikō (Note: the "Tensho" says the second year). By then Emperor Suinin had already died, so he offered the fragrant fruit at the imperial mausoleum (Note: the statement that he offered the fruit follows the "Tensho." The Kojiki says that half of the fruit was divided and presented to the Empress Dowager, but according to the Nihon Shoki Empress Hibasu-hime died before Emperor Suinin, so that account is not adopted) and said, "I received the court's command and went far to a land beyond the farthest bounds. I trampled through waves of ten thousand ri and crossed the distant Weak Water. Tokoyo is a hidden land of divine immortals, not a place that ordinary people can easily reach. Thus in going and returning, ten years passed of themselves. I never thought that I would pass over the raging waves and return again to this country. By the grace of your sacred power I have at last come back. But the emperor has already died, and I cannot report the completion of my mission. What good is it for me to live?" Then he bowed before the mausoleum, wept aloud, and died. There was no one who heard of it and did not shed tears (Note: following the Nihon Shoki). The emperor pitied his loyalty and had him buried beside the Fushimi Mausoleum (Note: following the "Tensho" quoted in the Shaku Nihongi). The tokijiku-no-kaku-no-konomi is what is now called the tachibana, the mandarin orange (Note: following the Nihon Shoki).

Itote

¶Itote was a descendant of Ame-no-Hiboko (Note: following the Chikuzen Fudoki quoted in the Shaku Nihongi. That work says he was a descendant of Hiboko, who descended from Mount Oro in the land of Koma. According to the Shinsen Shōjiroku, the Itoi-no-Miyatsuko share a common ancestor with the Isoshi-no-Omi and are descendants of Ame-no-Hiboko-no-mikoto of Silla. Itote in fact was styled Isoshi; so although the Fudoki speaks of the land of Koma, Hiboko is the same as Ame-no-Hiboko of Silla, and it is clear that these are not different men). He lived in the Ito district of Tsukushi. In the eighth year of Emperor Chūai's reign, when the emperor himself reached Tsukushi to subdue the Kumaso, Itote went out by ship to meet him as far as Hikoshima in Anato, set up five hundred branches of sakaki at the bow and stern, hung a yasakani jewel on the upper branches, a white-copper mirror on the middle branches, and a tosuka-no-tsurugi sword on the lower branches, and presented them. He said, "I offer these in the hope that your rule over the realm may be as free of flaw as the yasakani jewel, that your illumination and governance of mountains and seas may be as clear as the white-copper mirror, and that, bearing the long sword, you may bring peace to the world." The emperor was pleased and bestowed on him the name Isoshi. The people of the time called the land where he lived the Land of Iso, which later was corrupted into Ito. His descendants served in every generation as Ito-no-Agatanushi, Lords of the Ito District (Note: following the Nihon Shoki).

Achi-no-Omi

¶Achi-no-Omi (Note: the Shoku Nihongi and the Shinsen Shōjiroku also write the name Achi-no-Ō, but here the Nihon Shoki is followed) was a great-grandson of Emperor Ling of Han. When Han yielded the throne to Wei, he went, following the oracle of a sacred ox, to Taifang and obtained Hotaizui. The place resembled a palace city, so he founded a settlement there and sheltered the people. Later he told his father and elder brothers, "I have heard that a sage ruler lives in the eastern land. How could we not go back to him? If we remain here long, I fear we shall be destroyed" (Note: following the entry for the fourth year of Enryaku in the Shoku Nihongi). He led his son Tsuka-no-Omi, his younger sister Ukōtoku, and people of seventeen districts of seven clans, and came to submit. This was in the twentieth year of Emperor Ōjin's reign (Note: following the Nihon Shoki; for the younger sister Ukōtoku and the seven clans, the entry for the fourth year of Enryaku in the Shoku Nihongi is followed). The emperor issued an edict granting them the village of Hinokuma in Takechi district and settling them there (Note: following the entry for the third year of Hōki in the Shoku Nihongi). Achi-no-Omi submitted a memorial: "The men and women of Taifang all have talent and skill. Lately they have taken refuge between Kudara and Koma; their hearts are uncertain and they have not yet settled to which side they belong. We beg that, by Heaven's favor, you send envoys to summon them." The emperor commanded the Yahara-uji, the eight great houses, to summon them and made them public subjects. The Aya-uji of the various provinces are their descendants (Note: following the entry for the fourth year of Enryaku in the Shoku Nihongi). In the thirty-seventh year, on receiving an edict, he went to Kure together with Tsuka to seek seamstresses. They first went to Koma to ask for guides. The king of Koma had two men, Kureha and Kureshi, guide them to Kure, and they obtained four women: Ehime, Otohime, Kurehatori, and Anahatori. In the forty-first year they returned to Tsukushi. The Great God of Munakata wished to have these women, so Achi left Ehime behind and went on. On arriving at Muko in Settsu, he found that the emperor had died, and so he presented the other three women to Emperor Nintoku. When Emperor Richū was still Crown Prince, Prince Suminoe-no-Nakatsu raised a rebellion. Achi, together with Heguri-no-Tsuku, reported the disturbance, helped the Crown Prince onto a horse, and fled with him (Note: following the Nihon Shoki). When the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he made Achi a Kura-no-tsukasa, an officer of the treasury, and granted him a fief (Note: following the Kojiki).

Sake-no-Kimi

¶Sake-no-Kimi was a grandson of a king of Kudara. In the reign of Emperor Nintoku, Ki-no-Tsuno went as envoy to Kudara and was fixing the boundaries of its provinces and districts. Sake-no-Kimi was arrogant and discourteous, so Tsuno was angry and rebuked the king of Kudara. The king, frightened, bound Sake-no-Kimi in iron chains and, with Katsuragi-no-Sotsuhiko as escort, sent him to Japan as an offering. On arrival, Sake-no-Kimi fled and hid in the house of Nishigori-no-Koroshi of Ishikawa, and falsely said, "The emperor has already forgiven me. Please let me live with you." Some time later, the emperor did in fact pardon his offense. The Abiko, the headman, of the Yosami royal granary caught a hawk, which no one of that time recognized. The Abiko found it strange and presented it. The emperor summoned Sake-no-Kimi and asked him about it. Sake-no-Kimi replied, "In Kudara there are many of these birds. They can be tamed and kept, and they can also catch rats. In common speech they are called 'kuchi.'" The emperor therefore had Sake-no-Kimi keep it. Before long it was tame, and Sake-no-Kimi fastened a braided cord and tied on bells, set it on his arm, and presented it. The emperor had it tried in the Mozu plain of the hundred birds, and it caught many pheasants. He therefore established the Takakaibe, the hawk-keeping corps, and the land where the hawks were kept came to be called Takakai Village (Note: following the Nihon Shoki).

Hata-no-Sake-no-Kimi

¶Hata-no-Sake-no-Kimi was a son of Fudō-ō, a descendant of the First Emperor of Qin. His great-grandfather was called Kōman-ō and came to submit in the eighth year of Emperor Chūai's reign. His grandfather was called Yuzuki-no-Kimi (Note: following the Shinsen Shōjiroku. This work also writes Hata-no-Sake-no-Kimi as Hata-no-Kimi-no-Sukune Sake, and Yuzuki-no-Kimi as Yūzū-ō). In the fourteenth year of Emperor Ōjin's reign he came from Kudara and submitted a memorial: "I have led the people of one hundred and twenty districts to submit (Note: the Shōjiroku also gives one hundred and twenty-seven districts of the Koma surname, or the hundred families of twenty-seven districts), but we were obstructed by Silla and all remain in the land of Kara." The emperor ordered Katsuragi-no-Sotsuhiko to summon them, but after three years they had not returned. He then sent Heguri-no-Tsuku and others with troops to summon them, and at last they brought back the people of Yuzuki together with Sotsuhiko (Note: following the Nihon Shoki). Yuzuki presented many rare treasures, including gold, silver, jewels, and silks. The emperor was pleased and granted him the land of Asazuma-no-Wakigami in Yamato to settle on. Yuzuki had four sons, called Shintoku-ō, Fudō-ō (Note: one text has Uratō-no-Kimi), Unshi-ō, and Mura-ō. In the reign of Emperor Nintoku, the Hata warriors were distributed among the various districts and made to rear silkworms and weave cloth and to pay tribute in silk. The emperor used the thread, floss, and silk they presented for his clothing, praised its softness and warmth, and bestowed on Fudō-ō the surname Hada (Note: following the Shinsen Shōjiroku). Sake served Emperor Yūryaku. Once the emperor ordered the carpenter Tsuge-no-Mita to build a tall pavilion for the first time. Mita, directing the work on the pavilion, moved about nimbly, as if flying. An Ise uneme, a palace serving-woman, happened to look up, was startled, and fell, spilling the imperial meal she was carrying. The emperor suspected Mita of some impropriety and handed him over to the Mononobe to be executed. Sake was in attendance and, wishing to admonish the emperor through the sound of the koto, played and sang a song. In it he sang, in substance, of the flourishing branches in the fields of Ise, where the divine wind blows, and of a craftsman who had vowed to serve his sovereign steadfastly for as long as those branches endured and had wished that his life too might last long; and he lamented, again and again, that such a craftsman, a craftsman so worthy of regret, should be lost. The emperor was moved and pardoned Mita. Before this, the Hata clan had been scattered and did not belong to the Hata-no-Miyatsuko, and the Omi and Muraji had been using them as they pleased. Sake was at this time in the emperor's favor. The emperor issued an edict, gathered the hundred and eighty kinds of the Hata people, and put Sake in command of them (Note: the Shinsen Shōjiroku says that at that time the Hata had drifted and scattered, and of those who remained not one in ten survived. Sake asked, in recognition of his merit, that an imperial envoy be sent to search for and gather them. The emperor sent Chiisakobe-no-Ikazuchi, who led the Ata Hayato of Ōsumi and others in the search and gathered ninety-two groups, eighteen thousand six hundred and seventy people). Sake led these people in rearing silkworms, and presented silk and fine twill as taxes in kind, piling them up before the palace. For this he was granted the surname Uzumasa (Note: following the Nihon Shoki; one version in the notes of this work also has Uzumasa). It was chosen to carry the sense of "piled up in abundance and profitable." Also, by imperial command, the various Hata clans built an Ōkura, a great storehouse, beside the palace and stored their tribute in it. Then for the first time the office of Ōkura was established, and Sake was its chief (Note: following the Shinsen Shōjiroku).