Imperial Princes II

Imperial Prince Kagosaka

¶Imperial Prince Kagosaka was the fourth son of Emperor Chūai. Empress Jingū bore Emperor Ōjin. The consort Ōnakatsuhime bore Imperial Prince Kagosaka and Imperial Prince Oshikuma, and Otohime bore Imperial Prince Homuyawake. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The Kojiki, however, says that Homuyawake was born of Empress Jingū.)

Imperial Prince Oshikuma

¶Imperial Prince Kagosaka and Imperial Prince Oshikuma were half-brothers of Emperor Ōjin, born of a different mother and older than he. In the eighth year of Emperor Chūai, the emperor campaigned against the Kumaso together with the Empress. In the following year the emperor died at a temporary palace. The Empress campaigned in the west against the Three Kingdoms of Korea, returned, and gave birth to Emperor Ōjin in Tsukushi. In the second month of the year Kanoto-Mi, the Empress led the hundred officials and, bearing the emperor's coffin (the Shigū), set out to return to the capital by sea. When Kagosaka and Oshikuma heard of this, they plotted in secret and said, "The Empress has a child, and all the ministers follow her. She will surely set up an infant as lord. Why should we submit to a younger brother?" They therefore pretended to be building a mausoleum, went to Harima, and made a show of constructing a bridge of boats. From Akashi to Awaji Island they announced that they were taking stones to raise a tomb, and had their men each carry weapons, intending to meet the Empress in battle. At this time Kuramiwake and Isachi-no-Sukune took Kagosaka's side and, as generals, raised troops from the eastern provinces. Kagosaka and Oshikuma went hunting on the plain of Toga, and prayed, saying, "If our undertaking is to succeed, there will surely be a great catch." Presently, as the two sat in a makeshift hut, a red boar suddenly appeared, bit Kagosaka, and killed him. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The Kojiki says that Prince Kagosaka had climbed a kunugi oak and was sitting there when an enraged boar uprooted the tree and bit him to death.)

Imperial Prince Homuyawake

¶Imperial Prince Oshikuma (Note: the Shōji-roku calls him Imperial Prince Oshikumawake) had planned to raise an army together with his elder brother Kagosaka, but with Kagosaka's death the troops were seized with fear. Oshikuma said to Kuramiwake, "This is a great portent. We cannot wait for the enemy in this place." He therefore withdrew his army and encamped at Suminoe. When the Empress heard of the disturbance, she led her naval forces and arrived at Naniwa. Oshikuma drew his army back further, to Uji, and the Empress at length reached Kii. In the third month she sent the Minister Takeshiuchi and Takefurukuma to attack Oshikuma. Takeshiuchi and his men came out through Yamashiro and encamped on the north bank of the Uji River. When Oshikuma sent out his army and was about to give battle, his vanguard commander Kumanokori composed a song and sang it aloud to encourage his side. Takeshiuchi disbanded his troops, severed their bowstrings, and falsely proposed a truce. Oshikuma believed him, disbanded his own troops likewise, cut the strings of their bows, and threw them into the river. When Oshikuma's army had finished crossing the river, Takeshiuchi's soldiers strung new bowstrings and struck by surprise. Oshikuma said to Kuramiwake and Isachi, "We have been deceived. We now have no reserves and cannot fight again." He therefore pulled his forces back. At Ōsaka he fought Takeshiuchi, was utterly defeated, and fled. By the time he reached the chestnut grove of Sasanami, his soldiers had almost entirely collapsed. Cornered, Oshikuma sang a song of grief, and together with Isachi he threw himself into the ford at Seta and died. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Netori

¶Imperial Prince Homuyawake.

Imperial Prince Wakanuke-no-Futamata

¶Imperial Prince Wakanuke-no-Futamata was the eleventh son of Emperor Ōjin. The Empress Nakatsuhime bore Emperor Nintoku and Imperial Prince Netori. The consort Takaki-no-Iri-hime bore Imperial Prince Oda-no-Ōnakatsuhiko, Imperial Prince Ōyamamori, and Imperial Prince Izanomawaka. Miyanushi-no-Yakahime bore the Crown Prince Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko. Otohime bore Imperial Prince Wakanuke-no-Futamata. Itohime bore Imperial Prince Hayabusawake. Hyūga-no-Izumi-no-Nagahime bore Imperial Prince Ōhae and Imperial Prince Ohae. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The palace woman Kaguro-hime bore Prince Katashiwa. (Note: following the Kojiki. The Nihon Shoki and the Kuji Ki both say that the emperor had twenty children, male and female, whereas the Kojiki says he had eleven sons and fifteen daughters, twenty-six in all.)

Imperial Prince Nukata-no-Ōnakatsuhiko

¶Imperial Prince Nukata-no-Ōnakatsuhiko is Imperial Prince Netori. His children were Prince Nakatsuhiko and Prince Iwashima. (Note: following the Kojiki.)

Imperial Prince Ōyamamori

¶Imperial Prince Ōyamamori is Imperial Prince Wakanuke-no-Futamata. (Note: some texts write "no" in his name with a different character.) He had three sons and four daughters. The sons were Ōiratsuko, also called Prince Ōhodo; Prince Torime; and Prince Sami. His eldest daughter, Oshisaka-no-Ōnakatsuhime-no-Mikoto (Note: following the Kojiki), became the Empress of Emperor Ingyō. Her youngest sister Otohime, who was styled Sotoori-no-Iratsume, also entered Emperor Ingyō's inner palace. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) Ōiratsuko bore Prince Hikoushi, and Prince Hikoushi bore Prince Ōhodo. (Note: following the Jōgūki as quoted in the Shaku Nihongi.) When Emperor Buretsu died, Prince Ōhodo ascended the throne. This was Emperor Keitai. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Izanomawaka

¶Imperial Prince Izanomawaka is Imperial Prince Nukata-no-Ōnakatsuhiko. When the emperor (Emperor Ōjin) died, the Crown Prince (Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko) and Emperor Nintoku each yielded the throne to the other, and neither would accede. During this interval Ōnakatsuhiko tried to take charge of the imperial rice fields (mita) and granaries (miyake) of Yamato, and said to Ōu-no-Sukune, the steward of the rice fields, "The rice fields originally belong to the domain of Yamamori (Imperial Prince Ōyamamori). Therefore I shall administer them. You are not to have charge of them." Ōu did not obey and appealed to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince did not decide the matter, and referred it to Emperor Nintoku. The emperor likewise did not decide it himself, but summoned Yamato-no-Agako, questioned him, and relayed his answer to Ōnakatsuhiko. Ōnakatsuhiko acknowledged his own fault and let the matter rest. In the sixty-second year of Emperor Nintoku, while Ōnakatsuhiko was hunting at Tsuge, he noticed something like a hut in the fields. He sent a man to look, and it was a cave. He summoned Ōyamanushi, the Inagi, local headman of Tsuge, and asked, "What is this cave?" He answered, "It is an ice house, a himuro. One digs the ground a little more than ten feet deep, spreads thick layers of thatch and reeds, stores ice there, and covers it with grass, and it does not melt through the summer. In the height of summer's heat it is taken out and used." Ōnakatsuhiko therefore presented it to the emperor. From then on, every year at the end of winter ice was cut and stored, and when the spring equinox came it was distributed. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Crown Prince Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko

¶The Crown Prince Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko is Imperial Prince Ōyamamori. The emperor (Emperor Ōjin) had once wished to name Wakiiratsuko as his heir, but at that time Emperor Nintoku and Ōyamamori ranked above Wakiiratsuko in order of age. The emperor posed a question as a test, to sound out their inclinations. Ōyamamori's answer ran counter to the emperor's wishes, and the emperor was displeased. When he installed Wakiiratsuko, he ordered Ōyamamori to take charge of the mountains, rivers, forests, and fields. In the following year, when the emperor died, Ōyamamori, who had long resented not being made heir, and whose resentment was all the deeper because of the matter of the rice fields of Yamato, grew still more bitter. At that time the Crown Prince and Emperor Nintoku were yielding the throne to each other, and the Crown Prince had withdrawn to live at Uji. Ōyamamori secretly plotted rebellion and meant to attack the Crown Prince. Emperor Nintoku learned of the plan and told the Crown Prince. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The Crown Prince then had curtains and hangings lavishly spread out on a mountainside, so that it seemed as if the hundred officials were passing to and fro, and had one of his attendants, a toneri, sit on a folding stool in his place. He himself put on a cloth garment, disguised himself among the boatmen, took up the oar, and placed an ambush on the river bank to wait. Ōyamamori knew nothing of this. Before dawn he reached the river, and his several hundred followers all wore armor. As they were about to board the boats, they caught sight of the curtains on the mountain and took it for granted that the Crown Prince was there. When the boat reached mid-river, the Crown Prince ordered the boatman to stamp on the gunwale and tip the boat. Ōyamamori fell into the water and rose and sank, and the men in ambush shot arrows at him so that he could not get to shore, and at last he drowned. The Crown Prince searched for the body with a hook, found it at the ford of Kōra, and had it buried on Mount Nara. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The account in the Kojiki has also been drawn upon.)

Imperial Prince Hayabusawake

¶Imperial Prince Hayabusawake is Imperial Prince Izanomawaka.

Imperial Prince Ōhae

¶Imperial Prince Ōhae is the Crown Prince Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko. From childhood he loved reading, and with the men of Paekche, Achiki and Wani, as his teachers he became widely versed in the classics, and the emperor cherished him especially. In the twenty-eighth year of Emperor Ōjin, Koguryŏ presented a memorial that said, "The King of Koguryŏ instructs the land of Japan." The Crown Prince read it and was greatly angered; he summoned the envoys, rebuked them for their discourtesy, and tore the memorial up and threw it away before their faces. In the first month of the fortieth year he was installed as Crown Prince. In the following year the emperor died, and the Crown Prince yielded the throne to Emperor Nintoku, saying, "One who reigns over the world and governs the myriad people covers all things as Heaven does and holds all things as Earth does. When high and low are in accord and rejoice, the world is at peace. Now I am your younger brother, and moreover I lack virtue. How could I carry on the great enterprise? The Great King is by nature excellent and wise, the fame of your benevolence and filial piety has spread far, and you are already of mature years. It is you who are fit to be lord of the world. That the late emperor made me Crown Prince was not because of talent or virtue, but merely out of affection. How could I be equal to the heavy duty of the ancestral shrines and the altars of the state? Moreover, for the elder brother to be respected and the younger to be cherished is the way of a sage ruler and also the way of a foolish subject, and that is the constant principle even now. I beg, Great King, that without doubt you take the throne quickly. I shall assist you only as your subject." The emperor said, "No. The late emperor said, 'The throne must not be left empty for even a single day.' He chose in advance a man of bright virtue to stand beside him, so that he might succeed to the throne and be given charge of the people, and he made the proof of his favor widely known to all lands. Though I am not wise, how could I cast aside the late emperor's command?" He firmly declined and would not accept. The Crown Prince also would not consent to accede, withdrew to Uji, built a palace, and lived there. Thus the throne stood empty for as long as three years. Once a fisherman presented fresh fish at the Uji palace. The Crown Prince said, "I am not the emperor," and had it sent on to Naniwa. The emperor in turn declined and directed that it be presented at Uji. The fish spoiled on the road; they caught fresh fish and presented them again, but the yielding to one another was as before. The fish spoiled again, and the fisherman, at his wits' end, threw the fish away and wept. The proverb "the fisherman weeps over what is his own" refers to this. The Crown Prince said, "I know that I cannot overturn my elder brother's resolve. Why should I live on and trouble the world?" And he took his own life. When the emperor heard this he was greatly shocked, and galloped on horseback to the Uji palace, but three days had already passed. The emperor beat his breast and cried out in lamentation, loosened his hair, straddled the corpse, and called three times, "My younger brother, the Crown Prince!" At this the Crown Prince, answering the voice, drew breath again, rose, and sat up. The emperor said, "Why has it come to this? If the dead have knowing hearts, what will the late emperor think of me?" The Crown Prince said, "This is Heaven's decree. No one can hold it back. Below the earth I shall meet the late emperor and tell him in detail how my elder brother, in his holy virtue, yielded the throne. If my mother hears now that I hastened to my death, she will surely be grieved. I beg you to take Princess Yata into your inner palace." When he had finished speaking, he expired. The emperor put on mourning dress to express his grief, wept bitterly, and in the end buried him on the summit of Mount Uji. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The Shoku Nihon Kōki says that Prince Uji-no-Wakihiko (Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko) was a wise man of our realm and that at his death he left instructions that his remains be scattered. But at that time Buddhism had not yet been transmitted, and this appears to be a tale invented by Buddhist monks of a later age to slander the Crown Prince, so it is not adopted here.)

Imperial Prince Ohae

¶Imperial Prince Ohae is Imperial Prince Hayabusawake. In the third month of the fortieth year of Emperor Nintoku, the emperor wished to take Princess Medori as a consort, and had Hayabusawake convey his intention to her. Hayabusawake became intimate with Medori and for a long time did not report back. The emperor did not yet know this and went himself to Medori's chamber. At that moment Medori was weaving silk at her loom, and a maidservant sang a song. Its burden was that the golden loom of heaven, on which Medori wove, was weaving cloth for Hayabusawake's garment. From this the emperor knew that Hayabusawake was involved with her in secret, and privately became wary. (Note: the Kojiki says that when the emperor sent his younger brother Prince Hayabusawake as go-between, Princess Medori said to Hayabusawake, "The emperor, out of regard for the Empress's jealousy, cannot take Yata-no-Wakiiratsume into his inner palace. Therefore I do not wish to serve him. I wish to be your wife." They thereupon became intimate, and he did not report back. When the emperor happened to visit Prince Medori's chamber, Prince Medori was weaving; the emperor composed a song, and Prince Medori composed a song in answer.) But the emperor was by nature warm in his feeling for his brother, and also stood in awe of the Empress, so he bore it and did not bring a charge. One day Hayabusawake lay with his head on Medori's knee and asked, "Which is faster, the wren (Sazaki, another name of Emperor Nintoku) or the falcon?" She answered, "The falcon." Hayabusawake said, "Then that is why I am ahead." When the emperor heard this he was displeased. Hayabusawake's attendants sang a song to the effect that the falcon would soar into the sky and, flying, would seize the wren on the sacred perch. When the emperor heard it he was furiously angry and said, "I did not wish to destroy my own flesh and blood out of private resentment. But he, on the contrary, means to imperil the altars of the state?" and he sought to have him killed. (Note: the Kojiki has a song sung by Prince Medori when she saw Prince Hayabusawake coming, to the effect that the lark flies up into the sky, and that Hayabusawake, soaring on high, should seize the sparrow, or wren. When the emperor heard it, he sought to kill Prince Hayabusawake.) Hayabusawake fled with Medori to the Ise Shrine, and the emperor ordered Kibi-no-Homujibe-no-Ofuna and Harima-no-Saeki-no-Atai Agano-ko to pursue them, decreeing, "If you overtake them, kill them on the spot." Ofuna and the others overtook them on the plain of Komoshiro in Ise and killed the two. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The Kojiki says that Prince Hayabusawake and Prince Medori fled to Mount Kurahashi, and were killed by the imperial army when they had reached Soni in Uda.)

Prince Katashiwa

¶Prince Katashiwa is Imperial Prince Ōhae.

Imperial Prince Suminoe-no-Naka

¶Imperial Prince Suminoe-no-Naka is Imperial Prince Ohae.

Imperial Prince Ōkusaka

¶Imperial Prince Ōkusaka is Prince Katashiwa. (Note: some texts write Prince Katajī.) His child was Prince Kunu. (Note: following the Kojiki.)

Prince Mayowa

¶Prince Mayowa was the fifth son of Emperor Nintoku. The Empress Iwanohime bore Emperor Richū, Imperial Prince Suminoe-no-Naka, Emperor Hanzei, and Emperor Ingyō. The consort Hyūga-no-Kaminagahime bore Imperial Prince Ōkusaka.

Imperial Prince Iwasaka-no-Ichinobe-no-Oshiha

¶Imperial Prince Iwasaka-no-Ichinobe-no-Oshiha is Imperial Prince Suminoe-no-Naka. When Emperor Richū, after the period of mourning but before he had acceded to the throne, wished to take as a consort Kurohime, daughter of Hata-no-Yashiro-no-Sukune, he had Prince Naka tell her the day of his visit. Prince Naka impersonated the emperor and lay with Kurohime, and on leaving forgot his hand bell. On the following night the emperor came, opened the curtain and went in, and a bell sounded near the bed. The emperor, finding this strange, asked about it, and Kurohime answered, "Is it not the bell you carried last night?" From this the emperor knew that Prince Naka had been intimate with Kurohime, but he left in silence. Prince Naka, fearing that he would be put to death, raised troops and surrounded the palace. Heguri-no-Tsuku and the others escorted the emperor and slipped away in secret, entering Yamato. Prince Naka set fire to the palace and burned it, and ordered Azumi-no-Hamako to gather the fishermen of Awaji and hold the key points of Mount Asuka. The emperor had already escaped, and on hearing that troops were coming he crossed over Tatsuta. Several tens of the fishermen pursued him but were instead captured by the emperor's side. Yamato-no-Agako led troops for Prince Naka and blocked the emperor's army at the chestnut grove of Kagokui, but seeing that the imperial forces had gathered in great numbers, he surrendered. The emperor sent Imperial Prince Mizuhawake (later Emperor Hanzei) and Heguri-no-Tsuku to Naniwa to attack Prince Naka. Imperial Prince Mizuhawake lured Sashihire, a Hayato who was one of Prince Naka's close attendants, with a heavy reward, and Sashihire stabbed Prince Naka to death as he was in the privy. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Mima

¶Imperial Prince Mima is Imperial Prince Ōkusaka. (Note: the Kojiki writes Prince Ōkusaka differently, but the Nihon Shoki is followed here.) He was also called Hatabi-no-Ōiratsuko. The emperor (Emperor Nintoku) established the Ōkusakabe. (Note: following the Kojiki. The two characters for "Kusaka" are read the same.) When Emperor Ankō ascended the throne, he wished to have Ōkusaka's younger sister, Princess Hatabi, married to Prince Ōhatsuse (later Emperor Yūryaku), and had Ne-no-omi convey his intention. Ōkusaka replied, "I have lately fallen gravely ill, like a boat loaded with cargo and waiting for the tide to rise. But death is the decree of Heaven and not worth regretting. I am troubled only that I have a younger sister who is alone, and so I cannot close my eyes in peace. Now, if His Majesty is willing to add her to his inner palace without minding her plainness, how could I refuse an honor so far beyond what I deserve?" He then entrusted his own private treasure, the Oshiki-no-tamakazura, a jeweled headdress, to Ne-no-omi, saying, "It is a poor thing, but I beg you to accept it as a pledge. Please present my answer on my behalf." Ne-no-omi, admiring its beauty, secretly kept it for himself and made a false report: "Prince Ōkusaka did not obey your command, and said to me, 'Though he (Emperor Ankō) is of the same lineage, how could he make my sister his wife?'" The emperor was angry, sent troops to surround Ōkusaka's residence, and attacked and killed him. The emperor then made Hatabi a consort of Prince Ōhatsuse. When Ōkusaka met his misfortune, his retainer Naniwa-no-Hikaka embraced the prince's head, and his two sons each held one of the prince's feet, crying out, "How grievous! Our lord is without guilt. We, father and sons, three in all, served our lord in life, and if we did not follow him in death we would violate the way of a retainer." So saying, they all cut off their own heads. All who saw it shed tears. In the fourteenth year of Emperor Yūryaku, when Ne-no-omi's wrongdoing came to light and he was put to death, the emperor had the descendants of Hikaka sought out and, it is said, bestowed on them the surname Ōkusabe-no-Kishi. Ōkusaka's consort Nakashihime bore Prince Mayowa. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Takabe

¶Imperial Prince Takabe is Prince Mayowa. (Note: the Kojiki writes Prince Meyowa.) In the second month of the first year of Emperor Ankō, the emperor, having already killed Ōkusaka, took Ōkusaka's consort Nakashihime as his own consort and soon afterwards made her Empress. Mayowa was spared punishment on account of his mother and was raised in the palace. In the eighth month of the third year of Emperor Ankō, the emperor made a progress to the Mountain Palace and held a banquet in the upper story of a tower. Drunk with wine, he said to the Empress, "My beloved (Note: a note in the text says that in ancient custom a wife was called imo, 'younger sister'), I am deeply bound to you, but I fear that when Prince Mayowa grows up and learns that I killed his father, he will surely harbor thoughts of revenge. This is always on my mind." So saying, he lay down with his head on the Empress's knee. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. From the words "after the prince grew up" onward, the account of the Kojiki has also been drawn upon.) Mayowa was seven years old at the time (Note: following the Kuji Ki and the Kojiki) and was playing beneath the tower, and he heard all of this. He therefore climbed up to the upper story, watched until the emperor was drunk and asleep, and stabbed him to death. (Note: the Kojiki says he took the sword at the emperor's side and cut him down.) Prince Ōhatsuse heard of the disturbance and, suspecting that his elder brothers had made Mayowa do it, led troops himself to investigate the matter. Mayowa said, "I do not seek the throne. I only avenged my father." (Note: the Mizukagami says that Prince Mayowa cut off his own head on the spot and died.) Imperial Prince Sakai-no-Kurohiko, regarded as having incited Mayowa, fled together with him and was sheltered in the residence of the Minister Katsuragi-no-Tsubura. Prince Ōhatsuse sent a messenger demanding that they be handed over, but Tsubura would not comply, so he increased his troops, surrounded the residence, and set it on fire. Mayowa and the others were burned to death. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Crown Prince Kinashi-no-Karu

¶Crown Prince Kinashi-no-Karu was the second son of Emperor Richū. His consort Kurohime bore Imperial Prince Iwasaka-no-Ichinobe-no-Oshiha and Imperial Prince Mima. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Sakai-no-Kurohiko

¶Imperial Prince Sakai-no-Kurohiko is Imperial Prince Iwasaka-no-Ichinobe-no-Oshiha. (Note: some texts write the "iwa" of "Oshiiwa" with the character "ha," and the Kojiki writes Prince Oshihawake.) Emperor Ankō had once intended to hand the throne to Oshiha and had entrusted future affairs to him in advance. Prince Ōhatsuse deeply resented this. After he had killed Prince Mayowa, he sent a messenger to lure Oshiha out, saying, "Karafukuro of Mount Sasaki in Ōmi says, 'On the moor of Kayano in Kutawata there are many boars and deer.' I should like to hunt there with you and enjoy it." Oshiha accordingly joined the hunt. Prince Ōhatsuse cried out falsely, "There is a boar!", drew his bow, spurred his horse, and shot Oshiha dead. His attendant, Saeki-be-no-Uruwa (Note: also called Nakatsuko), embraced the corpse, wept aloud, and would not leave, and so was killed as well. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) Oshiha was placed in a trough-like coffin and buried. (Note: following the Kojiki.) Oshiha had Prince Oke, Prince Woke, Prince Tachibana, and one daughter. (Note: following the note in the Nihon Shoki. The note in the main text makes Princess Iitoyo his second daughter, but that is not adopted here. See the biographies of the imperial princesses for details.) Prince Oke and Prince Woke fled to avoid the danger, and ran as far as Akashi in Harima. This story appears in the Annals of Emperor Kenzō. When Emperor Seinei died, Prince Woke ascended the throne. This was Emperor Kenzō. He issued an edict of mourning, had Oshiha's body searched for, and summoned old people to question them himself. There was an old woman named Okime, a younger sister of Sasaki-no-Yamanokimi Karafukuro, who reported that she knew where it lay. The emperor, together with the Crown Prince, took Okime with him and made a progress to Kayano, and at last found the body. Standing at the edge of the grave, he grieved and lamented and said, "From ancient times there has been nothing so piteous as this." He then sought to rebury the remains, but Oshiha and Saeki-be-no-Uruwa had been buried together and could not be told apart. Oshiha's wet nurse came forward and said, "Uruwa had lost his upper teeth," and in this way the skull was at last identified. The emperor therefore raised two mounds side by side and made no difference in their funeral rites. He then put to death Sasaki-no-Yamanokimi Karafukuro, who had killed Oshiha. Karafukuro knocked his head on the ground and begged for pity, and the emperor reduced his sentence, removed him from the registers, made him a keeper of Oshiha's tomb, and placed him under the Yamabe-no-Muraji. Yamato-no-Fukuro, a kinsman of Karafukuro, was pardoned for his service to Okime and was given back his former surname. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The emperor issued a special edict allowing Okime to live beside the palace, to attend court morning and evening, and he rewarded her generously. Okime grew old and found walking hard. He therefore decreed that a rope with bells attached be stretched from the entrance of the hall to Okime's dwelling, so that she could go in and out by its guidance, and so that it would also signal her coming. In the second year of Emperor Kenzō, Okime, pleading old age, asked leave to return to her native place. The emperor took pity on her, gave her a poem of his own composing and a thousand lengths of goods, and sent her home. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The account of the Kojiki has also been drawn upon.) Emperor Ninken had the Saeki-be searched for in the provinces and made Uruwa's descendants Saeki-no-Miyatsuko. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Yatsuri-no-Shirohiko

¶Imperial Prince Yatsuri-no-Shirohiko is Imperial Prince Mima. He was on friendly terms with Miwa-no-Musa, and when Prince Oshiha was killed, he was frightened and distressed, had nowhere to stay, and fled to Musa. Prince Ōhatsuse sent troops to seize him. Mima fought and was captured beside the stone well at Miwa, and as he was about to die he pointed at the well and cursed it, saying, "May the people be able to drink the water of this well, but not a king." (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Iwaki

¶Imperial Prince Iwaki was the first son of Emperor Hanzei. Otohime bore Imperial Prince Takabe. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Hoshikawa-no-Wakamiya

¶Imperial Prince Hoshikawa-no-Wakamiya is Imperial Prince Takabe.

Imperial Prince Ōiratsuko

¶Imperial Prince Ōiratsuko was the fifth son of Emperor Ingyō. The Empress Oshisaka-no-Ōnakatsuhime bore the Crown Prince Kinashi-no-Karu, Imperial Prince Sakai-no-Kurohiko, Emperor Ankō, Imperial Prince Yatsuri-no-Shirohiko, and Emperor Yūryaku. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki. A note in the Kenzō Annals of the Nihon Shoki says that Princess Naniwa-no-Ono was a great-granddaughter of the Emperor Oasatsuma-wakugo-no-Sukune (Emperor Ingyō), a granddaughter of Prince Iwaki, and a daughter of Prince Oka-no-Wakugo. By this, Prince Iwaki would be a son of Emperor Ingyō, but there is no other material by which to examine the matter, so it is appended here for the time being.)

Imperial Prince Maroko

¶Imperial Prince Maroko is the Crown Prince Kinashi-no-Karu. The emperor (Emperor Ingyō) once established the Karube. (Note: following the Kojiki.) In the third month of the twenty-third year of Emperor Ingyō he was installed as Crown Prince. His appearance was beautiful, and his full younger sister Karu-no-Ōiratsume was also radiant. The Crown Prince always wished to violate her but feared punishment and could not, until, pining with longing, he was almost dead. He thought to himself, "Rather than die in vain, it would be better to fulfil my desire and incur guilt." Thus he lay with her in secret. In the sixth month of the following year, an anomaly occurred: the soup served at the emperor's table froze over, and the emperor found this strange. He had it divined, and the diviner said, "There is disorder within. Might it be incest?" Someone came forward and said, "The Crown Prince is intimate with Princess Karu-no-Ōiratsume." When this was investigated, it proved true. The emperor said, "The Crown Prince is heir to the throne, so punishment cannot be inflicted on him," and exiled Karu-no-Ōiratsume to Iyo. In the forty-second year of Emperor Ingyō the emperor died, and the Crown Prince turned violent and committed lewd acts with women again and again, so that the hearts of the ministers inclined toward Prince Anaho (later Emperor Ankō). The Crown Prince secretly gathered troops and meant to attack Prince Anaho. Prince Anaho also prepared against this, and each side made weapons. (Note: "each made weapons" follows the Kojiki.) The names of the arrow-notches called Anaho-yahazu and Karu-yahazu begin with this. The Crown Prince, realizing that the people's hearts were leaving him, hid himself in the house of Mononobe-no-Ōmae. When Prince Anaho surrounded it, Ōmae came out to meet him and said, "Please do not harm the Crown Prince. I have a plan." The Crown Prince at last took his own life. Some say he was exiled to Iyo. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The Kojiki says that when the emperor died and the Crown Prince had not yet acceded, he violated his younger sister Karu-no-Ōiratsume, whereupon the hundred officials and the people all turned against him and gave their allegiance to Prince Anaho. The Crown Prince, in fear, fled into the house of the Ōmae-Omae Minister. The Ōmae-Omae Minister seized the Crown Prince and made him submit, and exiled him to the hot springs of Iyo; at his departure Karu-no-Ōiratsume caught up with him, and together they took their own lives. The Mizukagami places this event in the first year of Emperor Ankō, but that is a mistake.)

Imperial Prince Mimi

¶Imperial Prince Mimi is Imperial Prince Sakai-no-Kurohiko. Hard pressed by Prince Ōhatsuse, he was burned to death in the residence of the Minister Katsuragi-no-Tsubura. Sakaibe-no-Nie embraced his body and was burned to death with him. His attendants gathered the burned bones, but, unable to tell them apart, placed them together in one coffin and buried them on the hill south of the zelkova tree at Imaki. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Atsu

¶Imperial Prince Atsu is Imperial Prince Yatsuri-no-Shirohiko. This prince, too, was killed by Prince Ōhatsuse. (Note: the Kojiki says that when Prince Mayowa fled into Tsubura's house, Prince Ōhatsuse heard of the disturbance and went to Kurohiko to take counsel with him together, but when Kurohiko showed no concern, Prince Ōhatsuse abused him, drew his sword, and killed him. He then went to Shirohiko and did the same. Prince Ōhatsuse seized him by the collar, took him as far as Owarida, dug a hole, and buried him standing and alive. When he was buried to the waist, both his eyes burst out and he died.)

Imperial Prince Usagi

¶Imperial Prince Usagi was the third son of Emperor Yūryaku. His consort Katsuragi-no-Karahime bore Emperor Seinei. Kibi-no-Wakahime bore Imperial Prince Iwaki and Imperial Prince Hoshikawa-no-Wakamiya. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Naka

¶Imperial Prince Naka is Imperial Prince Iwaki. In the twenty-third year of Emperor Yūryaku he was burned to death together with his younger brother Hoshikawa.

Imperial Prince Kamitsuuewa

¶Imperial Prince Kamitsuuewa is Imperial Prince Hoshikawa-no-Wakamiya. He was by nature perverse and wicked in his conduct. In the eighth month of the twenty-third year of Emperor Yūryaku, the emperor's illness grew grave, and he left a final edict to the Ōmuraji, Ōtomo-no-Muroya, and the others, saying, "Do not entrust the government to Hoshikawa." When the emperor died, Hoshikawa's mother Wakahime secretly said to him, "If you wish to ascend the throne, you must first take the office of the Ōkura, the Great Storehouse." Imperial Prince Iwaki remonstrated with him, saying, "Although the Crown Prince (Emperor Seinei) is the younger brother, he already rightfully holds the position of the Eastern Palace. How could you deceive him?" Hoshikawa did not listen, occupied the Ōkura, closed the outer gate, and used the government's goods at will. Muroya and the others raised an army, surrounded the Ōkura, and set it on fire. Iwaki and Hoshikawa, and those who followed them, were all burned to death. Kawachi-no-Mino-no-Agatanushi One escaped from the fire, clung to the leg of Kusakabe-no-Ayahiko and begged for pity. Ayahiko asked Muroya on his behalf and obtained his pardon. One therefore gave Muroya ten chō of rice fields at the great well in Kume village, Naniwa, and also gave land to Ayahiko. Kibi-no-Kamitsumichi-no-Omi and his men, hearing of the disorder, set out to help Hoshikawa and came with forty warships, but on hearing of Hoshikawa's defeat they went home. Emperor Seinei sent a messenger to rebuke them and took away their domain of the Yamabe. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Honoo

¶Imperial Prince Honoo was the ninth son of Emperor Keitai. The Empress Tashiraka bore Emperor Kinmei. The consort Menoko-hime bore Emperor Ankan and Emperor Senka. Wakako-hime bore Imperial Prince Ōiratsuko. Yamatohime bore Imperial Prince Maroko and Imperial Prince Mimi. Haehime bore Imperial Prince Atsu. Hirohime bore Imperial Prince Usagi and Imperial Prince Naka. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Yata-no-Tamakatsu-no-Ōe

¶Imperial Prince Yata-no-Tamakatsu-no-Ōe is Imperial Prince Ōiratsuko.

Imperial Prince Isonokami

¶Imperial Prince Isonokami is Imperial Prince Maroko.

Imperial Prince Kura

¶Imperial Prince Kura is Imperial Prince Mimi.

Imperial Prince Rōshichō

¶Imperial Prince Rōshichō is Imperial Prince Atsu.

Imperial Prince Maroko

¶Imperial Prince Maroko is Imperial Prince Usagi.

Imperial Prince Isonokamibe

¶Imperial Prince Isonokamibe is Imperial Prince Naka.

Imperial Prince Yamashiro

¶Imperial Prince Yamashiro was the second son of Emperor Senka. The Empress Tachibana-no-Nakatsu bore Imperial Prince Kamitsuuewa. The consort Ōshikōchi-no-Wakakohime bore Imperial Prince Honoo. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Sakurai

¶Imperial Prince Sakurai is Imperial Prince Kamitsuuewa, who was also called Maroko. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) His child was called Prince Tōchi. Prince Tōchi's child was Prince Tajihiko, who was granted the surname Tajihi-no-Kimi. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku, the eighth year of Jōgan.)

Imperial Prince Tachibanamoto-no-Waka

¶Imperial Prince Tachibanamoto-no-Waka is Imperial Prince Honoo.

Imperial Prince Ibaraki

¶Imperial Prince Ibaraki was the sixteenth son of Emperor Kinmei. The Empress Ishihime bore Imperial Prince Yata-no-Tamakatsu-no-Ōe and Emperor Bidatsu. The consort Kura-no-Wakayahime bore Imperial Prince Isonokami. Princess Hikage bore Imperial Prince Kura. Kitashihime bore Emperor Yōmei, Imperial Prince Rōshichō, Imperial Prince Maroko, Imperial Prince Isonokamibe, Imperial Prince Yamashiro, Imperial Prince Sakurai, and Imperial Prince Tachibanamoto-no-Waka. Oanegimi bore Imperial Prince Ibaraki, Imperial Prince Katsuragi, Imperial Prince Anahobe, and Emperor Sushun, and Nukako bore Imperial Prince Tachibana-no-Maro. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Katsuragi

¶Imperial Prince Katsuragi is Imperial Prince Yata-no-Tamakatsu-no-Ōe. He died in the fourth month of the thirteenth year of Emperor Kinmei. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Anahobe

¶Imperial Prince Anahobe is Imperial Prince Isonokami.

Imperial Prince Tachibana-no-Maro

¶Imperial Prince Tachibana-no-Maro is Imperial Prince Kura.

Imperial Prince Oshisaka-no-Hikohito-no-Ōe

¶Imperial Prince Oshisaka-no-Hikohito-no-Ōe is Imperial Prince Rōshichō.

Imperial Prince Takeda

¶Imperial Prince Takeda is Imperial Prince Maroko.

Imperial Prince Owari

¶Imperial Prince Owari is Imperial Prince Isonokamibe.

Imperial Prince Naniwa

¶Imperial Prince Naniwa is Imperial Prince Yamashiro.

Imperial Prince Kasuga

¶Imperial Prince Kasuga is Imperial Prince Sakurai. His daughter was Princess Kibihime (Note: following the Kōin Shōunroku), who married Prince Chinu and bore Empress Kōgyoku. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Ōmata

¶Imperial Prince Ōmata is Imperial Prince Tachibanamoto-no-Waka.

Crown Prince Shōtoku (Umayado)

¶Crown Prince Shōtoku (Umayado) is Imperial Prince Katsuragi.

Prince Yamashiro-no-Ōe

¶Prince Yamashiro-no-Ōe is Imperial Prince Ibaraki.

Imperial Prince Maroko

¶Imperial Prince Maroko is Imperial Prince Anahobe. (Note: the Kojiki writes Prince Saikusabe-no-Anahobe.) He was also called Amenokagoko, and also Sumiato. When Emperor Bidatsu died, Anahobe secretly harbored ambitions. When all the ministers had gathered at the Mogari-no-miya, the temporary mourning palace, Anahobe said angrily, "Why do you serve the court of a dead king and not come before the living king (himself)?" Soon afterwards, when Emperor Yōmei acceded to the throne, Anahobe secretly plotted lawless deeds. In the fifth month of the first year of Emperor Yōmei, he tried to force himself upon the Empress Kashikiyahime (later Empress Suiko) and attempted by force to break into the mourning palace. Miwa-no-Sakau, commanding the guards, closed the gate and would not let him in. When Anahobe asked, "Who is there?" the guards answered, "Miwa-no-Kimi Sakau is here." Anahobe called seven times, but the gate was never opened. He then said to the Minister Soga-no-Umako and the Ōmuraji Mononobe-no-Moriya, "Sakau has repeatedly shown discourtesy. Earlier, when he delivered the eulogy in the courtyard of the mourning palace, he said, 'I will not let the court fall into disorder; I will govern it, pure as a mirror, and serve it in peace. Now the sons and younger brothers of the emperor are many, and moreover there are the two Ministers. Who could say that he serves alone?' Such is his discourtesy. Moreover, I wished to see the mourning palace, and he refused me entry, and when I called seven times he gave no answer. Let him be cut down." The two answered together, "As you command." Anahobe had long been close to Moriya, and so together they led troops and surrounded the shore of the Iware pond. Sakau learned of this and fled to Mount Mimoro. At midnight he came out of the mountain and hid at Tsubaichi, a separate palace of the Empress Kashikiyahime, but was betrayed by his kinsmen Shirotsutsumi and Yokoyama. Anahobe again sent Moriya, who killed Sakau and his two sons. Anahobe then wished to go there himself. Umako heard of it, went to Anahobe's house, and, just as he was leaving through the gate, remonstrated with him, saying, "A king should not approach a place where punishment is carried out. I beg you not to go yourself." Anahobe did not listen, but Umako accompanied him as far as the shore of the Iware pond and pressed his remonstrance strongly, and Anahobe at last gave up the idea, sat down on a folding stool, and waited for Moriya to return. After a while Moriya arrived and reported, "The rebel has been put to death." (Note: a note in the main text gives one account, that Imperial Prince Anahobe went there himself and shot him dead. It is also said that Sakau was a favorite retainer of Emperor Bidatsu and had been entrusted with all affairs of state, inner and outer, so that the Empress and Umako both hated Anahobe.) In the fourth month of the following year, Emperor Yōmei died. Moriya plotted to set Anahobe on the throne. In the sixth month, Umako, receiving the edict of the Empress Kashikiyahime, sent Saeki-no-Nienote, Haji-no-Iwamura, and Ikuha-no-Makui to attack Anahobe and Imperial Prince Yakabe. Yakabe had been the closest to Anahobe. At midnight that night Nienote and his men surrounded Anahobe's palace, and a soldier climbed up into the tower and cut Anahobe across the shoulder. Anahobe fell to the ground and fled into an inner room, but was found by the light of a raised candle and killed. On the following day Yakabe was also put to death. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The Shōtoku Taishi Denryaku says that Prince Anahobe and Prince Yakabe were brothers of Emperor Yōmei. The Kōin Shōunroku also makes Yakabe a son of Emperor Kinmei. But a note in the Nihon Shoki says that Prince Yakabe was a son of the Emperor of Hinokuma and the father of Princess Kamitsu, and that his details are unknown. On consideration, the Emperor of Hinokuma is Emperor Senka. Emperor Kinmei was buried at the Hinokuma-no-Sakai mausoleum, but no text calling him the Emperor of Hinokuma has yet been seen. Since the note in the Nihon Shoki already says that the matter is unclear, there is no material for deciding it, and it is not adopted.)

Imperial Prince Kume

¶Imperial Prince Kume is Imperial Prince Tachibana-no-Maro.

Imperial Prince Eguri

¶Imperial Prince Eguri was the sixth son of Emperor Bidatsu. The Empress Hirohime bore Imperial Prince Oshisaka-no-Hikohito-no-Ōe. The Empress Nukatabe (later Empress Suiko) bore Imperial Prince Takeda and Imperial Prince Owari. The lady (Bunin) Omina-no-Kimi bore Imperial Prince Naniwa, Imperial Prince Kasuga, and Imperial Prince Ōmata. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Tame

¶Imperial Prince Tame is Imperial Prince Oshisaka-no-Hikohito-no-Ōe, who was also called Maroko. (Note: the Yōmei Annals of the Nihon Shoki call him "Crown Prince Hikohito," and the Kojiki also calls him Crown Prince. But there is no other sign that he was ever installed as Crown Prince. Probably the title was conferred on him posthumously.) He married Princess Nukatehime and bore Emperor Jomei. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) He also bore Prince Nakatsu and Prince Tara. (Note: following the Kojiki. The Shōji-roku says that the Ōhara-no-Mahito and others descend from a grandson of Emperor Bidatsu, from the line of Prince Kudara. By this, should not a character, "ku," have dropped out above "Tara"? "Kudara" and "Kutara" are read alike.) He further bore Prince Chinu, Prince Yamashiro, Prince Kasanui, and one daughter. (Note: following the Kojiki and the Kōin Shōunroku.) Prince Chinu married Princess Kibihime and bore Empress Kōgyoku and Emperor Kōtoku. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

Imperial Prince Mamuta

¶Imperial Prince Mamuta is Imperial Prince Takeda, who was also called Okai. (Note: following the Kojiki.) When the Minister Soga-no-Umako attacked Mononobe-no-Moriya, he led troops together with Prince Hatsusebe (later Emperor Sushun) and others and advanced against Moriya. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

¶Imperial Prince Owari. He had a daughter, Princess Inabe-no-Tachibana. (Note: some texts give her as Tachibana-no-Ōiratsume.) She became a consort of Prince Shōtoku, and when the Crown Prince died, Princess Tachibana, overcome with grief, addressed the throne and said, "My Great Prince once told me, 'The world is false and empty; only the Buddha is true.' Considering that teaching, I believe my Great Prince must have been born in the Land of Heavenly Longevity, Tenjukoku, but the appearance of that land cannot be measured by the eye. I beg that I may behold, in pictures, how my Great Prince has been reborn there." Empress Suiko took pity on her, ordered the various uneme, palace attendants, to make two embroidered hangings, and had Yamato-no-Aya-no-Maken, Koma-no-Kaseiitsu, and others draw the designs, and presented them to her. (Note: following the Hōō Teisetsu.)

¶Imperial Prince Naniwa. His child was Prince Kurikuma, who has a separate biography. (Note: following the Tachibana genealogy. One account says that Prince Naniwa bore Prince Ōmata and Prince Ōmata bore Prince Kurikuma, but here the Shōji-roku and the Kugyō Bunin are followed.)

¶Imperial Prince Kasuga.

¶Imperial Prince Ōmata. In the reign of Emperor Jomei, the Soga clan was abusing its power and the conduct of government had grown lax, and Ōmata was troubled by this. He said to Soga-no-Emishi, "The ministers and the hundred officials are very late in coming to court. I ask that from now on they attend at the beginning of the hour of the Hare and leave after the hour of the Snake, with a bell as the signal." Emishi did not comply. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

¶Emperor Yōmei had six sons. The Empress Anahobe-no-Hashihito bore Crown Prince Shōtoku (Umayado), Imperial Prince Kume, Imperial Prince Eguri, and Imperial Prince Mamuta. The lesser consort (Hin) Ishikina bore Imperial Prince Tame. The palace woman Hiroko bore Imperial Prince Maroko. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The entry for the first year of Empress Suiko in the main text calls Umayado the second son, but this probably lists them by age regardless of legitimate or secondary birth.)

¶Crown Prince Shōtoku (Umayado) (Note: one account in the Nihon Shoki says that he was also called Toyotomimi Shōtoku. But the Nihon Shoki, the Hōō Teisetsu, the Shōtoku Taishi Denryaku, and the Shōtoku Taishi Hoketsuki all fail to record the name "Shōtoku." The entry for the fifth year of Bidatsu in the Nihon Shoki has "the Eastern Palace, Shōtoku," but this too is not written as a name. The Jinnō Shōtōki treats "Shōtoku" as a posthumous name. Considering the Genkō Shakusho now, "Shōtoku" names the whole of the Crown Prince's conduct. Probably it was a title of reverence used by the people of his time, and later ages simply went on using the designation) was the son of the Empress Anahobe-no-Hashihito. While pregnant, the Empress happened to go out on a tour of the palace, came to the stable (umayado) of the Horse Office, and gave birth without labor. For this reason he was named Umayado. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki and the Taishi Denryaku.) From birth he could speak and possessed sacred wisdom. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) When he was a few years old, he gathered with the other princes in the palace, and they were quarreling in play. The emperor heard it, took up a whip and stood, and all the princes fled and hid, but the Crown Prince alone bared his skin and came forward. The emperor asked, "Why do you do this?" and the Crown Prince answered, "Heaven cannot be climbed by stairs, and the earth cannot be dug into to hide. Therefore I come forward to receive the whip." The emperor thought this remarkable. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku and the Taishi Den Hoketsuki.) As he grew a little older he loved to read, and was by nature exceedingly intelligent, so that he could hear the petitions of ten persons at once without error. (Note: the Hōō Teisetsu, the Taishi Den Hoketsuki, and the Taishi Denryaku say that when eight persons presented their cases at the same time, the Crown Prince heard them all and distinguished them without error, and for this he was styled Yatsumimi-no-Miko, Prince of Eight Ears.) The emperor loved him and had him live in the Upper Hall south of the palace, and so he was styled Kamitsumiya Umayado Toyotomimi-no-Miko. The Crown Prince loved Buddhism and read widely in the scriptures. The Minister Soga-no-Umako also believed in the Buddha. In the fourteenth year of Emperor Bidatsu, Umako fell ill and asked leave to pray to the Buddha. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The emperor, who had never cared for Buddhism, said to the Crown Prince, "Our land has its own gods from of old. Yet now Umako wishes to worship a foreign god. What is to be done?" The Crown Prince said, "As for the way of the Buddhas, even the gods do not dare to oppose it. Now Umako seeks to raise up the Buddhist law; is that not a blessing for the state?" The emperor therefore permitted Umako's request. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku.) At this time an epidemic spread through the land, and many of the people died. The Ōmuraji Mononobe-no-Moriya and Nakatomi-no-Katsumi reported, "This is surely because Umako has promoted the Buddhist law." The emperor therefore issued an edict ordering the shrines and Buddha images burned. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The Crown Prince and Umako deeply hated what the two had done. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku and the Taishi Den Hoketsuki.) In this year the emperor died, and Emperor Yōmei ascended the throne. In the third year of Emperor Yōmei, the emperor's illness, an ulcerous sickness, grew grave. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The Crown Prince attended him day and night and prayed to the Three Treasures without ceasing. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku.) On this account the emperor wished to take refuge in the Buddha, but since no sovereign had ever paid homage to the Buddha, he summoned the ministers to deliberate. Moriya and Katsumi argued strongly that it was improper, but Umako said, "We have only to obey the edict." Thereupon the monk Toyokuni was brought into the palace. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The Crown Prince took Umako's hand and wept, saying, "The wondrous principle of the Three Treasures is unknown to people, and so they wrongly raise objections. That the Minister has now turned his heart to the field of blessing (the Buddha) is a joy beyond any other." Umako touched his head to the ground and said, "Thanks to Your Highness's sacred virtue, the Buddhist law will flourish. Though I die, it will be as though I live." (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku.) Moriya glared at this and was greatly angered. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The Crown Prince said to those about him, "The Ōmuraji is deluded about the principle of cause and effect. Calamity is just about to come, but he has not yet noticed." (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku and the Mizukagami.) Someone reported this to Moriya, who armed himself in defense, while Katsumi led troops to help Moriya. The Crown Prince ordered his attendant Tomi-no-Ichii to kill Katsumi in secret. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The accounts of the Taishi Denryaku and the Mizukagami have also been drawn upon.) When the emperor's illness grew grave, he made a vow with the Crown Prince, "Let us build a temple and an image of the Buddha of Medicine, Yakushi," and prayed for recovery. (Note: following the Hōō Teisetsu.) Soon afterwards the emperor died. At that time the succession had not yet been settled; Moriya wished to set Imperial Prince Anahobe on the throne, but Umako first raised troops and attacked Anahobe. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The Crown Prince spoke at length on this matter, but Umako would not listen and had him killed. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku.) And at last he planned with the Crown Prince to kill Moriya. At that time Emperor Yōmei's funeral was still in the mogari, the interim mourning period, and the Crown Prince bound his hair at the forehead (Note: a note in the main text says that in the old days children bound their hair at the forehead between fifteen and sixteen, and at seventeen or eighteen divided it into mizura, side loops) and himself followed behind the army. Moriya's troops were strong, and the Crown Prince thought to himself, "Unless I borrow the power of the Buddha, I cannot win." He therefore carved images of the Four Heavenly Kings from nurude wood, placed them in his topknot, and made a vow: "If you now let me win, I will surely build a temple and pagoda for the Four Guardian Kings of the World." Soon Moriya was defeated and killed, and the Crown Prince built a temple and enshrined the images of the Four Heavenly Kings. Moriya's slaves, goods, fields, and houses were confiscated and all given to the temple. Ten thousand kei of land were given to Tomi-no-Ichii as a reward. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) When Emperor Sushun ascended the throne, he came to hate Umako's arrogant conduct and said to the Crown Prince in secret, "Within, Umako indulges his own desires without restraint, and without, he cloaks himself in Buddhism, but in truth he has no heart of loyalty. What do you think?" The Crown Prince answered, "Umako is indeed an arrogant subject. But I beg Your Majesty to be patient." (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku and the Mizukagami.) The emperor was fierce by nature and hated evil (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku), and at times he voiced words of anger. Umako heard of it and was afraid, and secretly plotted lawless deeds. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The Crown Prince stood between them and knew the designs of both sides but could not settle them. He bore it for days on end (Note: following the Gukanshō), but at last the emperor was murdered and died. When the Crown Prince heard it, he wept and said, "This is a retribution for past deeds." Umako afterwards seized Yamato-no-Aya-no-Koma, who had carried out the murder, charged him with the crime, and had him killed. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The account of the Taishi Denryaku has also been drawn upon.) The whole land hated Umako all the more. (Note: following the Mizukagami.) The Crown Prince also said, "Even with this punishment, the name of having murdered a sovereign will not be washed away in a thousand years." (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku.) Yet afterwards he again humbled himself and followed Umako and never dared to oppose him. (Note: following the Gukanshō.) The ministers then urged the Empress of Emperor Bidatsu (Princess Nukatabe) to take the throne, and this was Empress Suiko. In the first year of Empress Suiko, the Crown Prince was installed as Crown Prince and Regent, and entrusted with the myriad affairs of state. In the second year, the empress issued an edict to the Crown Prince and Umako to promote the Buddhist law. As a result the various ministers and muraji vied to build Buddhist pagodas and called them temples. In the third year, the Koguryŏ monk Hyeja came to Japan, and the Crown Prince took him as his teacher. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) He received the Five Precepts and, following the monastic custom of taking a name, called himself Shōman. (Note: following the Shitennōji Shuinki.) In the eleventh year of Empress Suiko, the Crown Prince first established the twelve cap ranks. The details are given in the Treatise on Offices. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

¶In the following year he drew up the Constitution of Seventeen Articles. Article One says: "Harmony is to be valued, and opposition and defiance are to be avoided. All men have their factions, and few are men of understanding. For this reason they do not obey their lords and fathers, and also quarrel with their neighbors. But when those above are harmonious and those below are friendly, and they discuss affairs in concord, the principles of things come naturally to be understood, and nothing fails to be accomplished." Article Two says: "Reverence the Three Treasures with sincerity. The Three Treasures are the Buddha, the Law, and the Monks. They are the final refuge of all living beings and the ultimate teaching of all nations. In every age, among all people, none fails to honor this Law. Few men are utterly wicked; if they are taught well, they will follow. If they do not take refuge in the Three Treasures, how can their crooked hearts be set right?" Article Three says: "When you receive an imperial edict, you must obey it with reverence. The lord is Heaven and the subject is Earth. Because Heaven covers and Earth bears, the four seasons run in order and the breath of the ten thousand things circulates. If Earth were to try to cover Heaven, order would be ruined. Therefore when the lord speaks the subject receives it, and when those above act those below follow. Hence when you receive an edict you must be careful, and if you are not reverent you will of yourself be ruined." Article Four says: "Let the ministers and the hundred officials take ritual propriety as their foundation. The foundation of governing the people lies in ritual propriety. If there is no propriety above, those below will not be ordered; if there is no propriety below, there will surely be those who commit offenses. Therefore when the ministers have propriety, ranks are not disordered, and when the common people have propriety, the state is of itself well governed." Article Five says: "Cease from gluttony, cast away desire, and judge lawsuits clearly. The suits of the common people amount to a thousand in a single day. If it is so in one day, how much more through the years? Of late, those who handle lawsuits make profit their habit and hear the judgment only after seeing the bribe. The suit of a man of wealth passes as easily as a stone thrown into water, while the suit of a poor man is like water thrown at a stone and does not get through. Thus the poor people do not know what to do, and the way of the subject is lacking here too." Article Six says: "To punish evil and encourage good is an excellent rule of old. Therefore do not conceal the good deeds of others, and when you see evil you must correct it. Flatterers and deceivers are sharp instruments for overturning the state and keen swords for destroying the people. Likewise those who fawn will, toward their superiors, delight in speaking of the faults of those below, and when they meet those below, they slander the errors of their superiors. All such men have no loyalty toward the sovereign and no benevolence toward the people. This is the root of great disorder." Article Seven says: "Each man has his task, and one must not confuse what each is in charge of. When a man of wisdom and understanding is appointed to office, praise arises; when a wicked man holds office, disaster and disorder multiply. Few in the world are born with knowledge; most reach the sacred state by reflecting again and again. Whether the matter is great or small, if one finds a person of rare ability it will surely be well governed, and whether the times are urgent or slack, if one meets a wise man there will of itself be ease. Through this the state is long preserved and the altars of the state are not endangered. Therefore the sage kings of old sought men for the office, and did not seek an office for the man." Article Eight says: "Let the ministers and the hundred officials come to court early and leave late. Public business may not be neglected, and even a whole day may not suffice to finish it. Therefore if one comes to court late one cannot keep up with urgent matters, and if one leaves early the work will surely not be finished." Article Nine says: "Good faith is the foundation of righteousness. In everything there must be good faith. The key to good and evil, success and failure, lies in good faith. If the ministers together have good faith, everything will be accomplished; if the ministers lack good faith, all things will be ruined." Article Ten says: "Cease from anger and cast away wrath, and do not be enraged when others differ from you. Every man has a heart, and every heart has its own attachments. What the other holds right, I hold wrong; what I hold right, the other holds wrong. I am not necessarily a sage, nor is the other necessarily a fool. Both are merely ordinary men. How can the principle of right and wrong be fixed? We are both wise and foolish by turns, like a ring that has no end. Therefore, though another may be angry, one should rather fear one's own faults, and even when one alone thinks one is right, one should follow the views of the many." Article Eleven says: "Look clearly at merit and fault, and see that rewards and punishments are surely just. Of late rewards have been given to those without merit and punishments to those without guilt. Ministers who conduct the government should make rewards and punishments clear." Article Twelve says: "Provincial governors and kuni-no-miyatsuko must not levy exactions on the common people on their own authority. A country has no two lords and the people have no two masters. The myriad people of the whole land take the king as their master. All officials who are appointed are subjects of the king. How can they be permitted to levy on the common people apart from the public taxes?" Article Thirteen says: "Let all who are appointed to offices be equally aware of their duties. There are times when their duties are left vacant through illness or missions. But on the day they return to their posts, let them act in harmony as if they had known the matter before. They must not use not having known the circumstances as a reason to obstruct public business." Article Fourteen says: "Ministers and the hundred officials must not be jealous. If I am jealous of others, others will also be jealous of me. The affliction of jealousy has no limit. Thus, if there is one whose wisdom surpasses one's own, one is not glad, and if one's talent is surpassed, one is jealous. In this way one meets a wise man only once in five hundred years, and waits for a sage only once in a thousand. If one cannot obtain wise men and sages, how can one govern the state?" Article Fifteen says: "To turn away from private interest and to serve the public is the way of a subject. All men have private feelings, and where there are private feelings there is surely resentment, and where there is resentment there is surely discord. If there is discord, private interest obstructs the public good, and when resentment arises, men go against the system and harm the law. Therefore the words of the first article, 'let high and low be in harmony,' came from this same heart." Article Sixteen says: "To employ the people at the proper season is an excellent rule of old. Therefore in the slack season of winter the people may be employed, but from spring through autumn, in the seasons of farming and silkworm-raising, the people must not be employed. If they do not farm, what will they eat, and if they do not raise silkworms, what will they wear?" Article Seventeen says: "Affairs must not be decided by one person alone; they must always be discussed with many. Small matters may be treated lightly and need not necessarily be discussed by all. But when discussing great matters, one should suspect that one may be mistaken in judgment. Therefore, if one discusses with many, the opinion will of itself come to accord with reason." (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

¶In the thirteenth year of Empress Suiko he moved to live at the Ikaruga Palace. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) In the fourteenth year, the empress had the Crown Prince lecture on two sutras, the Shōmangyō and the Hokekyō, the Lotus Sutra, and summoned many famous monks before him to debate. The Crown Prince put on a monastic robe, ascended the seat of the Law, and answered questions waving a hossu, a monk's whisk. The empress was pleased and by edict granted him one hundred chō of rice fields in Harima. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The account of the Taishi Denryaku has also been drawn upon.) The Crown Prince had once suspected that the Lotus Sutra had lost some characters and wished to obtain a complete text. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku.) In the fifteenth year he requested that Ono-no-Imoko, of the rank of Dairai, be sent to Sui. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The credentials were entirely in the Crown Prince's words. In the following year Imoko returned with sutras. On the fifth day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year, the empress made a progress to Uda, intending to watch huntsmen chasing game. The Crown Prince remonstrated, saying, "One of the Five Precepts of the Buddha's teaching is that one must not take life. It is the same as what Confucianism calls benevolence. I beg Your Majesty to refrain from this for all time." The empress accepted his advice. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku.) From then on, every year on this day medicinal herbs were gathered, and it was called the kusurigari, the medicine hunt. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) In the twenty-second year, Umako fell ill. The Crown Prince petitioned that a thousand monks and nuns be ordained for Umako's sake. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The account of the Taishi Denryaku has also been drawn upon.) In the twenty-fifth year, the empress had the Crown Prince lecture once more on the Shōmangyō. Umako, on this account, praised the Crown Prince's merit and asked that his labors be repaid. The empress was greatly pleased, increased the Crown Prince's bath-villages, the yuyumura, and doubled the stipend of the Eastern Palace over the usual. The Crown Prince gave all of it to temples he had founded himself. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku.) In the twenty-eighth year, together with Umako, he compiled the Tennōki and the Kokki, the records of the sovereigns and of the state, and the original records of the omi, the muraji, the tomo-no-miyatsuko, and the hundred and eighty be, the public people. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) In the twenty-ninth year, earlier than this, the Crown Prince fell ill, and the empress sent Prince Tamura (later Emperor Jomei) to ask after his illness and also to ask whether he had anything to leave behind. The Crown Prince had Prince Tamura convey his words to the throne, but what he said concerned only the flourishing of the Buddhist law and the building of temples. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki. The account of the Taishi Denryaku has also been drawn upon.) In the second month he died at the Ikaruga Palace. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) He was forty-nine. (Note: following the Mizukagami, the Hōō Teisetsu, the Taishi Denryaku, and the Taishi Den Hoketsuki.) He was buried at the Shinaga mausoleum. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) All the people of the land mourned and grieved; the sound of weeping filled the roads and did not cease for more than a month. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki. The account of the Taishi Denryaku has also been drawn upon.)

¶It is told in the world that when the Crown Prince was born, a marvelous fragrance came from his body (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku and the Taishi Den Hoketsuki) and he kept his fist clenched and did not open it. (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki.) In the second month of his second year, he faced east and said "Namu Butsu," homage to the Buddha (Note: following the Mizukagami and the Taishi Denryaku), and opened his hand himself and showed a Buddha relic. (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki.) After he grew up he constantly practiced religious discipline. Once, when he was roaming on Mount Kataoka, he saw a man lying fallen from hunger and asked his name, but the man did not answer. The Crown Prince ordered food and drink to be given him, and took off his own robe and laid it over him. On the following day he sent a man to look, and the man was already dead. The body was therefore put in a coffin and buried on the spot. A few days later the Crown Prince said to those about him, "The starving man of the other day was in truth a shinjin, a sacred person." He again sent a man to open the grave and look, and in the coffin there was only the robe, and the people of the time were greatly astonished and thought it marvelous. (Note: the Taishi Denryaku and the Taishi Den Hoketsuki record a poem sung by the starving man, but although the Nihon Shoki has a poem by the Crown Prince, it has none by a starving man. Considering the Teisetsu now, it has three poems by Kose-no-Miegi, one of which says that only if the Tomi stream at Ikaruga were to run dry could the name of our great lord be forgotten. The Denryaku and the Hoketsuki treat it as the poem of the starving man, but this is mistaken.) Now, in the thirteenth year of Emperor Kinmei, Paekche first presented Buddhist images and sutras and treatises. The emperor doubted them and did not believe, and asked the ministers one after another. Soga-no-Iname was the first to believe in the teaching, but Mononobe-no-Okoshi and Nakatomi-no-Kamako firmly held to orthodox argument and rejected it. For this reason the Law was not practiced and fell into neglect. When the Crown Prince and Umako found themselves of one mind, and killed Moriya and Katsumi, that way gradually flourished. Within a few decades there were forty-six temples and more than one thousand three hundred and eighty monks and nuns. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) The temples the Crown Prince founded were Shitennōji, Hōryūji, Chūgūji, Tachibanadera, Hachiokadera, Ikejiri-dera, Katsuragi-dera, Gangōji, Hyūgaji, Jōrinji, and Hōkōji. (Note: the Hōō Teisetsu, the Taishi Denryaku, and the Genkō Shakusho have been drawn upon together.) The works he wrote are commentaries on the Shōmangyō, the Yuimagyō, and the Lotus Sutra, which are styled the Jōgūsho, the Kamitsumiya commentaries, and all of them are said to contain profound argument. (Note: following the Taishi Denryaku and the Taishi Den Hoketsuki.) In the world he was called Jōgū Hōō, the Dharma King of the Upper Palace, or also Hōshu-no-Ō. (Note: following the Hōō Teisetsu.) The Crown Prince had eight sons and six daughters. The eldest son was Prince Yamashiro-no-Ōe, and then came Prince Takara, Prince Hioki, Prince Hatsuse, Prince Saikusa, Prince Itoshiko, Prince Maroko, and Prince Shirakabe. (Note: the Kōin Shōunroku and most versions of the Taishi Denryaku count the sons of Emperor Yōmei as sons of the Crown Prince, but here the Hōō Teisetsu is followed.)

¶Prince Yamashiro-no-Ōe was the wisest of the Crown Prince's sons. (Note: following the Hōō Teisetsu.) When Empress Suiko's illness grew grave, Prince Tamura entered the palace and received her final edict. Ōe was also summoned and was told by edict, "You are still young. Even if you have a wish for the throne, do not speak of it aloud, and be sure to follow the decision of the assembly." When the empress died, the Minister Soga-no-Emishi gathered the ministers at his own residence and told them of the final edicts the two princes had received. But the assembly did not reach agreement. When Ōe heard of this, he sent Prince Mikuni and Sakurai-no-Wajiko to say privately to Emishi, "I hear that my uncle intends to place Prince Tamura on the throne. I do not understand the reasoning for this, and I should like my uncle to tell me his thinking plainly." Emishi sent Abe-no-Maro and others to convey this to Ōe: "How could a person of no account like myself decide the succession on my own authority? I merely cited the final edict and told the ministers. The ministers all say, 'If it is as the final edict says, then Prince Tamura should naturally succeed to the throne.' This is the word of the ministers, not my own single opinion. I too have some thoughts, but I cannot convey them. I beg that I may meet you in person and speak with you." Ōe sent a man to ask Maro and the others, "What was the final edict?" They answered, "We do not know the details, but according to what the Minister said, 'On the day the late sovereign's illness grew grave, she gave an edict to Prince Tamura, "Governing the state is no light matter; be careful in what you say," and next she gave an edict to the Great Prince (Ōe), "You are still young; do not speak aloud, and be sure to follow the assembly." This was heard by the princesses and the uneme alike.'" Ōe asked further, "Who was the one who heard that final edict directly?" They answered, "We do not know the details." Ōe then had Maro and the others told, "My uncle has exerted himself greatly, and has not only sent messengers but specially sent senior ministers to instruct me generously. It is truly a great kindness. But what the ministers now call the final edict differs slightly from what I heard. When I heard of the late sovereign's illness and hurried to the palace, Nakatomi-no-Mike came out from the forbidden quarters and said, 'The sovereign summons you.' I then went forward to the inner gate, and Kurikuma-no-uneme Kurome met me in the courtyard and led me into the great hall. Princess Kurishita and the palace maid Shibime, and several tens of others, were attending at the sovereign's side, and Prince Tamura was there too. The sovereign's illness was grave and she could not look at me. Princess Kurishita announced, 'Prince Yamashiro-no-Ōe has come,' and the sovereign raised herself and gave an edict: 'Although I am lacking in virtue, I have long carried on the great enterprise. Now my life is coming to its end and my illness can no longer be hidden. You have always been a confidant of mine, and my affection for you is beyond compare. In truth the great vessel of the state is not for my reign alone, and has been hard from ancient times. You are still young, but be careful in what you say.' At that time all the attendants at her left and right knew this. Having received this great kindness, I was at once glad and sorrowful and did not know what to do. In my heart I thought, 'This is a matter of the ancestral shrines and the altars of the state. I am of no account and not wise; how could I bear it?' and I meant to tell my uncle and the ministers at once, but I had no opportunity, and so it has been till today. I once went to the capital to visit my uncle in his illness and stayed at Toyura-dera. On that day the late sovereign sent the Yakuchi-no-uneme Shibime to convey an edict: 'Your uncle the Minister is always speaking of you. After I have left this world, will it not be you who succeeds to the throne? Therefore be careful and look after yourself.' Since this has already happened, what is there to doubt? But I am not greedy for the realm; I only report what I have heard. The gods will bear witness to it. Now, if the ministers, taking a stern spear and planting it upright in the earth, were to hold fast (Note: the Shaku Nihongi says that to stand and hold a stern spear means to hold to the middle way), and so well attain the mean, they would clearly return to the intention of my uncle.'" At this time Prince Hatsuse-no-Naka (Note: according to the Hōō Teisetsu, Prince Shōtoku bore Prince Hatsuse, whose mother was of the Kashiwade clan. "Hatsuse" and "Hase" are read alike, so he may be this person. But the passage below says "we father and son both come from the Soga," and so Ōe must have married a daughter of the Soga and had Prince Hatsuse by her. There is now no material for verifying this) separately summoned Nakatomi-no-Mike and Kawabe-no-Omi and said, "That we, father and son, both come from the Soga is known to all the land. Therefore I rely on you as on a high mountain. I beg you not to speak lightly of who is to succeed to the throne." He then sent Prince Mikuni and Sakurai-no-Wajiko together with Abe-no-Maro and the others to ask for a reply. Emishi ordered Ki-no-Shiote and Ōtomo-no-Kujira to answer, "It is as I said the other day, and there is nothing different. How could I presume to slight one prince and honor another?" A few days later, Ōe again sent Wajiko to tell Emishi, "What I said the other day was only to state what I heard; how could I defy my uncle?" On that day Emishi pleaded illness and did not meet him. On the following day he summoned Wajiko and Maro and the others and had them tell Ōe, "From the reign of the sovereign who ruled the land at the Shikishima Palace (Emperor Kinmei) until recently, wise men have assisted in the government. Now I have succeeded them and stand reverently at the head of the ministers, but I cannot decide policy by my own judgment. Moreover, this matter is of the utmost weight and cannot be settled by messages. I should like to meet you in person and speak. I wish to ensure that the final edict is not misreported." Earlier, Emishi had privately discussed this matter with Sakaibe-no-Marise, who supported Ōe. When he now asked Marise again, Marise did not change his view and finally went to Ikaruga and took refuge in Prince Hatsuse's palace. (Note: Prince Hatsuse is probably Prince Hatsuse-no-Naka.) Emishi was angry and sent ministers to ask Ōe to seize Marise. Ōe answered, "Marise was favored by the sage king (Prince Umayado) and is merely staying here for a while. How could I go against my uncle's feelings? I beg that he not be blamed." And he said to Marise, "You have come without forgetting the kindness of the late prince. But the whole land may be thrown into disorder because of you alone. On his deathbed the late prince taught his children, 'Do not commit any evil; do all that is good.' I have received these words and hold them as an eternal precept. Therefore, although I have private feelings, I bear them and do not speak them. I hope you will not resent it either. I do not wish at all to oppose my uncle. I ask that from now on you change your mind and follow the assembly." The other senior ministers also admonished Marise, saying, "You must not defy this order." Marise therefore went home, and when ten days or so had passed, Prince Hatsuse died of illness. Emishi set Prince Tamura on the throne. This was Emperor Jomei. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

¶When Empress Kōgyoku came to the throne, Emishi's son Iruka took the government into his own hands, meaning to make Furuhito-no-Ōe the successor, and, hating that the fame of Ōe (Prince Yamashiro-no-Ōe) and his kin resounded throughout the land, plotted to remove them. In the eleventh month of the second year of Empress Kōgyoku, he sent troops to Ikaruga to attack Ōe and the others. A slave, Minari, together with several tens of attendants, fought in defense and shot dead the enemy commander Haji-no-Ite. The troops took fright and withdrew, and said to one another, "Is this Minari the 'one man worth a thousand'?" Ōe laid out bones in his sleeping quarters to deceive them, and in secret, with his sons and younger kinsmen and his consorts, seized the chance to flee and hide on Mount Ikoma. The troops set fire to the palace and burned it. Seeing the burned bones, they supposed that Ōe and the others had all died, lifted the siege, and withdrew. Ōe and the others stayed in the mountains, and after their provisions ran out, several days passed. Miwa-no-Fumiya urged him, "Let us go to the royal granary at Fukakusa, obtain horses, and make for the eastern provinces, relying on the Mibu, the people of your fief, to raise troops and come back to fight. We shall surely win." Ōe said, "What you say is right. But I have long wished not to impose labor on the people, even for a thousand years. How much less should I bring harm to the common people for the sake of my own single person? Nor do I want people to say that they lost their fathers and mothers on my account. To give up one's own life in order to bring peace to the country: is that not what a man of stature does? There is no need to seek victory in battle." Presently Iruka learned that Ōe and the others had indeed not died in the mountains, was greatly afraid, and hurriedly sent troops to search, but in the end could not capture them. Ōe and the others returned and entered Ikaruga-dera, but troops came again and surrounded them. Ōe ordered Fumiya to tell the commanders, "If I were to raise troops and attack Iruka, I should surely win. But I do not wish to injure and destroy the common people for the sake of my own single person. Therefore I now give this body to Iruka." And together with his sons and younger kinsmen and his consorts he hanged himself and died. The people of the time said that "canopies and streamers, and the music of gigaku, appeared in the air, pointed toward Iruka, and then turned into black clouds." (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) Ōe had Prince Naniwa-Maroko, Prince Maroko, Prince Yuge, Prince Kōka, Prince Owari, and two daughters. (Note: following the Hōō Teisetsu. Prince Umayado's children also include one named Maroko, which is doubtful. The Taishi Denryaku writes "Prince Maroko" as "Prince Naniwa," and writes another "Prince Maroko" as "Princess Matsuro-me." Perhaps this is closer to the facts. The Denryaku also adds Prince Sasa, making eight.) When Ōe and the others died, the descendants of Prince Umayado, male and female alike, were extinguished. Earlier there had been a children's song of this kind. It spoke of little monkeys cooking rice on top of a rock, and bade the old man of the mountain goat at least eat the rice before he passed. The people of the time interpreted it, saying, "'On the rock' stands for the Upper Palace (the house of Prince Umayado); 'the little monkeys' stands for Iruka; 'cooking rice' stands for the burning of the Upper Palace; 'at least the rice,' 'eat and pass,' and 'old man of the mountain goat' stand for the fact that Prince Yamashiro's (Yamashiro-no-Ōe's) hair was mottled, and its color resembled the fur of a goat." Others said, "It was an omen of abandoning the palace and hiding in the mountains." (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

¶Imperial Prince Maroko was also called Taima. In the spring of the eleventh year of Empress Suiko, Imperial Prince Kume, the commanding general for the campaign against Silla, fell ill on the expedition and died. In the fourth month Maroko replaced him. In the seventh month he set out by ship from Naniwa, and his consort Toneri-hime herself accompanied him. When they reached Akashi in Harima, Toneri-hime died, and she was buried on top of Hikasa Hill. For this reason Maroko too did not complete the expedition and returned to the capital. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.) Maroko had once received the teaching of Prince Shōtoku and founded the Manpōzō-in. Empress Suiko ordered by edict that it be made an official temple. This is Taimadera. (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū and the Genkō Shakusho.)

¶Imperial Prince Kume was a half-brother of Maroko by a different mother. In the tenth year of Empress Suiko, he became general for the campaign against Silla and, leading an army of twenty-five thousand, was about to attack Silla. In the fourth month he reached his encampment in the Shima district of Tsukushi, gathered many ships, and transported supplies and provisions. In the sixth month Kume fell ill and could not set out. In the second month of the following year he died in Tsukushi. When the empress heard of it she was greatly shocked, and said to the Crown Prince and the Minister Soga-no-Umako, "The prince was about to undertake a great task, and that he could not accomplish his work grieves me deeply." She therefore sent Haji-no-Ite to hold the mogari at Saba in Suō, and he was afterwards buried on the hill of Haniu-yama in Kawachi. (Note: following the Nihon Shoki.)

¶Imperial Prince Eguri.

¶Imperial Prince Tame was also called Toyura. (Note: the Hōō Teisetsu says that after Emperor Yōmei died, Prince Tame was intimate with the Empress Anahobe-no-Hashihito and had Princess Sahotsu, but since it is seen nowhere else, it is not adopted.)

¶Imperial Prince Mamuta.