At the time of their descent, Idakiso had many plants or seeds of trees
with him, but he planted none in Shiraga, but took them across with him,
and scattered them from Kuishiu all over Japan, so that the whole
country became green with trees. It is said that Idakiso is respected as
the god of merit, and is worshipped in Kinokuni. His two sisters also
took care of the plantation. One of the gods who reigned over the
country in the prehistoric period was Ohonamuchi, who is said by some to
be the son of Susanoo, and by others to be one of his later descendants;
"And which is right, it is more than we can say," remarked one of my
scholarly friends.
However, during his reign he was anxious about the people, and,
consulting with Sukuna no Mikoto, applied "his whole heart," we are
told, to their good government, and they all became loyal to him. One
time he said to his friend just named, "Do you think we are governing
the people well?" And his friend answered: "In some respects well, and
in some not," so that they were frank and honest with each other in
those days.
When Sukunahikona went away, Ohonamuchi said: "It is I who should govern
this country. Is there any who will assist me?" Then there appeared over
the sea a divine light, and there came a god floating and floating, and
said: "You cannot govern the country without me." And this proved to be
the god Ohomiwa no Kami, who built a palace at Mimuro, in Yamato, and
dwelt therein. He affords a direct link with the Mikado family, for his
daughter became the empress of the first historic emperor Jimmu. Her
name was Humetatara Izudsuhime.
All the descendants of her father are named, like him, Ohomiwa no Kami,
and it is said that the present empress of Japan is probably a
descendant of this god. As regards the descent of the Emperor Jimmu
himself we already know that Ninigi no Mikoto, "the sovran grandchild"
of the sun-goddess, was sent down with the sacred symbols of empire
given to him in the sun by the sun-goddess herself before he started for
the earth. Now Ninigi married (reader, forgive me for quoting the lady's
name and her father's) Konohaneno-sakuyahime, the daughter of
Ohoyamazumino-Kami, and the pair had three sons, of whom the last named
Howori no Mikoto succeeded to the throne. He is sometimes called by the
following simple--and possibly endearing--name: Amatsuhitakahi
Kohoho-demi no Mikoto.
He married Toyatama-hime, the daughter of the sea-god, and they had a
son, Ugaya-fuki-ayedsu no Mikoto, born, it is said, under an unfinished
roof of cormorants' wings, who succeeded the father, and who married
Tamayori-hime, also a daughter of the sea-god. This illustrious couple
had four sons, of whom the last succeeded to the throne in the year B.C.
660. He was named Kamuyamatoi warehiko no Mikoto, but posterity has
fortunately simplified his designation to the now familiar Jimmu-Tenno,
the first historic Emperor of Japan, and the ancestor of the present
emperor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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