[ p. 15 ]
RECORDS OF ANCIENT MATTERS
¶ SECT. I.—THE BEGINNING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.
The names of the Deities [1] that were born [2] in the Plain of High Heaven [3] when the Heaven and Earth began were the Deity Master-of-the-August-Centre-of-Heaven, [4] next the High-August-Producing-Wondrous Deity, [5] next the Divine-Producing-Wondrous-Deity. [6] These three Deities were all Deities born alone, and hid their persons. [7] The names of the Deities that were born next from a thing that sprouted up like unto a reed-shoot when the earth, [8] young and like unto floating oil, drifted about medusa-like, were the Pleasant-Reed-Shoot-Prince-Elder Deity, [9] next the Heavenly-Eternally-Standing-Deity. [10] [16] These two Deities were likewise born alone, and hid their persons.
The five Deities in the above list are separate Heavenly Deities. [11]
[ p. 16 ]
[ p. 17 ]
¶ SECT. II.—THE SEVEN DIVINE GENERATIONS.
The names of the Deities that were born next were the Earthly-Eternally-Standing-Deity, [12] next the Luxuriant-Integrating-Master-Deity. [13] These two Deities were likewise [17] Deities born alone, and hid their persons. The names of the Deities that were born next were the Deity Mud-Earth-Lord next his younger sister the Deity Mud-Earth-Lady; [14] next the Germ-Integrating-Deity, next his younger sister the Life-Integrating-Deity; [15] next the Deity Elder-of-the-Great-Place, next his younger sister the Deity Elder-Lady-of-the-Great-Place; [16] next the Deity Perfect-Exterior, [17] [18] next his younger sister the Deity Oh-Awful-Lady; [18] next the Deity the Male-Who-Invites, next his younger sister the Deity the Female-Who-Invites. [19]
From the Earthly-Eternally-Standing Deity down to the Deity the Female-Who-Invites in the previous list are what are termed the Seven Divine Generations.
(The two solitary Deities above [-mentioned] are each called one generation. Of the succeeding ten Deities each pair of deities is called a generation.) [20]
[ p. 18 ]
[ p. 19 ]
¶ SECT. III.—THE ISLAND OF ONOGORO
Hereupon all the Heavenly Deities commanded the two Deities His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites and Her Augustness [21] the Female-Who-Invites, ordering them to “make, consolidate, and give birth to this drifting land.” Granting to them an heavenly jewelled spear, [22] they [thus] deigned to charge them. So the two Deities, standing upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven, [23] pushed [19] down the jewelled spear and stirred with it, whereupon, when they had stiffed the brine till it went curdle-curdle, [24] and drew [the spear] up, the brine that dripped down from the end of the spear was piled up and became an island. This is the Island of Onogoro. [25]
[ p. 20 ]
¶ SECT. IV.—COURTSHIP OF THE DEITIES THE MALE-WHO-INVITES AND THE FEMALE WHO-INVITES.
Having descended from Heaven onto this island, they saw to the erection [26] of an heavenly august pillar, they saw to the erection of an hall of eight fathoms. [27] Tunc [20] quæsivit [Augustus Mas-Qui-Invitat] a minore sorore Augustâ Feminâ-Qui-Invitat: “Tuum corpus quo in modo factum est?” Respondit dicens: “Meum corpus crescens crevit, sed est una pars quæ non crevit continua.” Tunc dixit Augustus Mas-Qui-Invitat: “Meum corpus crescens crevit, sed est una pars quæ crevit superflua. Ergo an bonum erit ut hanc corporis mei partem quæ crevit, superflua in tui corporis partem quæ non crevit continua inseram, et regiones procreem?” Augusta Femina-Quæ-Invitat respondit dicens: “Bonum erit.” Tunc dixit Augustus Mas-Qui-Invitat: “Quod [ p. 21 ] quum ita sit, ego et tu hanc cœlestem augustam, columnam circumeuntes mutuoque occurrentes, augustarum [i.e. privatarum] partium augustam coitionem faciemus.” [28] Hâc pactione factâ, dixit [Augustus Mas-Qui-Invitat]: “Tu a dexterâ circumeuns occurre; ego a sinistrâ occurram.” Absolutâ pactione ubi circumierunt, Augusta Femina-Qui-Invitat primum inquit: “O venuste et amabilis adolescens!” Deinde Augustus Mas-Qui-Invitat inquit: “O venusta et amabilis virgo!” Postquam singuli orationi finem fecerunt, [Augustus Mas-Qui-Invitat] locutus est sorori, dicens: “Non decet feminam primum verba facere.” Nihilominus in thalamo [opus procreationis] inceperunt, et filium [nomine] Hirudinem [29] [vel Hirudini similem] pepererunt. This child they placed in a boat of reeds, and let it float away. Next they gave birth to the Island of Aha. [30] This likewise is not reckoned among their children. [31]
[ p. 22 ]
¶ SECT. V.—BIRTH OF THE EIGHT ISLANDS.
Hereupon the two Deities took counsel, saying: “The children to whom we have now given birth are not good. It will be best to announce this in the august [21] place [32] of the Heavenly Deities.” They ascended forthwith to Heaven and enquired of Their Augustnesses the Heavenly Deities. Then the Heavenly Deities commanded and found out by grand divination, [33] and ordered them, saying: “They were not good because the woman spoke first. Descend back again and amend your words.” So thereupon descending back, they again went round the heavenly august pillar as before. Thereupon his Augustness the Male-Who-Invites spoke first: “Ah! what a fair and lovely maiden! Afterwards his younger sister Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites spoke: ”Ah! what a fair and lovely youth!“ Tali modo quun orationi finem fecerant, auguste coierunt et pepererunt a child the Island of Ahaji, Ho-no-sa-wake. [34] Next they gave birth to the Island of Futa-no in Iyo. [35] This island has one body and four faces, and each face has a name. So the Land of Iyo is called Lovely-Princess; [36] the Land of Sanuki [37] is called Prince-Good-Boiled-Rice; [38] the Land of Aha is called the Princess-of-Great-Food; [39] the Land of Tosa [40] is called Brave-Good-Youth. [41] Next they gave birth to the Islands of Mitsu-go [42] near Oki, [43] another name for which [islands] is Heavenly-Great-Heart-Youth. [44] [45] [ p. 23 ] This island likewise has one body and four faces [46] and each face has a name. So the land of Tsukushi is called White-Sun-Youth; [47] the Land of Toyo [48] is called Luxuriant-Sun-Youth; [49] the Land of Hi is called Brave Sun-Confronting-Luxuriant-Wondrous-Lord-Youth; [50] the Land of Kumaso is called Brave-Sun-Youth. [51] Next they gave birth to the Island of Iki, [52] another name for which is Heaven’s One-Pillar. [53] Next they gave birth to the Island of Tsu, [54] another name for which is Heavenly-Hand-net-Good-Princess. [55] Next they gave birth to the Island of Sado. [56] Next they gave birth to Great-Yamato-the-Luxuriant-Island-of-the-Dragon-Fly, [57] another name for which is Heavenly-August-Sky-Luxuriant-Dragon-fly-Lord-Youth. [24] The name of ”Land-of -the- Eight-Great-Islands" [58] therefore originated in these eight islands having been born first. After that, when they had returned, [59] they gave birth to the Island of Ko[-shima] [60] in Kibi, [61] another name for which [island] is Brave-Sun [62] Direction-Youth. Next they gave birth to the Island of Adzuki, [63] another name for which is Oho-Nu-De-Hime. Next they gave birth to the Island of Oho [-shima], [64] another name for which is Oho-Tamaru-Wake. Next they gave birth to the Island of Hime, [65] another name for which is Heaven’s-One-Root. Next they gave birth to the Island of Chika, [66] another name for which is Heavenly-Great-Male. Next they gave birth to the Island[s] of Futa-go, [67] another name for which is Heaven’s-Two-Houses, (Six islands in all from the Island of Ko, in Kibi to the Island of Heaven’s-Two-Houses).
[ p. 24 ]
[ p. 25 ]
[ p. 26 ]
[ p. 27 ]
¶ Footnotes
15:1 p. 15 For this rendering of the Japanese word kami see Introduction, pp. xvii-xviii. ↩︎
15:2 Literally, “that became” (
). Such “becoming” is concisely defined by Motowori as “the birth of that which did not exist before.” ↩︎15:3 In Japanese Takama-no-hara. ↩︎
15:4 Ame-no-mi-naka-nushi-no-kami. ↩︎
15:5 Taka-mi-musu-bi-no-kami. It is open to doubt whether the syllable bi, instead of signifying “wondrous,” may not simply be a verbal termination, in which case the three syllables musubi would mean, not “wondrous producing,” but simple “producing,” i.e., if we adopt the interpretation of the Verb musubu as “to produce” in the Active sense of the word, an interpretation as to whose propriety there is some room for doubt. In the absence of certainty the translator has followed the view expressed by Motowori and adopted by Hirata. The same remark applies to the following and other similar names. ↩︎
15:6 p. 16 Kami-musu-bi-no-kami. This name reappears in later Sections under the lengthened form of ami-musu-bi-mi-oya-no-mikoto, i.e., His Augustness the Deity-Producing-Wondrous-August-Ancestor, and also in abbreviated forms. ↩︎
15:7 I.e. they all came into existence without being procreated. in the manner usual with both gods and men, and afterwards disappeared, i.e., died. ↩︎
15:8 Here and elsewhere the character
, properly “country” (regio), is used where “earth” (tellus) better suits the sense. Apparently in the old language the word kuni (written 
), which is now restricted to the former meaning, was used ambiguously somewhat like our word “land.” ↩︎15:9 Umashi-ashi-kabi-hiko-ji-no-kami. For hiko here and elsewhere rendered “prince” see Introduction p. xvi; ji is rendered “elder” in accordance with the opinion expressed by Motowori and Hirata, who say that it is “an Honorific designation of males identical with the ji meaning old man.” ↩︎
15:10 Or, the Deity-Standing-Eternally-in-Heaven, Ame-no-toko-tachi-no-kami. The translation of the name here given follows the natural meaning of the characters composing it, and has the sanction of Tanigaha Shisai. Motowori and Hirata take toko to stand for soko, “bottom,” and interpret accordingly; but this is probably but one of the many instances in which the Japanese philologists allow themselves to be led by the boldness of their etymological speculations into identifying words radically distinct. ↩︎
15:11 This is a note in the original, where such notes are indented, as has also been clone In the translation. The author’s obscure phrase is explained by Motowori to mean that these Heavenly Deities were separate from those who came into existence afterwards, and especially from the Earthly-Eternally-Standing-Deity (Kuni-no-toko-tachi-no-kami) who in the “Chronicles” is the first divine being of whom mention is made. These five were, he says, “separate” and had nothing to do with the creation of the world. It should be stated that the sentence will also bear the interpretation “The five Deities in the above list are Deities who divided Heaven” (presumably from Earth;) but this rendering has against it the authority of all the native editors. As the expressions “Heavenly Deity” and “Earthly Deity” (lit., “Country Deity” are of frequent occurrence in these “Records,” it may be as well to state that. according to Motowori, the “Heavenly Deities” were such as either dwelt in Heaven or had originally descended to Earth from Heaven, whereas the Earthly Deities were those born and dwelling in Japan. ↩︎
17:1 p. 17 Or, the Deity-Standing-Eternally-on-Earth, Kuni-no-toko-tachi-no-kami, Conf. Note 10 to Sect. I. ↩︎
17:2 Toyo-kumo-nu-no-kami. There is much doubt as to the proper interpretation of this name. The characters
(“cloud-moor”), with which the syllables read kumo-nu are written, are almost certainly phonetic, and the translator has followed Motowori’s view as corrected by Hirata, according to which kumo is taken to stand for kumu, “integrating,” and nu is considered to be an apocopated form of nushi, “master” (or more vaguely “the person who presides at or does a thing”). Mabuchi in his “Dictionary of Pillow-words,” Article Sasutake, argues that the syllables in question should be interpreted in the sense of “coagulated mud”; out this is less satisfactory. ↩︎17:3 p. 18 U-hiji-no-kami and Su-hiji-ni-no-kami. The names of this pair tend themselves to a variety of interpretations. Motowori’s view of the meaning of the first three syllables in each seems best, if it is founded on the Chinese characters with which they are written in the parallel passage of the “Chronicles,” and it has therefore been adopted here. Hirata interprets the names thus: First-Mud-Lord and First-Sand-Lady, and takes ni to be an alternative form of the Honorific ne found in so many proper names. This view of the meaning of ni has been followed by the translator. On the other hand Mabuchi explains the names to mean respectively Floating-Mud-Earth and Sinking-Mud-Earth. The only thing therefore that is granted by all is that the names in question refer to the mud or slime out of which the world was afterwards made. The reader will bear in mind that “younger-sister” and “wife” are convertible names in Archaic Japanese. (See Introduction p. XXXVIII.) ↩︎
17:4 Tsunu-guhi-no-kami and Iku-guhi-no-kami. The interpretation given is one in which the commentators agree, and which has some probability in its favour. It must however only be accepted with reservation. ↩︎
17:5 Oho-to-no ji-no-kami and Oho-to-no-be-no-kami. ↩︎
17:6 Omo-daru-no-kami. We might also render omo-daru by “perfect-face,” i.e., perfectly beautiful.” ↩︎
17:7 Aya-kashiko-ne-no-kami. For “awful” we might substitute “venerable.” Hirata, commentating on this name and the seven which precede it, says: U-hiji-ui and Su-hiji-ni are so named from their having contained the germs of what was to become the earth. Oho-to-no-ji and Oho-to-no-be are so called from the appearance of the incipient earth. Tsunu-guhi and Iku-guhi are so called from the united appearance of the earth and the Deities as they came into existence. Omo-daru and Kashiko-ne are so called from the completion of the august persons of the Deities. Thus their names were given to them from the gradual progress [of creation].” ↩︎
17:8 Izana-gi-no-kami and Izana-mi-no-kami. There is some slight diversity of opinion as to the literal signification of the component parts of the names of these the best-known of the Deities hitherto mentioned, though the gist of the meaning remains unchanged. Motowori would prefer to read Iza-na-gi and Iza-a-mi, taking the syllable na as the Second Personal Pronoun “thou,” and understanding the names thus: “the Prince-Who-Invites-Thee” and the “Princess-Who-Invites-Thee.” It seems however more natural to look on izana as forming but one word, viz., the Root of the Verb Izanafu, “to invite.” The older native commentators p. 19 mean the same thing when they tell us that na is an Expletive. The syllables gi and mi are of uncertain etymology, but occur in other Archaic words to denote the female and male of a pair. The appropriateness of the names of these deities will be seen by referring to Sect. IV. ↩︎
17:9 For explanatory notes which are printed in small type in the original, small type is likewise used in this translation. ↩︎
19:1 p. 19 For this rendering of the Japanese title Mikoto see Introduction, p. xvi, last paragraph. ↩︎
19:2 The characters translated “jewelled spear” are
, whose proper Chinese signification would be quite different. But the first of the two almost certainly stands phonetically for 
or 
,—the syllable nu, which is its sound, having apparently been an ancient word for “jewel” or “head,” the better-known Japanese term being tama. In many places the word “jewel” (or “jewelled”) seems to be used simply as an adjective expressive of beauty. But Motowori and Hirata credit it in this instance with its proper signification, and the translator always renders it literally, leaving the reader to consider it to be used metaphorically if and where he pleases. ↩︎19:3 p. 20 Ama-no-uki-hashi or Ame-no-uki-hashi. The best authorities are at variance as to the nature of this bridge uniting Heaven with Earth. Hirata identifies it with the Heavenly-Rock-Boat (Ame-no-iha-fune) mentioned in some ancient writings, whereas Motowori takes it to have been a real bridge, and finds traces of it and of similar bridges in the so-called “Heavenly Stairs” (Ama-no-hashi-date) which are found on several points of the coast, forming a kind of natural breakwater just above water-level. ↩︎
19:4 I.e., “till it became thick and glutinous.” It is not easy to find in English a word which will aptly render the original Japanese onomatopoeia koworokoworo. The meaning may also be “till it made a curdling sound.” But though the character
, “to make a noise,” sanctions this view, it is not the view approved by the commentators, and 
is probably only written phonetically for a homonymous word signifying “to become,” which we find in the parallel passage of the “Chronicles.” ↩︎19:5 I.e., “Self-Curdling,” “Self-Condensed.” It is supposed to have been one of the islets off the coast of the larger island of Ahaji. ↩︎
20:1 p. 21 The original of this quasi-causative phrase, of which there is no other example in Japanese literature so far as the translator’s reading goes, is interpreted by Motowori in the sense of the English locution to which it literally corresponds, and it has here been rendered accordingly, though with considerable hesitation. Hirata does not approve of Motowori’s view; but then the different text which he here adopts imposes on him the necessity of another interpretation. (See his “Exposition of the Ancient Histories,” Vol. II, pp. 39-40). ↩︎
20:2 The original word hiro (written
) is defined as the distance between the hands when the arms are outstretched. The word rendered “hall” may also be translated “palace.”—The text of the parallel passage of the “Chronicles” is “they made the Island of Onogoro the central Pillar of the land,”—a statement which seems more rational and more in accordance with general tradition than that of these “Records.” ↩︎21:3 This is Hirata’s view of the import of the somewhat obscure original (see his “Exposition of the Ancient Histories,” Vol. II, pp. 61-64). Motowori’s interpretation is: “auguste in thalamo coibimus.” ↩︎
21:4 p. 22 The name in the original is Hiru-go, an instance of the fortuitous verbal resemblances occasionally found between unrelated languages. ↩︎
21:5 Literary “foam.” It is supposed to have been an islet near the island of Ahaji in the province of Sanuki. ↩︎
21:6 Hiru-go was not so reckoned, because he was a failure. ↩︎
22:1 p. 23 The characters
here translated “august place” (the proper Chinese signification is “imperial place”) are those still in common use to denote the Mikado’s palace. ↩︎22:2 p. 24 For an elaborate account of the various methods of divination practised by the Ancient Japanese see Note 5 to Mr. Satow’s translation of the “Service of the Gods of Wind at Tatsuta” in the “Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,” Vol. VII, Pt. IV, p. 425 et seq. “The most important mode of divination practised by the primitive Japanese was that of scorching the shoulder-blade of a deer over a clear fire, and finding, omens in the cracks produced by the heat.” ↩︎
22:3 Aha-ji signifies “foam-way,” i.e., “the way to Foam (Aha)-Island,” on account, it is said, of its intermediate position between the mainland and the province of Aha in what is in modern parlance the Island of Shikoku. The author of the “Chronicles of Old Affairs” fancifully derives the name from a hoji “my shame.” The etymology of Ho-no-sa-wake is disputed; but Hirata, who in the body of Vol. III of his “Exposition of the Ancient Histories” had already expended much ingenuity in discussing it, gives the most satisfactory interpretation that has yet been proposed in a postscript to that volume, where he explains it to signify “Rice-ear-True-Youth.” Wake (sometimes wake or waku) is a word of frequent occurrence in the names of gods and heroes. Whether it really signifies “youth,” as Hirata believes and as it is most natural to suppose, or whether Motowori’s guess that it is an Honorific title corrupted from waga kimi ye (lit. “my prince elder brother,” more freely “lord”) remains undecided. When it is used as a “gentile name,” the translator renders it by “lord,” as that in such cases is its import apart from the question of derivation. Sa, rendered “true,” may almost be considered to have dwindled down to a simple Honorific.—It is this little island which is said by the author of the “Chronicles” to have been the caul with which the great island of Yamato was born. Ahaji and Ho-no-sa-wake must be understood to be alternative names, the latter being what in other cases is prefaced by the phrase “another name for whom.” ↩︎
22:4 Futa-na is written with characters signifying “two names,” and Motowori’s derivation from futa-narabi, “two abreast,” does not carry conviction. The etymology of Iyo is quite uncertain. It is here taken as the name of the whole island called in modern times Shikoku; but immediately below we find it in its usual modern acceptation of one of the four provinces into which that island is divided. A similar remark applies to Tsukushi a little further on. ↩︎
22:5 Ye-hime. For the rendering of hiko and hime as “prince” and “princess” see introduction, p. xvi. ↩︎
22:6 Probably derived, as Hirata shows, from saho-ki, “pole-trees,” a p. 25 tribute of poles having anciently been paid by that province. Motowori adopts the unusual reading of the name given in the “Japanese Words Classified and Explained,” viz. Sanugi, with the last syllable nigori’ed. ↩︎
22:7 Ihi-yori-hiko. The translator, though with some hesitation, follows Motowori in looking on yori as a contraction of yorishi, “good.” The character used for it in the original is
. ↩︎22:8 Oho-ge-tsu-hime. Remember that aha signifies not only “foam” but “millet” so that we need not be astonished to find that the alternative designation of the island so designated is that of a food-goddess. ↩︎
22:9 Etymology uncertain, only fanciful derivations being proposed by the native philologists. ↩︎
22:10 Take-yori-wake. ↩︎
22:11 Mitsu-go signifies “triplets,” lit., “three children.” The three islets intended are Ama-ma-shima, Mukafu-no-shima and Chiburi-no-shima. ↩︎
22:12 Oki probably here signifies “offing,” which is its usual acceptation. ↩︎
22:13 Ame-no-oshi-koro-wake. The syllables oshi, which recur in the names of many gods and heroes, are rendered “great” in accordance with Motowori’s plausible conjecture that they are an abbreviation of ohoshi (“great,” not “many” as in the later language). The translation of koro by “heart” follows a conjecture of Hirata’s (Motowori acknowledged that he could make nothing of the word), according to which it is taken to be an abbreviated form of kokoro, “heart.” ↩︎
22:14 None but fanciful derivations of this word are suggested by the native philologists. ↩︎
23:16 Shira-bi-wake. ↩︎
23:17 Toyo means “luxuriant” or “fertile.” Hi appears to signify “fire” or “sun.” Kumaso is properly a compound, Kuma-so, as the district is often mentioned by the simple name of So. Kuma signifies “bear,” and Motowori suggests that the use of the name of this the fiercest of p. 26 beasts as a prefix may be traced to the evil reputation of that part of the country for robbers and outlaws. He quotes similar compounds with kuma in support of this view. ↩︎
23:18 Toyo-bi-wake. ↩︎
23:19 Take-hi-mukahi-toyo-kuzhi-hine-wake. The interpretation of this name follows Motowori. ↩︎
23:20 Take-bi-wake. ↩︎
23:21 Etymology uncertain, but there seems reason to suppose that the name was originally pronounced Yiki or Yuki. ↩︎
23:22 Ame-hito-tsu-bashira. ↩︎
23:23 Tsu (Tsu-shima) means “port,” “anchorage,” a name probably given to this island on account of its being the midway halting-place for junks plying between Japan and Korea. ↩︎
23:24 Ame-no-sade-yori-hime. The interpretation of sade (rendered “hand-net”) is uncertain. The translator has followed that sanctioned by an ode in Vol. I of the “Collection of a Myriad Leaves” and by a passage in the “Japanese Words Classified and Explained.” Hirata takes sa to be an Honorific and te to be the usual word for “hand,” while Motowori gives up the name in despair. ↩︎
23:25 Etymology uncertain. ↩︎
23:26 Oho-yamato-toyo-aki-dzu-shima (the original of the alternative personal name is Ame-no-mi-sora-toyo-aki-dzu-ne-wake). The etymology of Yamato is much disputed. Mabuchi, in his “Addenda to the Commentary on the Collection of a Myriad Leaves,” derives the name from yama-to, “mountain-gate.” Motowori, in a learned discussion to be found in his “Examination of the Synonyms of Japan,” pp. 24-27, proposes three other possible derivations, viz. yama-to, “mountain-place,” yama-to (supposed to stand for yama-tsubo and to mean “mountain-secluded”), and yama-utsu (utsu being a supposititious Archaic form of uchi,) “within the mountains.” Other derivations are yama-to (
), “without the mountains,” yama-ato, “mountain-traces” and yama-todomi, “mountains stopping,” i.e. (as Moribe, who proposes it, explains), “far as the mountains can be seen.” Another disputed point is whether the name of Yamato which here designates the Main Island of the Archipelago, but which in the common parlance of both ancient and modern times is the denomination on the one hand of the single province of Yamato and on the other of the whole Empire of Japan, originally had the wider application or the more restricted one. Motowori and the author of the “Exposition of the Foreign Notices of Japan” seem to the present writer to make p. 27 out the case in favour of the latter view. Motowori supposes the name to have denoted first a village and then a district, before being applied to a large province and finally to the entire country. The “Island of the Dragon-fly” is a favourite name for Japan in the language of the Japanese poets. It is traced to a remark of the Emperor Jim-mu, who is said to have compared the shape of the country round Mountain Hohoma to “a dragon-fly drinking with its tail.” Conf. also the tradition forming the subject of Sec. CLVI of the present translation. ↩︎23:27 Oho-ya-shima-huni. A perhaps still more literal English rendering of this name would be “Land of the Grand Eight Islands” or “Grand Land of the Eight Islands,” for the word oho must be regarded rather as an Honorific than as actually meant to convey an idea of size. ↩︎
23:28 “To the Island of Onogoro,” says Motowori; but we are not told that the god and goddess had ever left it. ↩︎
23:29 Ko means “infant” or “small.” The original of the alternative personal name is Take-hi-gata-wake. Gata (or, without the nigori, Kata) here and in other names offers some difficulty. The translator renders it by the equivalent of the usual Japanese signification of the character
, “direction,” with which it is written. ↩︎23:30 Etymology uncertain. ↩︎
23:9 Etymology uncertain, only fanciful derivations being proposed by the native philologists. ↩︎
23:15 A note to the edition of 1687 says: “Should the word ‘four’ be changed to ‘five?’” For most texts enumerate five countries in this passage with slight variations in the names, Himuka, (Hiuga), which it certainly seems strange to omit, being the fourth on the list with the alternative name of Toyokuzhi-hine-wake, while the alternative name of Hi is Haya-hi-wake, Motowori argues that an enumeration of four agrees better with the context, while Moribe in his Critique on Motowori’s Commentary decides in favour of the five. There are thus texts and authorities in favour of both views. ↩︎
23:31 Adzuki is written with the characters
, which signify a kind of bean (the Phaseolus radiatus); but it is possible that they represent the sound, and not the sense, of the name. In the alternative personal name oho signifies “great,” and hime “princess,” while the syllables nu-de are of altogether uncertain interpretation. Motowori suggests that mu may mean “moor” and de (for te) “clapper-bell.” ↩︎23:32 I.e., Great Island. The word tamaru in the alternative personal name is so obscure that not even any plausible conjecture concerning it has been ventured and the name is therefore of necessity left untranslated. ↩︎
23:33 Hime signifies “princess” or “maiden.” The original of the alternative personal name is Ame-hito-tsu-ne. ↩︎
23:34 Etymology uncertain. Motowori would take the name in a plural sense as standing for the modern islands of Hirado and Go-tō (Goto). The original of the alternative personal name is Ame-no-oshi-wo; in which as usual, oshi is supposed to represent ohoshi (
), “great.” ↩︎23:35 Futa-go means “twins.” The original of the alternative personal name is Ame-futa-ya. ↩︎