Japan. Various
expedition against Nagasunehiko. The latter, however, sent him a message, saying: "Prince Nigihayahi, son of the Deity of Heaven, came hither in a strong boat, and married my sister, Kashiya, by whom he has a son, Prince Umashimate. I have made obeisance to Prince Nigihayahi as sovereign of the land. There cannot possibly be two legitimate representatives of the Heavenly Deity. You must have come to deprive us wrongfully of the realm under pretext of celestial origin." To this Iwarehiko replied: "There is more than one son of the Deity of Heaven. If your sovereign be in truth the offspring of the Celestial Deity, he must possess some proofs. Let me see them." Nagasunehiko thereupon produced arrows and an arrow-case which Prince Nigihayahi had brought with him. Iwarehiko, having examined them, declared them to be genuine, and showed his own arrows and arrow-case to Nagasunehiko. But the latter, though fully sensible that Iwarehiko was of celestial origin, maintained an obstinate mien and would not change his view. Prince Nigihayahi, now clearly perceiving his unreasonable disposition, put him to death, and passed over with all his men to serve in the invading army. Well pleased by this act, Iwarehiko treated the prince kindly and rewarded his loyal conduct. Orders were then issued to the captains to exterminate all the insurgents in the land, and the Yamato district having been brought into complete subjection, the conqueror established his capital at Kashiwabara in Yamato, and ordained the deities of the various officials of his court, the imperial power being thus extended and the administration placed on a fixed basis. This was the opening year of Japanese history. Later annalists fixed the year at 660 BC, and styled the victorious prince the Emperor Jimmu, the first sovereign of the Empire of Japan.
After his death his younger son, Prince Takishimimi, sought to usurp the sovereignty. The eldest son, Prince Kamyaimimi, suspecting the plot, revealed it to his younger brother, Kannuna-gawamimi, who shot the usurper. Thereupon the elder prince waived the throne in favor of his valiant brother, who thus became the second emperor, Suisei. After him followed the Emperors Annei, Itoku, Kōshō, Kōan, Kōrei, Kōgen, and Kaikwa, whose reigns are said to have lasted 450 years and are singularly bare of recorded events.
In these primitive ages the life of the people was naturally simple. The population must have been small, and the communication between different parts of the small empire extremely difficult. Boats were propelled by oars, for sails were unknown. The invaders must have attained to a higher stage of culture than the vanquished natives. The dwellings of the aristocracy, for example, were rudely constructed wooden houses, the simple model of which still survives in the Shintō shrines of the present day, while the autochthons mostly dwelt in pits dug underground. On the whole, however, both classes had partially advanced to an agricultural mode of life, and depended for subsistence largely on fishing and hunting. Bows and arrows or snares were the chief implements used in hunting, and hooks, cormorants, and weirs served for purposes of fishing. Methods of preparing food had already been elaborated, and the art of brewing saké was known. Marked progress had also taken place in matters of dress. From skins of animals or textile fabrics woven from hemp and dyed red and green with juices of herbs, were made hats, robes, and pantaloons. Ornaments for the neck, arms, and legs consisted of beads of crystal, agate, glass, serpentine and polished gems, shaped into cylinders or crescents and strung together. The arts of mining and smelting ores, as well as of casting metal, were known, for, besides arrow-heads and other weapons of stone, spears and swords of copper or iron, together with plows and hatchets of hard metals, were in evidence.
It is interesting to know that at marriage the bridegroom, contrary to the modern custom, went to the house of the bride. A man also was permitted to have several wives, but a woman was never allowed to have more than one husband. Divination was always employed to solve doubtful questions. Music and dancing were already known, the koto and the flute being employed as musical instruments. Emotions of grief or joy, love or disappointment, were expressed in song, the most ancient song now extant being attributed to the deity Susanoö. The Emperor Jimmu also frequently commemorated brave deeds of war in song, thus encouraging and reviving the spirit of his warriors.
A profound awe and respect toward the national deities, as well as a superstitious fear of innumerable spirits, seems to have prevailed everywhere in all classes of society. If the people submitted readily to the sway of the Emperor Jimmu, it was largely because they regarded him as a scion of the gods. The emperor, on his side, firmly convinced that good and evil were controlled by divine will, never neglected to perform sacrificial rites. Out of the custom of extreme reverence toward the deities grew abhorrence for impurity in any form, so that separate huts came to be built for the bodies of the dead or for women at times of parturition, and if any man came in contact with an unclean object, he bathed in a river to purify himself.
Naturally, little distinction existed between religion and government, between shrine and palace. At the completion of his work of conquest, Jimmu erected a building at Kashiwabara, in which he deposited the three insignia, and in which he himself resided and personally governed the empire. Each one of his eight successors followed his example. The tenth emperor, Sujin, however, fearing that the insignia might be polluted, made duplicates of the Mirror and the Sword, and reverently deposited the originals in a shrine at Kasanui in Yamato, where one of the imperial princesses was intrusted with the duty of guarding them and performing due religious rites. Thus, shrine and palace were at last separated. Subsequently, these sacred objects were removed to Ise, and placed in the shrine now existing there. The Sword, however, was afterward carried to Atsuta in Owari, where it now lies in the Atsuta Shrine.
During the reigns of Sujin and his successor, Suinin, the agriculture and communication of the country are recorded to have been greatly encouraged, troubles near the court exterminated, and also the area of the empire largely extended. The extension of the imperial domain, however, brought it in sharp conflict with the still unsubdued tribes of the north and the south. From the reign of Keikō, Suinin's successor, we hear of the story of the conflict. The Kumaso of Tsukushi, Kiushū, rose in arms. How seriously this was regarded is seen from the fact that the emperor in person conducted a campaign for several years in Kiushū. No sooner was peace restored than the southern tribes again rebelled. This time the brave Prince Yamato-dake, who was sent to Tsukushi to subdue the insurgents, had to resort to strategy instead of war. Having disguised himself as a girl, he obtained entry into the house of the Kumaso chief, where he killed the chief and his warriors while they were lying drunk. He also overthrew many other rebellious princes and returned to Yamato in triumph.
In the meantime the emperor, after his return from Kiushū, had heard from a special commissioner whom he had sent that in the northeast of the empire there was a strange region named Hidakami, where the people of both sexes wore their hair tied up, tattooed their bodies, and performed deeds of valor. They were known as the Emishi, and their land, being extensive and fertile, the commissioner represented, ought to be added to the imperial domain. These Emishi rose in rebellion shortly after the return of Prince Yamato-dake from the conquest of the Kumaso. Thereupon the prince boldly offered to undertake the conquest of the new insurgents. After subduing local uprisings on his way, he proceeded by sea to the region of the northern rebellion. As his boats drew near the shore he displayed a large mirror at the prow of his vessel, and when the rebel chieftains and their followers sighted the ships, they were terrified by such evidences of pomp and power, and throwing away their bows and arrows, made submission. The prince accepted their homage, and enlisting their aid, conquered other rebels who still resisted the progress of the imperial forces. It seems probable that on that occasion Prince Yamato-dake advanced as far as the present province of Iwaki. On his return journey, which was again beset with local difficulties, he was seized with a severe illness, which soon proved fatal. The emperor bitterly lamented the death of his beloved son, and the story of the gallant prince is still dear to the heart of every child of Japan.
The local administration of the empire so materially extended during three successive reigns was now reorganized by the Emperor Shōmu, son of Keikō.