Midzuha Wake

We met Midzuha Wake back during the reign of his brother, Izaho Wake, and really there is little to say about him here. When he finally comes to the thrown he reigns, peacefully, for five years. That’s about it.

Oasatsuma Wakugo no Sukune

The youngest son of Ōsazaki no Mikoto and Iwa no HIme, making him the full brother to both Izaho Wake and Midzuha Wake. He was struck ill in his youth and we are told in the Nihon Shoki that he lost command of his limbs. Later he would recover thanks to continental medicine.

Ōkusaka no Miko

Another son of Ōsazaki no Mikoto, but through Kaminaga Hime rather than Iwa no Hime. His sister, Kusaka no Hatahi, had been married to Izaho Wake and Ōkusaka would eventually marry their daughter, his niece, Nakashi Hime, but apparently that was all well and good by the standards of the day.

Osaka no Nakatsu Hime

Supposedly a daughter of Homuda Wake and one of his many wives, Kaguro Hime, if the lineage in the Chronicles is to be believed one suspects she was nearly old enough to be Oasatsuma’s mother, despite the fact that they were married. It is quite possible that her lineage was changed so that she could be queen and thus her offspring could inherit the throne.

Sotowori Hime

Also referred to as “Oto Hime”, but that really just means “younger princess”, she was the younger sister to Osaka no Nakatsu Hime, we are told. Her name is supposedly an epithet describing her radiant beauty, though it may have also referred to how she was living outside, or “soto”, from the palace.

Nakatomi no Ikatsu no Omi

Ikatsu is referred to as a toneri, meaning a palace servant. As such, we can assume that the “Omi” in his name was a family kabane, rather than marking him as a literal minister. The Nakatomi family would eventually become known as powerful ritualists at court and eventually a branch of that family would break off and become the Fujiwara. It is unclear if the “Omi” kabane was actually something that Ikatsu would have used at this time, and that may be an anachronism.

Yamato no Atae no Agoko

We’ve already met Agoko in previous reigns, and though he doesn’t have much of a part, here, it is still interesting that he makes even a cameo appearance.

On Poetry

This episode we see the use of poetry—specifically tanka—used in wooing a woman. The format that we see, where a man goes and secretly listens to a woman, and then responds to her poem with one of his own, feels particularly trope-filled. This is the kind of thing that filled the various romances of the Heian period, around the time of the Tale of Genji, and it is interesting to see the format so long ago.

I would note, however, that poems from this period of the Chronicles can still be rough, and 5-7-5/7-7 meter that one might expect is not always present. It is possible this is an error in the transcription of some of the poems, but it is also the case that this meter was not always adhered to strictly, with oral flourishes of one kind or another likely making up for it in the reading by either combining multiple morae or lengthening them appropriately.

6th century haniwa figure of a man playing the zither, or *koto,* found in Ibaraki. From a private collection, on display at the Tokyo National Museum. Photo by author, May 2008.

The Koto

At one point, we are told that the sovereign is playing the koto, a type of zither—a horizontal stringed instrument usually played while seated. Modern koto are very similar to the Chinese guzheng, though the latter has more strings. An earlier version also existed, known later as the wagon (和琴), and I suspect that this is the instrument that is being referenced in the Nihon Shoki. It was apparently smaller than a modern koto, and had even fewer strings, but it was still a very similar instrument.

References

Ō, Yasumaro, & Heldt, G. (2014). The Kojiki: An account of ancient matters. ISBN978-0-231-16389-7
Bentley, John. (2006). The Authenticity of Sendai Kuji Hongi: a New Examination of Texts, with a Translation and Commentary. ISBN-90-04-152253
Chamberlain, B. H. (1981). The Kojiki: Records of ancient matters. Rutland, Vt: C.E. Tuttle Co. ISBN4-8053-0794-3
Aston, W. G. (1972). Nihongi, chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN0-80480984-4
Philippi, D. L. (1968). Kojiki. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN4-13-087004-1