於其嶋天降坐而
見立天之御柱見立八尋殿
於是問其妹伊耶那美命曰
汝身者如何成
答白吾身者成々不成合處一處在
尒伊耶那岐命詔我身者成々而成①餘處一處在
故以此吾身成餘處刺塞汝身不成合處而
以為生成国土生奈何[訓生云宇牟下效此]
伊耶那美命答曰然善
尒伊耶那岐命詔然者吾与汝行廻逢是天之御柱而
為美斗能麻具波比[此七字以音]
如此之期乃詔汝者自右廻逢我者自左廻逢
約②竟以廻時
伊耶那美命先言阿那迩夜志愛上袁登古袁[此十字以音下效此]
後伊耶那岐命言阿那迩夜志愛上袁登賣袁③
各言竟之④後告其妹曰女人先言不良
雖然久美度迩[此四字以音]興而生子
此子者入葦舩而流去
次生淡嶋
是亦不入子之例
於是二柱神議云今吾所生之子不良
猶宜白天神之御所即共参上請天神之命
尒天神之命以
布斗麻迩尒上[此五字以音]卜相而詔之
因女先言而不良亦還降改言
故尒降更往廻其天之御柱如先
【校異】
① 真 ナシ 道果本以下による。
② 真 「幼」 兼永本以下による。
③ 真 ナシ 兼永本以下による。
④ 真 「云」 道果本以下による。
伊耶那岐・伊耶那美の二神はその嶋に天降りなさって、
天の御柱を見顕し、八尋殿を見顕す。
そこで、その妹の伊耶那美命に質問して言うことには、
「おまえの身体はどのように成っているのか」という。
伊耶那美命が答え申し上げることには、「私の身は出来上がり出来上がりしてなお出来上がっていないところが一箇所あります」と申し上げる。
すると伊耶那岐命が仰ることには、「私の身体は出来上がり出来上がりして出来上がり過ぎたところが一箇所ある。
そこで、私の身体の出来上がり過ぎたところで、おまえの身体の出来上がっていないところを刺し塞いで、
国土を生んで生成しようと思う。生むことはいかがであろうか」と仰る。
伊耶那美命が答えて言うことには、「それが良いでしょう」と言う。
そこで、伊耶那岐命が仰ることには、「それならば私とおまえとでこの天の御柱を別々に廻って逢って、
聖所での婚姻を成そう」と仰る。
このように約束をして、それで「おまえは右から廻って私に出逢いなさい。私は左から廻っておまえに出逢おう」と仰って、
約束をし終えて廻った時に、
伊耶那美命が先ず「まあ、なんと素敵な男性なんでしょう」と唱え、
その後に伊耶那岐命が、「ああ、なんて美しい女性なんだろう」と唱える。
それぞれに唱え終わった後に、伊耶那岐命はその妹に告げて、「女人が先に唱えたのは良くなかった」という。
そうではあるが、男女の籠もり場で生んだ子は、ヒルコである。
この子は葦船に入れて、流しやってしまった。
続いてを生む。
これもまた、子として数えることはなかった。
そこで、伊耶那岐・伊耶那美の二柱の神が相談をして言うことには、「今私が生んだ子は良い子ではなかった。
やはり天つ神の御所に参上して申し上げよう」と言って、一緒に天に参上して、天つ神のお言葉を請うた。
そこで、天つ神のお言葉で、
フトマニに占いをして仰ることには、
「女人が最初に唱えたのが原因で良くない結果となった。再び還り降って改めて唱えなさい」と仰る。
そうして降って、再びその天の御柱を各々行って廻る様は、先の通りである。
[The two deities Izanaki no mikoto 伊耶那岐命 and no mikoto 伊耶那美命] descended from the heavens to that island,
discerned a celestial pillar, and [also] discerned a broad-spanned palace.
Thereupon, [Izanaki] questioned his sister-spouse Izanami, saying:
“How is your body formed?”
Izanami replied:“My body is formed, indeed it is formed, yet there is one place that is not completely formed.”
Then Izanaki said: “My body is formed, indeed it is formed, yet there is one place that is formed in excess.
Thus, I would like to insert the part of my body that is formed in excess into the part of your body that is not completely formed so as to fill it up
and thereby give birth to the land. How would it be if we gave birth [to the land together]?”
Izanami answered:“That would be good.”
Then Izanaki said:“So let us, you and me, go around this celestial pillar, meet,
and celebrate conjugal intercourse in a sacred place.”
They agreed, whereupon [Izanaki] said:“You go around from the right and meet me; I will go around from the left and meet you.”
Having made this promise, they went around [the pillar],
and spoke first, saying:“Oh, what a handsome man!”
After this, Izanaki said:“Oh, what a beautiful woman!”
After each had spoken, Izanaki said to his sister-spouse:“The woman spoke first; this is not good.”
Nevertheless, they went into a place to seclude themselves and began procreation. But the child that was born was a leech-child.
They put this child on a reed boat and let it float away.
Next they gave birth to the island of Awa.
This is not counted among their children either.
Thereupon Izanaki and took counsel together and said:“The children we have given birth to are not good.
Let us go up and report this to the Celestial Deities.”They went up to attend on the Celestial Deities and seek their command.
At the command of the Celestial Deities
a futomani divination was performed, and the Celestial Deities declared:
“It was because the woman spoke first that the result was not good. Descend again and speak anew.”
Izanaki and then descended and once again went around the celestial pillar as before.
“Descend from the heavens”(amorimashite 天降坐而)
Other ancient texts suggest various possibilities for reading the two graphs 天降. The Man'yōshū includes the phrases amorimashite 安母理座而 (second book), amorimashi 安母理麻之 (third book), and amakudari 安麻久太利 (eighteenth book). Based on these examples, both the readings amori and amorimashite would be possible in this instance. Amori is an abbreviation of amaori. From his examination of the examples in the Man'yōshū, Motozawa Masafumi 本澤雅史 concludes that it tends to use the verb oru when emphasizing the result of the act of descending and kudaru when emphasizing the process of that act. He thus argues that for the Kojiki it is best to read 天降 as amakudaru or amakudasu, both verbs conveying the process of descending.(1) Since this verb has both transitive and intransitive forms, a transitive reading of the compound 天降 as amakudasu is theoretically possible. Given that the alternative choice of amoru exists only as an intransitive verb and there is no transitive form amorosu, the intransitive form amakudaru seems more appropriate. However, the Kanekata-bon 兼方本 manuscript of the Nihon shoki glosses these two graphs as amakutashimatsuramu. Mōri Masamori 毛利正守 points out that the usage of this verb varies depending on whether or not it refers to deities linked to the imperial lineage: it is written 天降 to describe the descent of imperial antecedent deities such as the Izanaki-Izanami pair, Oshihomimi, and Ninigi, but 自天降 in the case of other deities such as and Amewakahiko.(2)
“Celestial pillar”(ame no mihashira 天之御柱)
Opinions are divided as to whether the celestial pillar is part of the broad-spanned palace mentioned subsequently or a separate entity. The first variant of the fourth episode of the Nihon shoki states that the two deities “built”(kasaku 化作) a broad-spanned palace and then “erected”(kaken 化堅) a celestial pillar.(3) In that instance the pillar is regarded as a separate element. Judging from the statement that the two deities go around the pillar, it would seem that in the Kojiki, too, the palace and the pillar are seen as two separate objects. There is also the issue of whether the broad-spanned palace should be identified as the mito 美斗 (“sacred place”) mentioned later in the phrase mito no maguwai 美斗能麻具波比, or as the “place to seclude themselves”(kumido 久美度) where they begin procreation.
Further comment
“Discerned [a pillar]”(mitatsu 見立)
There are many theories about the meaning of this term, but none are recognized as fully established. 平田篤胤 and Saigō Nobutsuna 西郷信綱 interpret it as erecting a pillar on the model of a celestial one.(4) Tsugita Uruu 次田潤, Nakajima Etsuji 中島悦次, and 敷田年治 take it to mean to erect the pillar after having surveyed the situation.(5) Kanda Hideo 神田秀夫 and Ōta Yoshimaro 太田善麿, as well as Kanda Hideo in his Shinchū Kojiki 新注古事記 commentary, hold that the character 見 is an abbreviation of 現 (“actual”) and that the term means to actually erect a pillar.(6) Maruyama Rinpei 丸山林平 interprets 見 as a phonetic substitution for the honorific 御.(7) Ozaki Satoakira 尾崎知光 and Kurano Kenji 倉野憲司 take it to mean erecting a pillar after carefully selecting the place.(8) Referring to the first variant of the fourth episode of the Nihon shoki, which uses the graphs 化作・化堅, Ogihara Asao 荻原浅男 interprets it as erecting a pillar where nothing previously existed.(9) Takeda Yūkichi 武田祐吉 and Nakamura Hirotoshi 中村啓信 interpret it as bringing a pillar suddenly into existence where there was nothing previously.(10) Nishimiya Kazutami 西宮一民 sees it as meaning to carefully select an appropriate tree and make it into a pillar.(11) Kōnoshi Takamitsu 神野志隆光 and Yamaguchi Yoshinori 山口佳紀 think of it as meaning to discover or find.(12)
Orikuchi Shinobu 折口信夫 examines and rejects various earlier hypotheses; he concludes that it is not that the two deities actually erected a pillar, but that they celebrated something by likening it to a pillar. According to him, in antiquity the Japanese viewed things associatively and made metaphoric use of objects. He sees this passage as exemplifying the ethnic perspective of metaphoric association (mitate 見立て).(13) Adopting Orikuchi's hypothesis, Nishida Nagao 西田長男 draws further evidence from the graphs 化作 and 化堅 used in the first variant of the fourth episode of the Nihon shoki. He points out that the word transliterated as 化作 in Chinese translations of Buddhist texts originally carried the sense of thinking of a nonexistent object as if it really exists and, conversely, thinking of an existent object as if it did not exist.(14) Then, there is the approach of Mōri Masamori, who argues that the word “to see” or “to view” would not be attached to a word signifying the erection of a pillar and that thus the character 見 must be a substitution for the honorific 御.(15) Nakamura Hirotoshi holds that since both the Kojiki and the Nihon shoki share a common content, they likely derive from a single source. He posits that this source probably used the Chinese words 化作 and 化堅 (which appear in the Nihon shoki variant mentioned above) and that the word mitate 見立 was used in the Kojiki as the Japanese equivalent. This he takes to mean to bring the pillar and palace suddenly into existence where there had been nothing.(16) Having reviewed these theories, Yajima Izumi 矢嶋泉 rejects the abovementioned point of view of Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori that 見立 means to discover or find. The act of looking, he asserts, carries a magic power to make things materialize, and this is the case here. Izanaki and produced the celestial pillar and the broad-spanned palace through the very act of looking.(17)
It appears that in the Kojiki the Chinese character 見 means “to see,” while 立 is used in reference to a person or object standing, or else to mean “to emerge” or “to make an appearance.” Thus two interpretations are plausible for the combination 見立. One, as posited by Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, is “to discover”(in other words,“when they looked, [a pillar] was standing there”). The other interpretation is that proposed by Yajima Izumi, namely, “to bring something into being by the act of looking.”
“Broad-spanned palace”(yahirodono 八尋殿)
This means a spacious, large palace (house). The word ya 八 (“eight”) here does not mean an actual number, but is a figurative expression intended to convey spaciousness and largeness. This is not to say that the number eight always has this meaning in the Kojiki. Hiro 尋 is said to mean the span between a person's two outstretched arms.(18) As already stated in the celestial pillars note, it is possible to think of this palace as a mito or a kumido, that is to say, a sacred and hidden place to celebrate conjugal union.
“Your body”(na ga mi 汝身)
Various readings of the character 汝 are possible, such as na, nare, or imashi. According to Kobayashi Yoshinori 小林芳規, reading glosses from the early Heian period largely give namuji as the reading for this character; there are also examples of the readings imashi or kimi, but none for the readings na or nare.(19) Accepting Kobayashi's point, Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori argue that na or nare likewise may not have been used as kundoku 訓読 readings (native Japanese words used to read Chinese graphs of equivalent meaning) in the preceding ancient period as well. They hold that it is thus better to read the character 汝 as namuchi in this context.(20) However, considering the parallel with the terms a/are and wa/ware (all meaning “I,”“my”), we have chosen here to read this character as na or nare (“you,”“your”).
“Thereby give birth to the land” (kuni o uminasamu 国土を生み成さむ)
In his Kojiki den 古事記伝, 本居宣長 indicates that here the digraph 国土 should be read kuni.(21) The digraph occurs in three other places in the Kojiki: the first is in the preface, in the sentence “A council was held by the Yasu 安 River and the realm was pacified; debate occurred on the beach, and the land (国土) was purified.”(22) The second occurrence is in the first book, in the narration of the ascension of to Takamanohara to meet his sister Amaterasu: “The mountains and rivers all moved, and the entire land (国土) shook.”(23) The third instance occurs in the second book in the declaration of Emperor Chūai 仲哀 that an oracle indicated that land lay to the west. However, Chūai continues, “I have climbed to this tall place, but when I looked to the west, I did not see any land (国土).”(24) Tsuda Sōkichi 津田左右吉 has pointed out that this “formation of the land” cannot be said to be a myth of the creation of the world. The “land” here, he argues, means the territory within the boundaries of the emperor's rule, a theory with which we concur.(25) As for the verb “give birth”(literally “give birth and form,” uminasamu 生み成さむ), Norinaga states that “this means simply to give birth.”(26) No significant disagreement with this interpretation is to be found in subsequent commentaries.
“ Go around this celestial pillar [and] meet”(kono ame no mihashira o yukimeguriaite 行廻逢是天之御柱而)
Regarding the act of going around a pillar, Matsumoto Nobuhiro 松本信広 notes that the Chinese text Guizhou tongshi 貴州通史 (A Comprehensive History of Guizhou [1741]) describes a local custom in which a tree is erected in a field in spring, and men and women dance around it to choose a spouse. Matsumoto asserts that circling a towering object was an important marriage ritual.(27) Matsumura Takeo also points out that Miao zu shi 苗族史 (History of the Miao) contains the description of a custom similar to that found in Guizhou tongshi. He sees the celestial pillar as an object or a symbol through which the spirits (especially those of the ancestors) are summoned down to earth. The act of going around the pillar served to invite the spirits to descend (as well as to call upon their divine protection of the marriage). Matsumura sees the celestial pillar as possessing as well a sexual symbolism.(28) Tsuda Sōkichi compares the celestial pillar to the maypole found in European traditions. He states that such a pillar or tree symbolizes the vital and reproductive force found in all beings and that the act of going around it and calling out to each other serves as an occasion to encourage the union of the man and woman. Tsuda postulates that the Kojiki story likely reflected an actual custom of this sort.(29)
Apart from such interpretations, Yasuda Naomichi 安田尚道 suggests that Izanaki and Izanami's circling the pillar was a rite of purification intended to remove an incest taboo. He further holds that the New Year's ritual of a “naked rotation”(hadaka mawari) around the hearth is intended to reenact the primordial dance of Izanaki and Izanami, ancestors of humankind. This ritual, Yasuda argues, epitomizes the return to chaos. The fire in the hearth is linked to slash-and-burn agriculture, where fire is a crucial element, producing chaos by burning everything and thereby preparing the way for the birth of new life.(30) Maruyama Akinori 丸山顕徳 holds that this myth may fuse representations of two different rites: a magic ritual performed to remove the evil effects engendered by a sibling marriage and a religious ritual intended to regenerate life through the reversal of female and male roles.(31)
“Celebrate conjugal intercourse”(mito no maguwai 美斗能麻具波比)
A gloss specifies that the seven graphs 美斗能麻具波比 are to be read phonetically as mito no maguwai. interprets the term mito 美斗 as a palace,(32) whereas explains it as “the genitals.”(33)
Commentators agree that maguwai 麻具波比 means sexual intercourse, but diverge regarding the term's morphology. Norinaga understands ma 麻 to be the same as uma 宇麻 (the stem-word for the adjective umashi 可美:“successful, nice”), and guwai 具波比 as an abbreviated form of kuiai 久比阿比, namely, “join together.”(34) He points out as well, however, that the term 目合 (“eye meet”) occurs elsewhere in the Kojiki and holds that it, too, should be read as maguwai. Ma 麻 might thus mean me 目 (“eye”).(35) Nakajima Etsuji considers many possibilities, such as ma being a prefix and kuwai a conjugated word resulting from combination of the stem of the verb kuu 咋ふ (to eat) with the inflection fu ふ, which carries the meaning of the term au 合ふ (to meet). He suggests that [as kuu is close to kuwau 咬はふ (to chew)], kuwai here can be considered equivalent to the nominal form of the verb kuwau 交はふ (“to conjoin”or“to lie with”), which is related etymologically to kuwau 咬はふ. Alternatively, he notes, maguwai might derive from the term mekubase 目交せ (“meet the eyes of another”). It might even be the nominal form of one of the conjugations of the verb maku 枕 (“to sleep together”).(36) Mitani Eiichi 三谷栄一 interprets the act of mito no maguwai as the mythological representation of a ritual in which the reproductive powers of nature are stimulated by a man and a woman becoming spouses and sleeping together.(37)
“ You go around from the right and meet me; I will go around from the left and meet you” (na wa migi yori meguriae / a wa hidari yori meguriawamu 汝者自右廻逢我者自左廻逢)
Referring to the views of his master 賀茂真淵 (1697–1769), Norinaga states that “in later ages [the character 右] was read migi, but here it should be read migiri. … [The poetess] Ise 伊勢 (ca. 9th–10th century) writes in her Teiji-in uta-awase nikki 亭子院歌合日記 (Record of the Poetry Contest Held at the Residence of His Highness Teiji-in) that the nobles participating divided themselves into two groups and took positions on the hidari (“left”) and the migiri (“right”) sides of the stairs. [The character 右] thus should be read migiri.” Holding that the implications between choosing whether to circle from the right or left cannot be known, Norinaga criticizes previous interpretations for asserting reasons for the choice.(38) Subsequent interpretations have made points such as the following: notes that when one faces south, the east is at your left; this is why the east is said to be the foundation and the west secondary.(39) Nakajima Etsuji holds that this scene reflects an ancient marriage ritual wherein a man and woman fell into a state of religious trance and danced around a pillar erected to invite a deity to descend.(40) Ozaki Nobuo 尾崎暢殃 notes that the ancient divinatory text Shinsen kisō ki 新撰亀相記 (830) connects circling to the left and right with dress customs:“This is why men fold their robes with the left [lapel overlapping the right] and women fold theirs with the right [overlapping the left].” Ozaki suggests that the authors of Shinsen kisō ki may also have in mind the Kojiki's subsequent reference to a futomani divination and may be alluding to the practice of interpreting cracks in a tortoise plastron that run to the right as a good omen and those that run to the left as a bad omen.(41) Nishimiya Kazutami points out that the idea that a woman should turn to the right and a man turn to the left is found in Chinese thought, where it is expressed, for instance, in the statement in the Chunqiuwei 春秋緯 that heaven revolves to the left and earth revolves to the right. Similar statements are also found in the Huainanzi 淮南子.(42)
“Spoke first”(mazu ieru 先言)
Referring to the phrase koto sakidachishi 言先立之 that appears in poem 1935 of the Man'yōshū (vol.10), Norinaga proposes that the characters 先言 here should be read in the same way.(43) However, Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori point out that the character 先 is read differently depending on whether it indicates sequence or serves as a temporal marker pointing to the past. Referring to the chart of variant characters included in Aoki Kazuo's edition of the Kojiki, Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi hold that here the reading mazu is appropriate because there is a paired sequence of “first” and “after.”(44)
“This is not good” (yoku arazu 不良)
Motoori Norinaga provides three readings for this expression: yokarazu, saganashi, and fusawazu. He says that “after careful consideration of these three readings, fusawazu sounds to me as the most appropriate,” but he does not provide any clear evidence for his choice.(45) Kurano Kenji states that the reading omina saki ni ieru wa yoku arazu is a reasonable choice.(46) Many hypotheses have been advanced as to why “it is not good [that the woman spoke first].” Referring to the abovementioned Man'yōshū 1935, Nishimiya Kazutami argues that the common custom was for the man to propose marriage.(47) Nakajima Etsuji says this phrase expresses a set of values in which a wife should defer to her husband. He notes as well that “we should not overlook the fact that the notion that men should take precedence over women (danson johi 男尊女卑) owes much to Chinese influence.”(48) (Aoki Kazuo also sees Confucian influence in the emphasis that the wife should follow the husband’s lead.(49))
“A place to seclude themselves” (kumido 久美度)
Norinaga points out that “the word kumido indicates a place where husband and wife can seclude themselves and sleep together.”(50) Most of the theories that take the phonetic reading kumido 久美度 to mean “a place to hide” interpret it as a secluded sleeping place for husband and wife. Kurano Kenji in the Kojiki zenchūshaku edition and Nakamura Hirotoshi hold that it means the place where the two deities are wed.(51) Referring to the counterpart expression kumido 奇御戸 in the Nihon shoki, 山田孝雄 sees the term as meant to exalt the sleeping place.(52) Kurano Kenji in the NKBT edition of Kojiki takes it to mean a mystical spot.(53) Ogihara Asao and Saigō Nobutsuna presume that the kumido is in fact the broad-spanned palace (yahirodono; see the note on Broad-spanned palace").(54) All commentators share the view that the kumido is the place where the conjugal union of the two deities takes place. Some hold that the lexeme kumu means to hide (隠む) or mingle (交む), but this is as yet unestablished.
“Began [procreation]” (okoshite 興而)
In the episode where takes 櫛名田比売 as a spouse, the text states “they began [procreation] in a secluded place, and there was born...”(55) Norinaga notes: “The term 興而 should be read okoshite. The readings tatete or tachite both are mistaken. This word here carries a meaning similar to sexual intercourse between man and woman.” He also notes, however: “This word okoshite always connotes the start of [the process] of procreation of a child. There are no examples where it is used to mean just sexual intercourse.”(56) All commentators agree that okoshite means “to begin.”
“Leech-child” (hiruko 水蛭子)
Norinaga holds that hiruko 水蛭子 is not the name of one of Izanaki and Izanami's children, but serves to designate a child who looks like a leech. He notes that the term may be interpreted in two ways: one is that the child had no arms or legs and looked like a leech. The other, in line with the statement in the Nihon shoki that the child could not stand even at the age of three, is that its arms and legs had atrophied.(57) The Kojiki and the Nihon shoki differ markedly in their accounts of the order of birth of the hiruko and Izanaki and Izanami's other children.(58) Matsumura Takeo argues that the characters hiru 水蛭 are used simply for their phonetic equivalence with what he thinks was the original word meaning “sun-child”(日子). In other words, in his view, the hiruko had the character of a solar deity.(59) Commentators such as Saigō Nobutsuna and have criticized this hypothesis, however.(60) Aoki Kazuo notes that there are various examples in flood-type sibling marriage and first-founder myths where the first-born child is deformed.(61) There are various other hypotheses as well, such as that of Tsugita Uruu that the idea of a leech-child came from somewhere connected with a waterside.(62) Noting that the hiruko is born at the initial stage of the procreation of the land, consisting of a number of different islands, Yamakawa Shinsaku 山川振作 suggests that the leech-child is a metaphor for an island that failed to take proper shape.(63) Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori make the plausible hypothesis that it is not an issue of actual resemblance; rather, the hiruko is a metaphor for a floppy entity that cannot function as an island.(64) Nakamura Hirotoshi sees the hiruko as a metaphor for something incomplete, a child not suitable to be part of the land.(65)
“Reed boat”(ashifune 葦船)
Norinaga provides two possible interpretations of the term “reed boat.” One is that found in Ichijō Kaneyoshi's 一条兼良 (1402–1481) commentary Nihon shoki sanso 日本書紀纂疏, which states “they made a boat from a single reed leaf.” (Nakajima Etsuji postulates that Kaneyoshi derived this idea from the fact that a reed leaf has a boat-like shape.(66)) Norinaga's second interpretation is that the boat was made by bundling reeds together.(67) As to why the boat is characterized as a “reed boat,” both Ozaki Nobuo and Nishimiya Kazutami suggest that reeds were believed to have the power to repel epidemics and disasters.(68) Saigō Nobutsuna proposes that it was because ashi meaning “reed” is a homonym for ashi 悪 meaning “bad.” Since the hiruko was a “bad child” (ashiki ko アシキ子), Izanaki and put it in an ashifune and floated it away.(69)
“Island of Awa”(Awashima 淡嶋)
Norinaga holds that the name reflects the fact that Izanaki and “disdained (awame 淡め) and despised” this child.(70) Nakajima Etsuji and Kurano Kenji note that 淡 (“thin”), traditionally transcribed aha, had the same pronunciation as awa (沫) meaning “bubbles” or “foam.” The name thus meant “an island of foam.”(71) states:“Might not awa here mean something faint and without substance. This possibility should be considered along with the wilted state of the hiruko.”(72) Adopting this hypothesis, says that awa must derive from the stem of the word awashi (“thin, faint”).(73)
Others identify the island of Awa with an actual place. The divinatory text Shinsen kisō ki states “At present, this island is located in the sea east of Awa 阿波 Province. Nobody lives there. It is not counted among the offspring [of Izanaki and Izanami].”(74) Kanda Hideo cites the hypothesis of Yamakawa Shinsaku that this island corresponds to a group of sunken rocks spread out like grains of millet (awa 粟) along the northern shore of Akashi Strait.(75) Takeda Yūkichi and Nakamura Hirotoshi suggest that it refers to the Awa region (present-day Tokushima Prefecture) and reflects a negative view of that area.(76)
Many commentators, on the other hand, express doubts about the need to identify this island with an actual place. Kurano Kenji, for instance, states that “it is not clear what island is meant by this name; it may be an imaginary place whose name is intended to convey a certain idea.”(77) Indeed, it makes sense to assume that the name has a mythological character, drawing from the implications of awa as the stem of words meaning thin or insubstantial. Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori argue that “contrary to hiruko, this island somehow managed to take the shape of one, but it nonetheless could not be considered a proper island.”(78) Nakamura Hirotoshi similarly states: “It was a child not worthy of being counted as a proper part of the land.”(79) This island is mentioned in the fifty-third song (kayō 歌謡) in the section on Emperor Nintoku 仁徳, along with Onogoro island 淤能碁呂島, Ajimasa island 檳榔の島, and Saketsu island 佐気都島, as islands that the emperor saw while rowing in into Naniwa Bay (see note on Onogoro island in chapter 3 for a discussion of this issue.)
“Seek the command of the Celestial Deities” (amatsukami no mikoto o kou 請天神命)
According to Yamada Yoshio, this phrase fits with that from the preceding episode where Izanaki and are described as acting in accord with the “command” of the Celestial Deities “to consolidate, solidify, and complete this drifting land.”(80) Ozaki Nobuo as well as Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori likewise hold that one can see here the Kojiki's stance that things were carried out under the guidance of the Celestial Deities.(81) Theories vary as to which of the Celestial Deities are meant here. Tsugita Uruu holds that they are the Three Deities of Creation (zōka sanshin 造化三神), in other words, Amenominakanushi, Takamimusuhi, and Kamumusuhi.(82) Kurano Kenji posits that it is the five Special Celestial Deities (koto amatsukami 別天神).(83) Ozaki Nobuo argues that, among these Special Celestial Deities, the word (amatsukami here specifically designates the two musuhi 産霊 deities.(84)
Futomani ni 布斗麻迩尒
According to Norinaga, futo 布斗 is a eulogistic particle and futomani 布斗麻迩 was a type of divination performed in antiquity. He states:“I have heard that among all types of divination, this was the main form and that great weight was placed on it.”(85) The scholar 伴信友 (1773–1846) asserts in his Seiboku kō 正卜考 (Thesis on Divination, 1844):“Mani is an expression that usually means almost the same as mama (“just as it is”). Here it has the meaning of‘to leave up to divine will, to follow the divine will.’”(86) Kurano Kenji and Takeda Yūkichi postulate that the divination (uranai 占合) described in the Celestial Rock Cave (ame no iwaya to 天石屋戸) episode probably exemplifies a futomani divination.(87) Ozaki Nobuo hypothesizes that the appearance of this futomani divination in the myth of the birth of the land probably reflects a mythologization of the divinations conducted as part of the spring 祈年祭 rite to pray for a bountiful harvest.(88) Commentators are largely agreed that futo is an eulogistic particle and that mani means “to be obedient to” (or, by extension,“submission to the divine will”). Many also note that divination using deer bones was performed in the Japanese islands prior to adoption of the practice of tortoise-shell divination (kiboku 亀卜). Saigō Nobutsuna postulates that futomani divination was the official form used at the court.(89) The above represents the range of interpretations found in current commentaries.
“A divination was performed” (uranaite 卜相而)
Regarding the reading of the graph 卜, the digraph 足卜 appears in poem 736 of the Man'yōshū (book 4), where it is read ashiura.(90) The Kanchiin-bon 観智院本 manuscript of the late-Heian dictionary Ruiju myōgishō 類聚名義抄 gives the reading uranau for the graph 卜. Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori consider two readings that have been proposed for 卜相而:uraete (Norinaga's preferred reading) and uranaite. As for the former, they reject on the ground of phonetic evolution Norinaga's hypothesis that uraete could be a contraction of uraae, with the lexeme ae in turn a contraction of awase (“join,”“meet”).(91) Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi think that a reading of uraete would more likely result from a contraction of ura 卜 and the lower bigrade (shimo nidan 下二段) transitive verb au 合. As examples of such a reading, they cite the Ichō-bon 鴨脚本 (reading marks [kunten 訓点] dated 1236) and Kitano-bon 北野本 (ca.1336–1392) manuscripts of the Nihon shoki. However, as it remains uncertain whether these readings can be traced to the ancient period, they conclude that “in terms of likelihood, uranaite is the preferable reading.”(92) Shikida Toshiharu, who follows the reading uraete, states that the element ura 卜 of the compound 卜相 has the same meaning as ura 心 (“heart, mind, intention”) and that e 相 is an abbreviation of ae 合 (“join,”“meet”). The compound 卜相 refers to the act of inquiring about the intentions of the deities.(93)
The text states that the divination took place at the command of the Celestial Deities. As to why deities should engage in divination, Watsuji Tetsurō 和辻哲郎 (1889–1960) observes, “There is no deity whatsoever beyond the Celestial Deities. If it is to be assumed that these Celestial Deities engage in divination, the necessary implication is that there is an entity above them. That entity would not be a deity but the epitome of indeterminacy.”(94)
“Then”(kare shikashite 故尒)
According to Onoda Mitsuo 小野田光雄, there are 254 occurrences of the character 尒 in the Kojiki (82 in the first book, 102 in the second, and 70 in the third). Typically it serves to set off a clause within a passage demarcated by the combination 於是 (“thereupon”).(95) It is said that use of the character 尒 for this purpose is not seen in Chinese texts and occurs in ancient Japanese texts only in the Kojiki and the Harima no kuni fudoki 播磨国風土記. According to Kojima Noriyuki 小島憲之, however, it may be an innovation resulting from familiarity with Chinese writing.(96) The combination 故尒 occurs 28 times in the Kojiki, but with an uneven distribution: 20 times in the first volume, 8 times in the second book (6 times in the chronicle of Emperor Jinmu 神武, 2 times in the chronicle of Emperor Keikō 景行), and not once in the third book. Ozaki Nobuo asserts that the combination 故尒 is a kind of introductory phrase that likely is a legacy of oral recitation. Consequently it does not have the same meaning as the ordinary kanbun expression yue ni 故に (“therefore”).(97) This point may be related to the term's uneven distribution. Ido Kōhei 伊土耕平 notes that the particle 故 has an adverbial function of confirming and emphasizing the narrative content, whereas the morpheme 尒 serves simply to connect a sequence of clauses. Instances of the combination 故尒 are concentrated, he argues, “in episodes where the compilers have strong views.” It is thus possible that the 故 is a later emphatic addition to a phrase that originally had only the particle 尒.(98)
From the time of Norinaga, the character 尒 has been often read koko ni, but such a reading raises the question of how the binomial 於是 should be read in the context of the Kojiki. Further, Onoda Mitsuo has pointed out that this character should be read with an initial S sound.(99) As a result, today it is standardly read shikashite. However, Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori, drawing from examples of Heian-period reading glosses, read it as shikakushite.(100)
Endnotes
(1) Motozawa,“Kojiki ni okeru ‘kō’‘kō’ no kundoku ni tsuite,” p.124.
(2) Mōri,“‘Kojiki’no hyōki o megutte:‘Jitenkō’to‘tenkō,’” pp.95–109.
(3) See, for instance, Kojima et al., Nihon shoki, SNKBZ 2, pp.28–29.
(4) Hirata Atsutane, Koshiden, SHAZ 1, p.160; Saigō, Kojiki chūshaku, vol.1, p.108.
(5) Tsugita, Kojiki shinkō, p.30; Nakajima, Kojiki hyōshaku, p.35; Shikida, Kojiki hyōchū, p.309.
(6) Kanda and Ōta, Kojiki, vol.1, p.177n10; Kanda, Shinchū Kojiki, p.14n9.
(7) Maruyama, Kōchū Kojiki, p.6n5.
(8) Ozaki, Zenchū Kojiki, p.23n9; Kurano, Kojiki zenchūshaku, vol.2, p.93.
(9) Ogihara, Kojiki, Jōdai kayō, p.53n12.
(10) Takeda and Nakamura, Shintei Kojiki, p.22n6; Nakamura, Shinpan Kojiki, p.24n6.
(11) Nishimiya, Kojiki, p.28n3.
(12) Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, Kojiki chūkai, vol.2, p.98; Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, p.32n22.
(13) Orikuchi, “Shintō ni arawareta minzoku ronri,” pp.32–33.
(14) Nishida, “‘Mitate’ no minzoku ronri: Orikuchi Shinobu-hakase no idaisa,” p.143.
(15) Mōri, “Kojiki no ‘mitate’ ni tsuite,” p.105.
(16) Nakamura, “Mitate,” p.126.
(17) Yajima, “Kojiki ‘mitatsu’ shōkō,” p.30.
(18) Other examples of the word hiro can be found in the Kojiki, such as chihiro nawa 千尋縄 (“a thousand-hiro-long rope”), hitohiro wani 一尋和迩 (“a one-hiro-long [namely, small] sea monster”), yahiro wani 八尋和迩 (“a large sea monster”), hiiragi no yahiro hoko 比比羅木之八尋矛 (“a long spear made of holly [Osmanthus heterophyllus] wood”); yahiro no shirochidori 八尋白千鳥 (“a large plover [charadriinae]”); Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, pp.112–13; 132–33; 134–35; 222–23; 234–35, respectively.
(19) Kobayashi, “Kodai no bunpō II,” p.163.
(20) Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, Kojiki chūkai, vol.2, p.102. Although Kobayashi adopted the reading namuji, Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi presume that in the ancient period people used the unvoiced form namuchi (TN).
(21) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.169.
(22) Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, pp.16–17.
(23) Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, pp.54–55.
(24) Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, pp.242–43.
(25) Tsuda, Jindai no monogatari, pp.342–44.
(26) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.170.
(27) Matsumoto, Nihon shinwa no kenkyū, pp.183–84.
(28) Matsumura, Nihon shinwa no kenkyū, pp.203–15.
(29) Tsuda, Jindai no monogatari, pp.352–54.
(30) Yasuda Naomichi, “Izanaki-Izanami no shinwa to awa no nōkō girei,” pp.87–88. The rite referenced by Yasuda is a ritual blessing of crops such as millet or barnyard millet in which a naked man and woman circle a hearth. In the 1970s, when Yasuda wrote this article, the custom was still found in some areas, such as the Agatsuma 吾妻 district in Gunma 群馬 Prefecture. Yasuda, pp.73–74. (TN)
(31) Maruyama,“‘Kiki' Izanaki-kami, Izanami-kami no ame no mihashira meguri no imi,” p.252.
(32) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.172.
(33) Shikida, Kojiki hyōchū, p.310.
(34) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.172.
(35) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.173. Examples of “eye meet” occur, for instance, in the passage of the deity Ōnamuchi's first encounter with 須勢理毘売, or that of Hoori 火遠理命 and 豊玉毘売. Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, pp.80–81; 128–29. It should be noted, however, that in some instances, Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi do not follow Norinaga's reading of 目合 as maguwai, on the ground that this reading should only be used to refer to conjugal intercourse. Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, pp.80n12 (TN).
(36) Nakajima, Kojiki hyōshaku, p.37.
(37) Mitani, “Setsuwa bungaku no bōtō daiichiwa to nōkō girei.”
(38) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.173. The poetry contest took place in 913; Teiji-in was the retirement name of Emperor Uda 宇多(867–931). (TN)
(39) Shikida, Kojiki hyōchū, p.311.
(40) Nakajima, Kojiki hyōshaku, p.37.
(41) Ozaki, Kojiki zenkō, p.37.
(42) Nishimiya, Kojiki, p.29n10.
(43) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.176.
(44) Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, Kojiki chūkai, vol.2, p.107. See Aoki, Kojiki, NST 1, p.565.
(45) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.177.
(46) Kurano, Kojiki zenchūshaku, vol.2, p.106.
(47) Nishimiya, Kojiki, p.29n11.
(48) Nakajima, Kojiki hyōshaku, p.37.
(49) Aoki, Kojiki, NST 1, p.22.
(50) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.177.
(51) Kurano, Kojiki zenchūshaku, vol.2, pp.106–107. Nakamura, Shinpan Kojiki, p.26n5.
(52) Yamada, Kojiki jōkan kōgi, pp.178–79.
(53) Kurano and Takeda, Kojiki, Norito, NKBT 1, p.54n5.
(54) Saigō, Kojiki chūshaku, p.113; Ogihara, Kojiki, Jōdai kayō, NKBZ 1, p.53n19.
(55) Kumido ni okoshite umeru 久美度迩起而所生. Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, pp.72–73.
(56) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.178.
(57) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.178.
(58) The main text of the Nihon shoki has the hiruko born after (named there as Ōhirume no muchi) and the moon deity and before Susanoo, all of whom it has as being produced jointly by Izanaki and Izanami. See Kojima et al.,Nihon shoki, SNKBZ 2, pp.36–37.
(59) According to Matsumura, Takizawa Bakin 滝沢馬琴(1767–1848) already developed the hypothesis that hiruko meant “sun child” in his essay Gendō hōgen 玄同放言. Matsumura, Nihon shinwa no kenkyū, vol.2, pp.239–41.
(60) Saigō, Kojiki chūshaku, vol.1, p.114; Yamada, Kojiki jōkan kōgi, p.182.
(61) Aoki, Kojiki, NST 1, pp.320–21n14.
(62) Tsugita, Kojiki shinkō, p.31.
(63) Yamakawa, “Kiki ‘kuniumi’ shinwa no kōsatsu,” p.7; “Kojiki ‘kuniumi’ shinwa hokō,” p.253.
(64) Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, Kojiki chūkai, vol.2, pp.107–10; Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, p.33n1.
(65) Nakamura, Shinpan Kojiki, p.26n6.
(66) Nakajima, Kojiki hyōshaku, p.38.
(67) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, pp.178–79.
(68) Ozaki, Kojiki zenkō, p.39; Nishimiya, Kojiki, p.29n12.
(69) Saigō, Kojiki chūshaku, vol.1, p.114–15.
(70) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p.179.
(71) Nakajima, Kojiki hyōshaku, p.38; Kurano, Kojiki taisei, vol.6, p.53.
(72) Hirata Atsutane, Koshiden, SHAZ 1, p.184.
(73) Yamada, Kojiki jōkan kōgi, p.184.
(74) See Okimori et al., Kodai ujibumi shū, p.207.
(75) Kanda, Shinchū Kojiki, p.15n18.
(76) Takeda and Nakamura, Shintei Kojiki, p.23n13.
(77) Kurano, Kojiki zenchūshaku, vol.2, p.109.
(78) Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, Kojiki chūkai, vol.2, pp.112–13.
(79) Nakamura, Shinpan Kojiki, p.26n7.
(80) Yamada, Kojiki jōkan kōgi, p.191.
(81) Ozaki, Kojiki zenkō, p.42; Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKBZ 1, p.33n5.
(82) Tsugita, Kojiki shinkō, p.33.
(83) Kurano and Takeda, Kojiki, Norito, NKBT 1, p.55n13.
(84) Ozaki, Kojiki zenkō, p.42.
(85) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, pp.180–81.
(86) Ban Nobutomo, Seiboku kō, p.467.
(87) Kurano and Takeda, Kojiki, Norito, NKBT 1, p.55n16. 285
(88) Ozaki, Kojiki zenkō, p.43.
(89) Saigō, Kojiki chūshaku, vol.1, pp.117–18.
(90) Kojima et al., Man'yōshū, SNKBZ 6, p.359.
(91) Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, pp.181–82.
(92) Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, Kojiki chūkai, vol.2, pp.120–22; Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, pp.181–82.
(93) Shikida, Kojiki hyōchū, p.312.
(94) Watsuji, Sonnō shisō to sono dentō, p.173.
(95) Onoda, “Kojiki no joshi ‘ni’ ni tsuite,” pp.18–19.
(96) Kojima, “Kojiki no bungakusei,” p.251.
(97) Ozaki, Kojiki zenkō, pp.42–43.
(98) Ido, “‘Kojiki’ no ‘koko ni’ ni tsuite,” pp.42–43.
(99) Onoda, “Kojiki no joshi ‘ni’ ni tsuite,” pp.23–24.
(100) Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, Kojiki chūkai, vol.2, pp.102–103. For a further discussion of this issue, see Tsukishima, “Kojiki no kundoku,” pp.207–14.