• • Co-ordinates: 34° 32′ 6″ N, 135° 52′ 0″ E
  • Region: Kansai Region
  • Prefecture: Nara Prefecture
  • Height: 467.1m

Mount Miwa

Mount Miwa (三輪山, Miwa-yama) also known as Mount Mimoro (三諸山, Mimoro-yama) is a mountain located in Nara Prefecture.

Name

Notation in the kojiki says that tname ‘Mi wa’ comes from the three twists of hemp from the tale relating to Ikutamayoribime (see below). Three threads in Japanese is pronounced ‘Mi wa’.²³

Time of the kami

Before the first emperor, Ōkuninushi built for Ōmiwa a shrine upon this mountain as thanks for Ōmiwa acting as his guardian kami as he pacified the land of Japan.¹

Ikutamayoribime became pregnant and her parents believe she had done this by herself, however after saying she had not they devised a way to find out who the father was. They instructed her to sprinkle red earth infront of the couch and pass a skien of hemp through a needle and to piece the skirt of a garment.

In the morning, three twist of hemp remained, and the needle pointed towards the way the kami had entered and left her home. And so following the needle the ended up on Mount Miwa finding Ōkuninushi there.²³

Plague during Emperor Sujin

During this Emperor’s reign there was a plague, and so after divination he was instructed by Ōkuninushi to place Ohotataneko as head of his shrine upon this mountain to abate the plague.¹²³

In the 48th year of his reign, he orders his sons Toyokiiribiko and Ikume to have a divine dream as he does not known who to choose as sucessor. Toyokiiribiko dreams he faces east of Mount Mimoro, flourishing a spear eight times and swinging a sword eight times. Ikume says he stood atop Mount Mimoro and placed a cord around all four corners of the land to drive away sparrows eating grain.

And so it is decided that Toyokiiribiko will rule over the Eastern land and Ikume was made crown prince.¹

Emishi

During the reign of Emperor Keikō the Emishi were sent here to live for some time after the had been captured by Yamato Takeru.¹

Footnotes

1. Aston. W.G. (1896) “Nihongi Volume 1: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD697”. Tuttle Publishing.
2. Yasumaro. O, translated by Gustav Heldt. (2014) “Kojiki. An Account of Ancient Matters”. New York: Columbia University Press.
3. Chamberlain, B. H. (1932) “Translation of the Kojiki.” Kobe: J.L. Thompson & Co.

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• • Period: Legendary Period
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Ikutamayoribime (daughter)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: –

Suyetsumimi

Suyetsumimi was the father of Ikutamayoribime.¹²³

When his daughter became pregnant he thought she had conceived by herself, however, she said she had not.

So they devised a way to find out who the father was. He instructed her to sprinkle red earth infront of the couch and pass a skien of hemp through a needle and to piece the skirt of a garment.

In the morning the needle pointed towards the way the kami had entered and left the home. And so following the needle they ended up on Mount Miwa finding Ōkuninushi there.²³

Footnotes

1. Aston. W.G. (1896) “Nihongi Volume 1: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD697”. Tuttle Publishing.
2. Yasumaro. O, translated by Gustav Heldt. (2014) “Kojiki. An Account of Ancient Matters”. New York: Columbia University Press.
3. Chamberlain, B. H. (1932) “Translation of the Kojiki.” Kobe: J.L. Thompson & Co.

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• • Period: Legendary Period
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Ōkuninushi (husband) Suyetsumimi (father) Kushimigata (son) Ohotataneko (son?)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: –

Ikutamayoribime

Ikutamayoribime (活玉依毘売) was a woman who became pregnant from Ōkuninushi and together they had Kushimigata (ancestor to Ohotataneko²³). It is said she was the daughter of Suyetsumimi.¹²³

The kojiki tells us that she became pregnant but did not know who the father of her child was as the kami came in the middle of the night. The reason he came due to her beauty.

Her parents believed she had concieved by herself but saying she had not they devised a way to find out who the father was. They instructed her to sprinkle red earth infront of the couch and pass a skien of hemp through a needle and to piece the skirt of a garment.

In the morning the needle pointed towards the way the kami had entered and left her home. And so following the needle the ended up on Mount Miwa finding Ōkuninushi there.²³

The nihongi says her child with Ōkuninushi was Ohotataneko¹, but the kojiki says he was a descendant through her son Kushimigata.²³

Footnotes

1. Aston. W.G. (1896) “Nihongi Volume 1: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD697”. Tuttle Publishing.
2. Yasumaro. O, translated by Gustav Heldt. (2014) “Kojiki. An Account of Ancient Matters”. New York: Columbia University Press.
3. Chamberlain, B. H. (1932) “Translation of the Kojiki.” Kobe: J.L. Thompson & Co.

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• Co-ordinates: 34°34′N 135°46′E
• Island: Honshu
• Region: Kansai
• Capital: Nara

• See also: Yamato Province
  
• See also: List of Prefectures.

Nara Prefecture

Nara Prefecture (奈良県 – Nara-ken) is located on the island of Honshu. As a land-locked Prefecture it is bordered on all sides. Kyoto Prefecture to the North, Mie to the West, Wakayama on its southern border; and Osaka Prefecture to the west.

Geography

Rivers:

The principal rivers of the prefecture are the Yoshinogawa, Yamatogawa and Totsugawa

Mountains:

Aside from the Nara Basin which can be found to the north, and the Yamato Kōgen highlands,  mountains encompass most of Nara. Along the west, the Ikoma and Kongō mountains are located, with the Kii Mountains found to the south.¹ The three mountains collectively known as Yamato Sanzan can be found here. Traditionally one is said to have descended from Heaven², and another to be the mountain where the first Emperor, Jimmu, was buried..¹ The religion of Shugendo is said to have been founded on Mount Katsuragi by En no Ozunu.⁴ Mount Miwa is also found here and has connections to the kami Ōkuninushi.²

Tectonic Plates:

The Median Tectonic Line run through the centre of the Prefecture towards the east and west along the Yoshinogawa..¹

History

Evidence of habitation during the Jōmon period (c.10,000-300BC) and suceeding Yayoi Period (c.300BC-300AD) has shown people to have farmed here for more than 2000 years.

Betwen the 4th and 7th centuried this area was the centre of the Yamato Court, and when the Kokugen System came into effect this area became known as Yamato Province. The city of Nara, then known as Heijōkyō was the capital of Japan up until 784 when it was moved to Nagaokakyō.

The area served for a brief time as the centre for poitical power during the time of the Northern and Southern Courts between 1337 and 1392.

Its borders were officially established in 1887.¹

Farming

Tea is grown on the higlands of the Yamato Kōgen, and persimmons are cultivated in the valley where the Yoshinogawa flows..¹

Points of Interest

The oldest road, in Japan, known as the Yamanobe no Michi, can be found in the east of the Nara Basin. The Yoshino-Kumano National Park can also be found here. In addition, a tomb called the Takamatsuzuka Tomb, dating to around 700AD can be found in the village of Asuka.¹

Yōkai

The Yōkai known as the Gagoze is said to have lived in the temple of Gango-ji in Nara City, with Kasuga Taisha being reported to have been built by the creatures known as the Hyōsube.³

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.
2. Yasumaro. O, translated by Gustav Heldt. (2014) “Kojiki. An Account of Ancient Matters”. New York: Columbia University Press.
3. Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
4. Yoda, H & Alt, M. (2012) “Ninja Attack: True Tales of Assassins, Samurai and Outlaws” Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing.

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