1 ― A Prince Looks East
The story thus far has carried the imperial blood-line from Heaven to Hyūga: creation, descent, sea-marriage. Yet Kyūshū, though fertile, is a cul-de-sac. Trade routes, metal ores, and vast plains lie across the Inland Sea in the broad bowl of Honshū. Ugayafukiaezu’s youngest son, Hiko-hohodemi no Mikoto, known posthumously as Jimmu Tennō, surveys the dawn and feels destiny tugging like a current: “The land where the sun rises shall be our true seat.” The decision to migrate eastward—tōsei, “to succeed to the east”—will transform scattered clans into the Yamato state.
His elder brothers decline the venture; they will guard Hyūga and the southern seas. Jimmu gathers loyal kin, including his elder sibling Itsuse no Mikoto, and a retinue of seasoned hunters descended from mountain kami. Women, children, potters, and weavers also join: this is not a raid but a people on the move.
2 ― Crossing the Inland Sea
Launching from Kagoshima’s seaward coves, the flotilla threads between islands of the Bungo Channel, hugs Shikoku’s emerald coast, then cuts north-east across Naniwa Bay (modern Osaka). Storms lash; whales surface like black shrines; but the voyagers chant Norito prayers with every stroke of the oar. At last they beach on the Kii Peninsula, the western gate of Honshū, and erect a provisional shrine to Amaterasu, thanking her for calm passages and dolphin escorts.
3 ― The Wrong Direction and Its Price
From Kii the party marches north along the spine of the peninsula, assuming that forcing through mountain gorges will bring rapid victory. Instead the terrain battens against them: tangled vine forests, leech-ridden marsh, granite ridges sharper than sword backs. Local tribes launch night arrows from cedar shadows. In a skirmish near the River Nima, Itsuse takes a barbed shaft in his wrist. Pulling feathers from flesh, he mutters: “Heaven favours the sun’s course. We march against it and bleed.”
That wound and realisation become a turning-point. Jimmu decides to swing south again, circle the Kii Cape, and advance with the sunrise along the Inland Sea’s north shore—identifying political insight with cosmology: rule should follow the sun’s own daily way.
4 ― The Three-Legged Crow
Re-embarked, the fleet rows dawnwards until low mist reveals the wide Kumano littoral. Scouts report inland plateaux ripe for rice; yet paths twist in labyrinthine valleys. Jimmu prays beneath an up-thrust rock. Lightning forks, and from smoke hops a great black crow with three legs, Yatagarasu. It caws thrice, flutters ahead, pauses to glance back—inviting pursuit. For days the bird guides the army, always perching just far enough to keep them moving, until they emerge into the broad Uda Basin in what will later be Nara Prefecture.
Yatagarasu, in later centuries, becomes emblem of guidance—painted on Way of Tea scrolls, embossed on Japan’s football crest, symbolising collective navigation through complexity.
5 ― Battle of Uda: Arrow, Sword, and Stratagem
The Uda Basin is held by war-chief Nagasune-hiko—“Prince Long-Shanks”—head of the native Emishi tribes. In stature and local loyalty he resembles chieftains of a hundred valleys, each wary of distant sky-born claimants. He arrays warriors with hide shields and stone-pointed spears along the River Yoshino.
Jimmu’s first assault meets stiff resistance; arrows glance off hide, Itsuse’s wound reopens, and evening falls crimson. That night a diviner dreams of the sword god Takemikazuchi, who once subdued the land for Amaterasu. At dawn they find a grey-haired farmer named Takakuraji bearing a sword wrapped in mulberry bark: Futsu-no-Mitama-no-Tsurugi, said to contain the spirit of Takemikazuchi himself. Takakuraji explains that the god dropped the blade into his storehouse roof, commanding him to gift it to the Heaven-born prince.
With the sword at his belt Jimmu alters tactics: he orders shields made of river reeds soaked in dew (thus lighter), and instructs archers to aim for warriors’ legs rather than chests. In the second clash, Uda’s defenders wobble under sudden precision; Nagasune-hiko’s own steed is felled. Panic scythes through lines; the chieftain flees northward, soon to fall under pursuing lances.
Itsuse, however, succumbs to infection from his wrist wound. He requests burial on a hill facing the Kii waters they first crossed, so his spirit may watch the sunrise path they corrected. That hill becomes Itsuse-ga-oka, visited by emperors on accession journeys.
6 ― Foundation at Kashihara
Pressing inland, Jimmu reaches the yamato plain: gentle rivers, loamy soil, low foothills—perfect for wet-rice terraces. At Kashi-hara he sinks a pillar of cypress, dedicates it to Amaterasu, and erects a palace of interlocked beams, no nails, symbolising seamless governance. His enthronement date, calculated later as 11 February 660 BCE, will survive as Kenkoku Kinen no Hi—National Foundation Day.
Proclaiming a reign name that means “Divine Might,” Jimmu sets administrative rhythms: spring seed festival, autumn first-fruits, summer purification. Local chieftains pledge fealty; some marry daughters into the new court. Those who resist are subdued not only by arms but by agricultural advantage—borrowed iron tools, flood-gate engineering, seed rice from Kyūshū. Peace, in Yamato logic, sprouts from granaries.
7 ― Legitimacy and Lineage
To seal Heaven’s mandate, Jimmu installs the mirror and magatama in a sanctum beside the throne; the sword remains by his person. He appoints priests, called saishu, from the Nakatomi and Inbe clans—families that still maintain Ise and Izumo rites. Genealogists trace the imperial line from Amaterasu to Ninigi to Ugayafukiaezu to Jimmu, stamping each reign with celestial imprimatur.
Iconic proclamation, preserved in Nihon Shoki:
“I, a descendant of the Sun, shall spread the rule of gentle light, pacifying the land’s thorns and briars.”
8 ― Themes Illuminated by the Expedition
Harmony with Cosmic Direction
Reversal after Itsuse’s wound teaches that human plans must align with solar rhythm—a notion echoed when capitals later relocate due to geomantic advice.
Guidance through Portents
Yatagarasu shows Heaven collaborates but rarely forces; it signals. Leaders must read signs and act. In modern politics the “three-legged crow” phrase marks behind-the-scenes negotiators.
Synthesis over Erasure
Jimmu folds local chiefs into court via marriage and festival, illustrating Japanese statecraft as absorption of regional cultures rather than wholesale replacement.
Weapons as Moral Instruments
Futsu-no-Mitama contains a deity of lawful force. Its gift frames the sword’s edge as legitimate only when upholding celestial ethics, anticipating bushidō ideals.
9 ― Cultural and Historical Resonance
Archaeology
Keyhole-shaped kofun mounds near Kashihara date centuries later but echo Jimmu’s legend, signalling continuity of Yamato elite burial practise. Bronze mirror fragments found within resemble those Amaterasu bestowed, linking mythic regalia to tangible artefacts.
Court Ceremony
Each enthroned emperor performs the Daijō-sai, consuming first-fruits rice alone with Amaterasu, directly replicating Jimmu’s initial harvest rite.
Military Lore
Samurai chronicles cite Jimmu’s strategic switch of march direction as exemplar of heiho flexibility—outflanking by aligning with nature.
Popular Media
Superhero manga portray Yatagarasu as AI drone guiding protagonists; national football team nicknamed “Yatagarasu Eleven.” Kashihara hosts AR tours overlaying crow-flight paths on rice paddies.
10 ― Philosophical Overtones
Confucian advisers in the Nara court highlighted Jimmu as sage-king who conquers hearts before citadels. Zen monks later mined the tale for kōan: “Who guides the crow?”—pointing to source beyond sensory signs.
Modern political thinkers debate Foundation Day’s mythic date: some see fabrication; others value its unifying poetry. The debate itself reflects Jimmu’s legacy—nationhood balanced between tangible fields and imagined ancestry.
11 ― Coda: The Next Generation of Heroes
Jimmu sires princes who extend Yamato influence. Centuries compress; among descendants arises the warrior-prince Yamato-Takeru, whose exploits—disguises, talking swords, mountain fires—will shape frontier ethos. Paper 8 concludes our series with his saga, closing the arc from cosmic birth to heroic cycle.
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