MYTHOLOGY OP THE JAPANESE. 501 



conferred upon Niiii0 when lie caiiie from lieaven to .govern the coun- 

 try, as we shall see further on. 



The names "Grass cutter" and "Herb-quelliug sword," which are 

 often applied to this weapon, come from a later time when, in the reign 

 of Keiko (A. d. 71-130), Yamato-take took the blade from Ise to use in 

 subduing the savage tribes in the east and north. He Avas drawn into 

 an ambush and his enemies set fire to the herbage on all sides of him. 

 He mowed away the grass — or, it is said, the blade lea^ied from the 

 scabbard and itself cut the grass around — and started a counter tire 

 which saved his life. 



HEAVENLY PRINCES SENT TO SUBDUE TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. 



The record now tells ot a great number of deities who were necessary 

 to care for the world and make it fruitful, but most of them can be 

 passed without mention. 



After a time there began to be trouble in Japan because of the nu- 

 merous savage terrestrial deities, and a consultation was held in heaven 

 to determine who should be sent down to govern the world. O-kuni- 

 nushi was then the Deity-master-of-the-great-land, and a very power- 

 ful ruler he was. A prince was sent down to control him, but he made 

 friends instead and failed to make any report. A second was sent, 

 but he married one of the princesses and strove to gain possession ot 

 the land himself. A third came down in the form of a pheasant and 

 perched in a cassia tree, where he began to talk. The i)rincess hearing 

 the words, besought her husband to kill the bird, which he did with 

 his heavenly arrow. But the arrow ascended to heaven where it was 

 recognized as belonging to the faithless i^rince. Then one of the deities 

 thrust it back through the hole by which it entered heaven, saying : 

 '' If this arrow be shot by the prince in obedience to our commands, let 

 it not hit him. If he has a foul heart let him perish by this arrow." 

 So the arrow struck the prince and killed him. 



Finally the powerful 0-kuni-nushi was subdued, but as a condition 

 of his submission he required a temple to be built for him in Idzumo, 

 where he might receive proper services of worship, the pillars of which 

 should reach from the nethermost rock bottom to the cross-beams m 

 the plain of high heaven, O kuni-nushi became the ruler of Hades, 

 and as such is worshiped and propitiated. The temple built for him 

 i.i Idzumo is the famous O-yashiro, well known to pilgrims in that land. 



THE mikado's DIVINE ANCESTORS. 



The grandson of the Sun-goddess then descended to rule in Japan. 

 His name was Ninigi-no-mikoto. With him descended a numerous 

 company, and from him and his train the imperial family and the Japan- 

 ese people trace their ancestry and base their claim to a divine origin. 

 Niuigi bore, as the insignia of heavenly authority, the mirror which had 



