Read, reflect, pray
Kojiki: Two princes reveal their names
Kojiki · Story 22 of 22
名を明かす二人の王
A hidden identity entrusted to song.
English translation of this site’s published story summary and reading notes. This is a selected reading guide, not a complete translation of the ancient chronicle.
Story summary
After their father Ichinobe no Oshiha is killed, the brothers Oke and Woke hide and live tending horses and cattle in Harima. Asked to dance at a feast, the younger weaves their origins into a song. Hearing it, Odate is astonished and receives them as princes.
Later the brothers offer the throne to each other. The elder recognizes the younger’s achievement in revealing their names, so the younger reigns first as Emperor Kenzō. He searches for his father’s remains and treats generously the old woman who remembers their location. When he intends to destroy his father’s enemy’s tomb, the elder works to limit the destruction.
The Kojiki includes such stories of song, memory, resentment, and restraint. Thereafter genealogies and records of palaces and tombs accumulate, and the three books end with Empress Suiko. These twenty-two stories are guides selected from the long text.
Reading note
This reading guide does not include every imperial account, genealogy, or song. Each story’s sources lead to the surrounding text as well.
Connected figures
Names and relationships in a chronicle may differ from later traditions. Each figure’s introduction identifies its sources.
Sources and edition (5)
- 青空文庫（武田祐吉注釈校訂） — 『校註 古事記』市の辺の押歯の王
- 青空文庫（武田祐吉注釈校訂） — 『校註 古事記』志自牟の新室楽
- 青空文庫（武田祐吉注釈校訂） — 『校註 古事記』歌垣
- 青空文庫（武田祐吉注釈校訂） — 『校註 古事記』顕宗天皇
- 青空文庫（武田祐吉注釈校訂） — 『校註 古事記』推古天皇
English explanations on this page were prepared by Inori no Mori from the cited text and its Japanese explanations. They are not an official translation or a prescribed liturgy.