Read, reflect, pray
Kojiki: Yamatotakeru’s journey and song of home
Kojiki · Story 17 of 22
倭建命の旅と、故郷への歌
The Kusanagi sword, and a white bird.
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
Sent eastward, Yamato Takeru tells his aunt Yamatohime of his sorrow at Ise and receives the Kusanagi sword and a pouch. When a field is set on fire, he cuts the grass with the sword and uses the pouch’s fire-making tools to set a counterfire, escaping danger.
At Hashirimizu, rough waves stop the crossing. His consort Ototachibanahime enters the sea as his substitute, allowing the ship to proceed. Later he mourns her, followed by stories of songs and place-names along his travels.
Eventually, treating Mount Ibuki’s deity lightly, Yamato Takeru is struck by freezing rain and loses his strength. Leaving songs of longing for home on his return, he dies at Nobono. Amid his consorts’ and children’s grief, he is described as becoming a great white bird and flying away.
Reading note
This summary follows the Kojiki. In this text, Mount Ibuki’s deity appears as a white boar.
Compare with the Nihon Shoki
Connected figures
Names and relationships in a chronicle may differ from later traditions. Each figure’s introduction identifies its sources.
Sources and edition (3)
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.