Emperor Jimmu- Japanese DemigodDemigod"First Emperor"

Divine Lineage

Jimmu's claim to sovereignty rested on a lineage that bridged heaven and sea. His great-grandfather Ninigi had descended from Takamagahara to the peak of Takachiho bearing the Three Imperial Regalia, entrusted to him by Amaterasu. Ninigi married Konohanasakuya-hime, daughter of the mountain god Ōyamatsumi. Their grandson Hoori journeyed to the palace of the sea god Watatsumi and married his daughter Toyotama-hime. Their son married Toyotama-hime's younger sister Tamayori-hime, and the youngest of their four sons was Kamu-yamato Iware-biko, the future Emperor Jimmu.

The March East

Jimmu grew up in Takachiho on Kyūshū, the same land where Ninigi first descended from heaven. He knew that his ancestor's mandate to rule the Central Land of Reed Plains remained half fulfilled. The western lands were pacified, but Yamato in the east still lay beyond heavenly authority.

At forty-five, Jimmu gathered his brothers and declared his intention to march east. The Kojiki presents the decision as a council among the imperial princes. He assembled warriors and sailed the Inland Sea toward the heartland of the realm.

The Death of Itsuse

The fleet advanced in stages, encamping at Usa in Buzen and for several years at Takashima in Kibi Province, stockpiling provisions. When they reached Naniwa and entered the Kawachi lowlands, they marched toward Yamato from the west and met disaster. At Kusaka, the army clashed with Nagasunehiko, the most powerful lord in Yamato. Jimmu's elder brother Itsuse was struck by an arrow in the hand. The wound festered.

As Itsuse lay dying, he understood: as descendants of the sun goddess, they had been fighting while facing east, advancing against Amaterasu's own light. Itsuse died at Kama in Kii Province. Jimmu buried his brother and reversed the army's course. He would approach Yamato from the east, with the sun at his back.

The Kumano Wilderness and Yatagarasu

Jimmu led his forces south around the Kii Peninsula, then north through the mountains of Kumano. The terrain was trackless. A divine enchantment fell upon the army and the warriors collapsed into stupor. At this lowest point, a man named Takakuraji brought Jimmu a sword, Futsu-no-Mitama, sent from heaven by the war god Takemikazuchi through a prophetic dream. When the blade was drawn, the fallen warriors revived.

Still lost in the mountains, Jimmu received a second intervention. Amaterasu dispatched Yatagarasu, the great three-legged crow, to guide the army through the wilderness. The bird flew ahead, leading them along passable ridges until they emerged on the eastern border of Yamato, facing west, the sun at their backs.

The Golden Kite and the Conquest of Yamato

The battles in Yamato were fierce. Local rulers resisted at every pass and river crossing. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki record tactics that ranged from open battle to deception: a band of enemies lured into a feast and massacred, another group ambushed from multiple directions.

In the decisive engagement, the enemy host proved overwhelming until a golden kite descended from the sky and alighted on the tip of Jimmu's bow. The bird blazed with such radiance that the opposing warriors were blinded. The line broke.

The final obstacle was Nagasunehiko himself. He argued that he already served a divine lord, Nigihayahi-no-Mikoto, who had descended from heaven before Jimmu. But when Jimmu displayed the proofs of his heavenly descent, Nigihayahi recognized the superior mandate, turned against Nagasunehiko, and killed him.

The Imperial Foundation

Jimmu established his palace at Kashiwabara in Yamato. He married Himetataraisuzuhime, daughter of the deity Ōmonushi of Mount Miwa, the guardian spirit of the Yamato landscape itself. The Three Imperial Regalia, first bestowed upon Ninigi by Amaterasu, now passed through Jimmu into the imperial institution. The age of gods gave way to the age of human rulers, but the divine mandate did not lapse. It changed form.