Inaba no Shirousagi- Japanese CreatureCreature · Beast"Hare of Inaba"
Also known as: Inaba no Usagi and 因幡の白兎
Description
A cunning white hare who tricked crocodiles into forming a bridge across the sea but was skinned when it revealed the deception. After Okuninushi's jealous brothers worsened its suffering with cruel advice, Okuninushi healed it with cattail pollen, and the grateful hare prophesied his marriage to Yakami-hime.
Mythology & Lore
The Crossing and the Deception
The hare was stranded on the island of Oki, separated from the mainland of Inaba by a stretch of open sea it could not cross. Devising a scheme, it approached the wani (creatures variously interpreted as crocodiles or sharks) and proposed a contest: it would count the wani against the hares to determine which group was more numerous. The wani, persuaded by this challenge, lined up in a row stretching from Oki to the shore of Inaba, and the hare hopped across their backs as if counting them one by one.
Having nearly reached the far shore, the hare could not resist boasting of its cleverness, revealing that the whole contest had been a ruse simply to use the wani as stepping stones. The last wani in the line, furious at the deception, seized the hare and stripped it of its fur entirely, leaving it raw and exposed on the beach of Cape Keta.
The Eighty Brothers and Okuninushi's Compassion
The eighty brothers of Okuninushi, collectively known as the Yasogami, happened to pass by on their way to court Princess Yakami-hime in Inaba. The suffering hare appealed to them for help, and the brothers, cruel in nature, told it to bathe in the salt water of the sea and then lie upon a high peak exposed to the wind. The hare followed this advice, but the salt and wind only cracked and worsened its raw skin, leaving it writhing in agony.
Okuninushi, the youngest and least regarded of the brothers, came along behind them, carrying their baggage as a servant. Finding the hare weeping on the ground, he stopped to ask what had happened. After hearing the full story, Okuninushi instructed the hare to go to the mouth of a river, wash its body in the fresh water, then gather the pollen of cattail reeds and roll upon it. The hare did as told, and its fur was restored.
The Prophecy
The hare declared to Okuninushi that it would not be his brothers who would win the hand of Yakami-hime, but he himself. The prophecy proved true. Yakami-hime rejected all eighty brothers and chose Okuninushi as her husband.
Relationships
- Associated with