Kumaso Takeru- Japanese FigureMortal"Chief of the Kumaso"
Also known as: 熊襲建, 川上梟帥, and Kawakami Takeru
Description
Chieftain of the Kumaso people of Kyushu, killed when a boy prince infiltrated his feast dressed as a maiden and drew a sword during the revelry. As he lay dying, Kumaso Takeru named his killer Yamato Takeru, "the brave one of Yamato."
Mythology & Lore
The Feast
The Kumaso were a people of southern Kyushu who refused to bow to the authority of the Yamato court. Their chieftains, two brothers called Kumaso Takeru (熙襲建) in the Kojiki, held territory beyond the easy reach of Yamato military power. When Emperor Keikō resolved to subjugate them, he dispatched his youngest son Ō-Usu. The prince was still barely more than a boy.
Ō-Usu did not march on the Kumaso with an army. He disguised himself as a maiden, arranging his hair in a woman's style and dressing in robes, then slipped into the banquet the brothers were holding to celebrate the completion of a new dwelling. Seated among the feasters between the two chieftains, he waited until the revelry reached its height and the elder was deep in his cups. Then he drew a sword and stabbed the elder brother through. The younger scrambled to flee. Ō-Usu caught him at the doorway and drove his blade into the man's body.
The Naming
As the younger Kumaso Takeru lay dying, he asked the name of his killer. When the prince identified himself as a son of Emperor Keikō, the chieftain made a declaration: there was no warrior in the western lands as brave as himself, but this young prince surpassed him. With his last breath, he bestowed upon Ō-Usu the name Yamato Takeru, "the brave one of Yamato." It was a name given by a dying enemy to his own killer. Ō-Usu carried it for the rest of his life.
Relationships
- Slain by