Oto Tachibana-hime- Japanese FigureMortal"The Devoted Consort"
Also known as: 弟橘媛, Ototachibanahime, and Oto-Tachibana-Hime-no-Mikoto
Description
She spread mats of sedge and silk upon the raging waves and stepped off the ship into the sea. The storm calmed instantly. Seven days later, her comb washed ashore, the only thing the water returned of the woman who gave her life to save Yamato Takeru's fleet.
Mythology & Lore
The Sacrifice at Sea
Oto Tachibana-hime accompanied her husband Yamato Takeru on his campaign to subdue the eastern provinces. When his fleet attempted to cross the strait between Sagami and Kazusa, a violent storm arose. The sea deity's wrath had been provoked by Yamato Takeru's boasting before the voyage, and the waves surged to swallow the ships.
Oto Tachibana-hime spread layers of sedge mats and silk upon the surface of the waves. She spoke a poem of farewell to Yamato Takeru, the words preserved in the Kojiki, and descended from the ship onto the mats. She sank beneath the water. The storm stopped. The sea went flat and the fleet crossed safely to the far shore.
Azuma wa ya
Seven days after her death, her comb washed ashore on the coast. It was recovered and enshrined in a tomb raised in her honor.
Yamato Takeru continued east. When he reached the pass at Usui in the mountains of Shinano and looked back toward the sea where she had died, he sighed: "Azuma wa ya." My wife. The Kojiki says the eastern provinces of Japan were called Azuma ever after.
Relationships
- Family
- Associated with