Tide Jewels- Japanese ArtifactArtifact"Jewel of the Ebbing Tide"

The Quarrel of the Brothers

Hoori and his elder brother Hoderi quarreled over a lost fishhook. Hoderi was a sea hunter, Hoori a mountain hunter, and when they traded tools for a day, Hoori lost his brother's prized hook in the ocean. Hoderi refused every substitute. Despairing, Hoori descended to the palace of the sea god Watatsumi, where he married Watatsumi's daughter Toyotama-hime and recovered the hook.

Before Hoori returned to the surface, Watatsumi placed two jewels in his hands: the Shiomitsu no Tama, which calls the tide in, and the Shiohi no Tama, which draws it back. The sea god told him what to do. If Hoderi attacked, raise the tide-flowing jewel and let the ocean swallow him. If Hoderi begged for mercy, raise the tide-ebbing jewel and let the waters fall.

Hoori followed the instructions exactly. When Hoderi came against him, the sea surged and overwhelmed the elder brother. When Hoderi, choking and terrified, pledged to serve Hoori forever as his guard, the waters receded and spared him.

Empress Jingū's Conquest

The Nihon Shoki records that the jewels appeared again in Empress Jingū's expedition against the Korean kingdoms. As her fleet approached the coast, she cast the tide-ebbing jewel into the sea. The waters pulled back, stranding the enemy ships on the exposed seabed. The opposing forces climbed down to attack on foot. Then Jingū raised the tide-flowing jewel. The ocean rushed back and swallowed them.

The jewels were never permanently given away. Watatsumi lent them for a purpose and reclaimed them. The sea's power belonged to its god.