Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/349

Rh In the poem ascribed to Susa no wo (but which really belongs to the sixth or seventh century) we again meet with the nuptial hut already referred to in the myth of Izanagi and Izanami.

It will be observed that the ill-natured and mischievous character ascribed to Susa no wo is not sustained in this part of the story. He also appears to advantage in a legend which represents him as the giver of useful trees of all kinds, especially fruit-trees, to Japan. But his violent nature appears again in a legend which speaks of him as the slayer of the Goddess of Food, who had disgusted him by producing all manner of dainty things from her mouth, nose, and other parts of her body, for his entertainment. Another version of this incident makes the Moon-God the culprit, and gives it as the reason of his alienation from the Sun-Goddess, not the only attempt of myth-makers to account for the obvious aloofness maintained by these two deities.

Susa no wo had 181 children. One of these was Oho-na-muchi (great-name-possessor) also called Oho-kuni-nushi (great-country-master). He dwelt in Idzumo, and with the aid of a guardian spirit reduced to order this part of Japan. Associated with him was the dwarf-deity Sukuna-bikona, who came floating over the sea in a tiny boat clothed in bird-skins. To these two is attributed the origin of the art of medicine and of charms against the powers of evil.

There is probably some reflection of real history in this passage. It is hardly doubtful that Idzumo was one of the earliest, if not quite the earliest, centre of civilisation and religion in Japan, while its position on the coast over-against Corea is significant, in view of the legends which connect Susa no wo with that country. The incident of Sukuna-bikona's arrival by sea clothed in bird-skins seems to indicate an acquaintance with some northern tribes who, like the Kurile islanders at this day, wore garments of this material.

The dynasty of Susa no wo was not recognised by the Gods of Heaven, who sent down several other deities to