Page:Insect Literature by Lafcadio Hearn.djvu/218



I

NE of the old names of Japan is Akitsushima, meaning "The Island of the Dragon-fly," and written with the character representing a dragon-fly,—which insect, now called tombo, was anciently called Akitsu. Perhaps this name Akitsushima, "Island of the Dragon-fly," was phonetically suggested by a still older name for Japan, also pronounced Akitsushima, but written with different characters, and signifying "The Land of Rich Harvests." However this may be, there is a tradition that the Emperor Jimmu, some twenty-six hundred years ago, ascended a mountain to gaze over the province of Yamato, and observed to those who accompanied him that the configuration of the land was like a dragon-fly licking its tail. Because of this august observation the province of Yamato came to be known as the Land of the Dragon-fly; and eventually the name was extended to the whole island. And the Dragon-fly remains an emblem of the Empire even to this day.