Tokoyo (常世),[1] also known as Kakuriyo (隠世、幽世), or Taikaikan[2] is a realm in Shinto. It is an "otherworld" though not necessarily seen as a place in the afterlife, but rather as a mythical realm with many interpretations. It is believed to be a place where various kami and spirits of ancestors live with eternal youth. Motoori Norinaga categorized three types of Tokoyo: a world of perpetual darkness, a world where people never grew old, and a world across the sea.[1]
Ne-no-kuni is sometimes considered to be identical to Tokoyo no Kuni, or alternatively Yomi the underworld.[3][4] There is no clear consensus on the relationship between these three realms.[3][4]
Various stories related to Tokoyo can be found in classics such as Kojiki and Nihongi, including the tale of Tajimamori travelling to Tokoyo in the reign of Emperor Suinin to help him become immortal. In the reign of Empress Kogyoku a fanatical cult dedicated to the god of Tokoyo was said to have emerged.[1]
Myth of Okuninushi
[edit]In the Kojiki, Ōkuninushi used to rule the world, but he relinquished control during the Kuni-yuzuri to transfer control to the Amatsukami. He made a request that a magnificent palace – rooted in the earth and reaching up to heaven – be built in his honor, and then withdrew himself into the "less-than-one-hundred eighty-road-bendings" (百不足八十坰手 momotarazu yasokumade, i.e. the unseen world of the spirit) and disappeared from the physical realm.[5][6]
The son of Amaterasu Ame no Hohi was sent to run Izumo Taisha for Susanoo when the transfer of land occurred as part of the agreement,[7] and his descendants became the Izumo clan who run the shrine today.[8][9][10][11]
Identification with Mount Penglai
[edit]In the story of Urashima Tarō Tokoyo is identified with Mount Penglai.[a][12][13]
The Asteroid 162173 Ryugu has two fossae named after each one.[14]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ It is written as Horai (Mount Penglai) in the straight Chinese text, but it is also annotated to indicate its should be read as Tokoyo-no-kuni.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Encyclopedia of Shinto". 國學院大學デジタルミュージアム (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- ^ "國學院デジタルミュージアム". 2018-02-19. Archived from the original on 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- ^ a b "根の国". 日本大百科全書 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
- ^ a b Bonnefoy, Yves; Doniger, Wendy (1991). Asian Mythologies. University of Chicago Press. pp. 270–271. ISBN 0-226-06456-5.
- ^ Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. pp. 129–136.
- ^ Chamberlain (1882). Section XXXII.—Abdication of the Deity Master-of-the-Great-Land.
- ^ "Converting Japan, 1825–1875", The Origin of Modern Shinto in Japan : The Vanquished Gods of Izumo, Bloomsbury Academic, p. 32, 2016, doi:10.5040/9781474271110.ch-004, ISBN 978-1-4742-7108-0, retrieved 2023-10-24
- ^ "Converting Japan, 1825–1875", The Origin of Modern Shinto in Japan : The Vanquished Gods of Izumo, Bloomsbury Academic, p. 38, 2016, doi:10.5040/9781474271110.ch-004, ISBN 978-1-4742-7108-0, retrieved 2023-10-24
- ^ Cali, Joseph; Dougill, John (2012-11-30). Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion (Illustrated ed.). Honolulu: Latitude 20. ISBN 978-0-8248-3713-6.
- ^ Matsunaga, Naomichi. "Kuni no miyatsuko". Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of Shinto. Archived from the original on 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
- ^ Matsunaga, Naomichi. "Izumo kokusō". Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of Shinto. Archived from the original on 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
- ^ McKeon (1996), pp. 34, 65.
- ^ Poulton, M. Cody (2001), Spirits of Another Sort: The Plays of Izumi Kyōka, Center for Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan, p. 88, ISBN 9780939512010
- ^ https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2020/07/aa37096-19.pdf
Bibliography
[edit]- Akima, Toshio (1993), "The Myth of the Goddess of the Undersea World and the Tale of Empress Jingu's Subjugation of Silla", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 20 (2–3), CiteSeerX 10.1.1.691.6616, doi:10.18874/jjrs.20.2-3.1993.95-185
- Ashiya, Shigetsune (蘆谷重常 ) (1936), Kokka kyōkasho ni arawaretaru kokumin setsuwa no kenkyuū 国定教科書に現れたる国民説話の研究 [Research on folk tales found in nationally designated textbooks] (in Japanese), Kyozaisha, pp. 179–215
- Aston, William George (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. Vol. 1. London: Japan Society of London. p. 368. ISBN 9780524053478.
- Chamberlain, B. H. (1886), The Fisher-boy Urashima, Japanese Fairy Tale Series 8, Kobayashi Eitaku (illustr.), T. Hasegawa, Kōbunsha; alt copy @ Library of Congress
- Holmes, Yoshiko (2014). Chronological Evolution of the Urashima Tarō Story and its Interpretation (PDF) (M. A.). Victoria University of Wellington.
- Hayashi, Kouhei (林晃平) (2001), "Urashima densetsu ni okeru gazō no mondai" 浦島伝説における画像の諸問題 [Various issues on images in the Urashima legend], Proceedings of the International Conference on Japanese Literature in Japan. (in Japanese), 24: 33–54
- Hayashi, Kouhei (林晃平) (2011), "Iwayuru otogizōshi Urashimatarō no tenkai: kin'nen ni okeru shohon kenkyū to sono yukue wo meguri" 所謂御伽草子「浦島太郎」の展開-近年における諸本研究とその行方をめぐり- [The Development of Otogizoushi "Urashima Taro"] (PDF), Bulletin of Tomakomai Komazawa University (in Japanese), 24: 1–37
- Hayashi, Kouhei (林晃平) (2013), "Okkusufōdo daigaku zō emaki Urashimatarō no honkoku to kaidai" オックスフォード大学蔵絵巻「浦島太郎」の翻刻と解題 [The Tale of Urashima in the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford] (PDF), Bulletin of Tomakomai Komazawa University (in Japanese), 27: 1–31
- Hayashi, Kouhei (林晃平) (2016), "Tamatebako no kitashi kata: Urashima densetsu imēji no keisei" 玉手箱の来し方―浦島伝説イメージの形成― [The Origin of the Tamatebako] (PDF), Bulletin of Tomakomai Komazawa University (in Japanese), 31: 1–31
- Makino, Yoko (牧野陽子) (2011), "Unasaka no fūkei:Hān to Chenbaren sorezore no Urashima densetsu (1)" 海界の風景〜ハーンとチェンバレンそれぞれの浦島伝説〜(一) ["Past the bounds of Ocean" : The Legend of Urashima as told by L. Hearn and B. S. Chamberlain (1)], Seijo University Economic Papers (in Japanese), 191: 138–116
- McKeon, Midori Yamamoto (1996), The Urashima Legend: Changing Gender Representations in a Japanese Tale, University of California, Berkeley
- Miura, Sukeyuki (三浦佑之) (1989), Urashima Tarō no bungakushi: ren'ai shōsetsu no hassei 浦島太郎の文学史: 恋愛小說の発生 [Urashima Taro's literary history: emergence of the romance novel] (in Japanese), Goryu Shoin, ISBN 9784906010363
- Miyao, Yoshio [in Japanese], ed. (2009). "Urashima". Taiyaku nihon mukashibanashishū 対訳日本昔噺集 [Japanese Fairy Tale Series] (in English and Japanese). Vol. 2. Translated by Chamberlain, Basil Hall. Kobayashi Eitaku (illustr.). Sairyūsha. pp. 25ff, 301ff. ISBN 9784779113710.
- Nakashima, Mayumi (中嶋真弓) (2010), "Shōgakkō kokugo kyōkasho kyōzai 'Urashima Tarō' sairoku no hensen" 小学校国語教科書教材「浦島太郎」採録の変遷 [Changes in the inclusion of the story of Urashima Taro in Japanese-language educational materials for primary schools] (PDF), Bulletin of Aichi Shukutoku University, Faculty of Letters, Graduate School of Letters (35): 129
- Satomi, Shigemi (里見繁美) (2001), "Hān no Urashima densetsu ni taisuru ninshiki :washinton āvingu no sakuhin wo kijiku ni" ハーンの浦島伝説に対する認識―ワシントン.アーヴィングの作品を基軸に― [Hearn's conception of Urashima Legend: with Washington Irving's works as base], Hikaku Bungaku, the Journal of Comparative Literature of JCLA (in Japanese), 44: 99–111
- Seki, Keigo, ed. (1963), "Urashima Taro", Folktales of Japan, Robert J. Adams (tr.), University of Chicago Press, pp. 111–114, ISBN 9780226746159
- (reprinted in) Tatar, Maria, ed. (2017), "Urashima Taro", Beauty and the Beast: Classic Tales About Animal Brides and Grooms, Penguin, pp. 167–171, ISBN 9781101992951
- Sugiyama, Yoko (1964), "Time and folk literature: a comparative study", East-West Review, 1 (2): 145–166, ISBN 9784861660535
- Tagaya, Yuko (2011), "Far Eastern Islands and their Myths: Japan", Islands and Cities in Medieval Myth, Literature, and History: Papers Delivered at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, in 2005, 2006, and 2007, Peter Lang, pp. 91–112, ISBN 9783631611654
- Takanashi, Kenkichi (高梨健吉) (1989), "Chembaren no eiyaku Urashima" チェンバレンの英訳浦島 [Chamberlain's translation of Urashima], Eibungaku Kenkyū (英学史研究), 1989 (1): 113–127 (In Japanese and some English)