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            Old-World Japan

       Legends of the Land of the
       Gods + + Re-told by Frank
      Rinder + With Illustrations
          by T. H. Robinson


     "The spirit of Japan is as the
  fragrance of the wild cherry-blossom
           in the dawn of the
              rising sun"


          London: George Allen
         156 Charing Cross Road
                  1895




  Old-World Japan

  [Illustration: Publisher's device]




  Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
  At the Ballantyne Press




Preface


History and mythology, fact and fable, are closely interwoven in the
texture of Japanese life and thought; indeed, it is within relatively
recent years only that exact comparative criticism has been able, with
some degree of accuracy, to divide the one from the other. The
accounts of the God-period contained in the Kojiki and the
Nihongi--"Records of Ancient Matters" compiled in the eighth century
of the Christian era--profess to outline the events of the vast cycles
of years from the time of Ame-no-mi-naka-nushi-no-kami's birth in the
Plain of High Heaven, "when the earth, young and like unto floating
oil, drifted about medusa-like," to the death of the Empress Suiko,
A.D. 628.

The first six tales in this little volume are founded on some of the
most significant and picturesque incidents of this God-period. The
opening legend gives a brief relation of the birth of several of the
great Shinto deities, of the creation of Japan and of the world, of
the Orpheus-like descent of Izanagi to Hades, and of his subsequent
fight with the demons.

That Chinese civilisation has exercised a profound influence on that
of Japan, cannot be doubted. A scholar of repute has indicated that
evidence of this is to be found even in writings so early as the
Kojiki and the Nihongi. To give a single instance only: the curved
jewels, of which the remarkable necklace of Ama-terasu was made, have
never been found in Japan, whereas the stones are not uncommon in
China.

This is not the place critically to consider the wealth of myth,
legend, fable, and folk-tale to be found scattered throughout Japanese
literature, and represented in Japanese art: suffice it to say, that
to the student and the lover of primitive romance, there are here
vast fields practically unexplored.

The tales contained in this volume have been selected with a view
rather to their beauty and charm of incident and colour, than with the
aim to represent adequately the many-sided subject of Japanese lore.
Moreover, those only have been chosen which are not familiar to the
English-reading public. Several of the classic names of Japan have
been interpolated in the text. It remains to say that, in order not to
weary the reader, it has been found necessary to abbreviate the
many-syllabled Japanese names.

The sources from which I have drawn are too numerous to particularise.
To Professor Basil Hall Chamberlain, whose intimate and scholarly
knowledge of all matters Japanese is well known, my thanks are
especially due, as also the expression of my indebtedness to other
writers in English, from Mr. A. B. Mitford to Mr. Lafcadio Hearn,
whose volumes on "Unfamiliar Japan" appeared last year. The careful
text of Dr. David Brauns, and the studies of F. A. Junker von
Langegg, have also been of great service. The works of numerous French
writers on Japanese art have likewise been consulted with advantage.

                                                   FRANK RINDER.




Contents


                                              PAGE
    THE BIRTH-TIME OF THE GODS                   1

    THE SUN-GODDESS                             15

    THE HEAVENLY MESSENGERS                     25

    PRINCE RUDDY-PLENTY                         35

    THE PALACE OF THE OCEAN-BED                 45

    AUTUMN AND SPRING                           57

    THE STAR-LOVERS                             67

    THE ISLAND OF ETERNAL YOUTH                 77

    RAI-TARO, THE SON OF THE THUNDER-GOD        87

    THE SOULS OF THE CHILDREN                   97

    THE MOON-MAIDEN                            103

    THE GREAT FIR TREE OF TAKASAGO             113

    THE WILLOW OF MUKOCHIMA                    121

    THE CHILD OF THE FOREST                    129

    THE VISION OF TSUNU                        141

    PRINCESS FIRE-FLY                          151

    THE SPARROW'S WEDDING                      161

    THE LOVE OF THE SNOW-WHITE FOX             171

    NEDZUMI                                    181

    KOMA AND GON                               189




List of Illustrations


                                                                PAGE
    Heading to "The Birth-Time of the Gods"                        3

      _When he had so said, he plunged his jewelled spear
          into the seething mass below_                            5

    Heading to