Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/137

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
HISTORY (OLD JAPAN)
95

Japanese from Korea landed in that province, while the legends relating to Izanagi and Izanami, the first male and female deities, since they find local habitation in Kyūshiu, seem to indicate another migration (Korean or Malay?) to that locality. These different migrations are also supposed to account for the two distinct types of Japanese.

The story of the creation of the world bears considerable resemblance to that related in Ovid's Metamorphoses; and this is only one of many points of remarkable similarity between the mythology of Japan and the Græco-Roman mythology.[1] And one famous incident in the career of the Sun-Goddess is evidently a myth of a solar eclipse.

Although the Emperor Jimmu cannot be accepted as a truly historical personage, neither can he be entirely ignored, for he is still an important "character" in Japanese "history" and continues to claim in his honor two national holidays (February 11 and April 3). And, just as Jimmu may be considered the Cyrus, or founder, of the Japanese Empire, so Sūjin, "the Civilizer," may be called its Darius, or organizer. The Prince Yamato-Dake is a popular hero, whose wonderful exploits are still sung in prose and poetry. As for the Empress Jingu, or Jingō, although she is not included in the official list[2] of

  1. ↑ There are, indeed, many striking resemblances between "things Japanese" of various kinds and the corresponding "things Græco-Roman." See "Japanesque Elements in 'The Last Days of Pompeii'" in the "Arena" for October, 1896.
  2. ↑ See Appendix, where will also be found a list of the year-periods, or eras.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.