日本書紀 巻第十一

Emperor Ōsazaki (Nintoku) was the fourth son of Emperor Homuda (Ōjin). His mother was Nakatsuhime no Mikoto, granddaughter of Prince Iokiirihiko. From childhood the emperor was quick and clear of mind, and his face was fair. When he came to his full years he was generous and kind.

In the second month of the forty-first year Emperor Homuda died. The prince imperial, Uji no Waki-iratsuko, yielded the throne to Ōsazaki no Mikoto and would not take it. He said to him: "To be lord over all under heaven and to govern the people is like the sky covering and the earth bearing. Only when there is gladness in the one above do those below serve in peace. I am the younger brother, and I have learned little. How should I take up the throne? My elder brother is older in years, and his goodness is known everywhere. When the late emperor made me prince imperial, it was not for any ability of mine, but only because he was fond of me. To keep the ancestral shrines and the altars of the land is a heavy thing. I am unworthy and not equal to it. That the elder should be above and the younger below, that the wise should be lord and the foolish subject, is the way of old and of now alike. Let my brother take the throne without misgiving. I will only help him as his subject." Ōsazaki no Mikoto answered: "The late emperor held that the throne must not stand empty for a single day. That is why he chose beforehand one of clear virtue, set you up as prince imperial, gave you the succession, and charged you to be good to the people. He made his favor plain to all under heaven and handed down your name to later ages. Unworthy as I am, how should I go against the late emperor's command and lightly follow my younger brother's wish?" So he refused firmly and would not accept. Each yielded to the other, and the throne stood empty a long while.

At this time Prince Nukata no Ōnakatsuhiko tried to take the official rice-lands and the granaries of Yamato. He said to Ou no Sukune, ancestor of the Izumo no Omi, who had charge of those lands: "These rice-lands were from the beginning the lands of the mountain wardens. Therefore from now on I shall govern them. You are not to hold them." Ou no Sukune reported this to the prince imperial, who said: "Report it to Ōsazaki no Mikoto." When Ou no Sukune reported it, Ōsazaki no Mikoto asked Maro, ancestor of the Yamato no Atai: "Is it true that the rice-lands of Yamato were from the beginning the lands of the mountain wardens?" Maro answered: "I do not know. Only my younger brother Akoko knows." At that time Akoko had been sent to the lands of Kara and had not yet returned. So Ōsazaki no Mikoto said to Ou: "Go yourself to Kara and summon Akoko. Make haste by night and day." Eighty seamen of Awaji were given him as rowers. When Akoko came and was questioned, he answered: "In the reign of Emperor Ikume (Suinin), Prince Ōtarashihiko was charged with settling the rice-lands of Yamato. At that time the command was given: 'The rice-lands of Yamato are always the rice-lands of the sovereign who rules the realm. Even a child of the emperor may not hold them unless he rules the realm.' Therefore it is not so that they are the lands of the mountain wardens." Ōsazaki no Mikoto sent Akoko to Prince Nukata no Ōnakatsuhiko to tell him this, and the prince said no more.

Prince Ōyamamori had always resented that the late emperor had not set him up. Now he added resentment to resentment and plotted: "I will kill the prince imperial and take the throne at last." Ōsazaki no Mikoto heard of the plot beforehand, told the prince imperial secretly, and had him make ready. The prince imperial set soldiers in place and waited. Prince Ōyamamori, not knowing that soldiers had been made ready, set out at midnight with a few hundred men alone. At dawn he came to Uji and was about to cross the river. The prince imperial had put on a coat and trousers of hemp cloth, taken the look of a common man, and stood among the ferrymen with an oar in his hand. He took Prince Ōyamamori into the boat, and when they reached the middle of the river he trod on the boat, tipped it, and threw him into the water. Prince Ōyamamori came up and, as the current carried him, sang:

　At the crossing of Uji,

　where the swift men are,

　whoever is quick

　with the pole in his hand —

　let him come to my side.

The soldiers who had lain hidden rose in numbers and shot at him, so that he could not reach the bank, and he sank and died. When his body was looked for, it came up at the ford of Kawara. The prince imperial looked at the body and sang:

　At the crossing of Uji,

　where the swift men are,

　there stands at the ford

　a catalpa bow,

　a bow of true wood.

　To cut it down

　was in my heart;

　to take it up

　was in my heart;

　but at its lower end

　I remembered my brother,

　and at its upper end

　I remembered my sister,

　and it went bitterly with me

　to remember there,

　and it went sorrowfully with me

　to remember here,

　so I have come without cutting it,

　the catalpa bow, the bow of true wood.

He was buried on Mount Nara.

The prince imperial and Ōsazaki no Mikoto each went on yielding to the other, and for a long time the throne was not settled. Three years passed. Then the prince imperial said: "It is not good that I should live on and trouble the realm." And he took his own life. When Ōsazaki no Mikoto heard of it he was astonished, and hurried from Naniwa to the palace of Uji. Three days had already passed since the death. Ōsazaki no Mikoto beat his breast and wailed aloud and did not know what to do. He loosed his hair, bestrode the body, and called three times: "My younger brother, my prince!" Then the prince imperial came back to life and sat up of himself. Ōsazaki no Mikoto said to him: "How sad it is, how bitter. Why did you take your own life? If the dead have knowledge, what will the late emperor think of me?" The prince imperial answered his elder brother: "It is the command of heaven, and no one can hold it back. If I reach the place of the late emperor, I will tell him fully that my elder brother is wise and yielded to me a long while. And now the wise lord, hearing that I was dead, has come hurrying a long road. How should I not repay him?" Then he offered his younger sister by the same mother, Princess Yata, saying: "She is a small thing, but let her fill a place in the inner palace." And he lay down again upon the coffin and died. Ōsazaki no Mikoto put on white mourning and wailed without ceasing. He buried him on the hill of Uji.

On the third day of the first month of the first year Ōsazaki no Mikoto took the throne. He gave the honored title of grand empress dowager to the empress dowager. He fixed his capital at Naniwa, and it is called the palace of Takatsu. The palace walls and buildings were not plastered white, the rafters, beams, pillars and posts were not ornamented, and the ends of the thatch were not trimmed even. This was so that the season of the people's farming should not be hindered.

On the eighth day of the third month of the second year Iwanohime no Mikoto was made empress. The empress bore Prince Ōe no Izahowake (Emperor Richū), Prince Suminoe no Nakatsu, Prince Mizuhawake (Emperor Hanzei), and Prince Oasazuma Wakugo no Sukune (Emperor Ingyō).

Before this the emperor had taken Kaminagahime of Hyūga, and she bore Prince Ōkusaka and Princess Hatabi.

On the sixth day of the second month of the fourth year the emperor climbed a high tower and looked into the distance. No smoke rose. He said to the ministers: "When I climb high and look out, no smoke rises anywhere in the land. The people must be so poor that there is no one cooking in the houses. I have heard that in the reigns of the wise kings of old every man raised a voice praising their virtue and every house had a song of contentment. Now I have been on the throne three years. No praising voice is heard, and the cooking smoke grows thinner. I know from this that the five grains have not ripened and the people are in want. If it is so even in the home provinces, what must it be in the provinces beyond?"

On the twenty-first day of the third month he gave command: "From this time forward, for three years, let levies and forced labor be wholly remitted, and let the hardship of the people be eased." From that day his robes were not made anew though they wore out, and his food was not made anew though it went sour. He pared down his heart and narrowed his wants and did nothing more. So the palace walls fell and were not built up, the thatch broke and was not laid again, wind and rain came in through the gaps and wetted his clothes, and starlight leaked through the broken places and shone on his bed.

After this the wind and rain came in their season and the five grains ripened richly. Within three years the people were well off, voices praising his virtue rose, and the cooking smoke also grew thick.

On the first day of the fourth month of the seventh year the emperor climbed the tower and looked into the distance. Smoke rose in many places. That day he said to the empress: "I have become rich. There is nothing to grieve for." The empress answered: "By what do you say that you have become rich?" The emperor said: "Smoke fills the land. The people have grown rich of themselves." The empress said: "The palace walls have fallen and cannot be built up, the buildings are broken and our clothes are wet with dew. How can you say you are rich?" The emperor said: "Heaven sets up a lord for the sake of the people. Therefore the lord takes the people as his foundation. For this reason the wise kings of old, if even one person went hungry or cold, turned and blamed themselves. Now, if the people are poor, then I am poor; if the people are rich, then I am rich. There is no such thing as the people being rich and the lord poor."

In the ninth month of the eighth year the provinces made request, saying: "It is three years since the levies were remitted. Because of this the palace buildings are decayed and the storehouses are empty. Now the people are well off and do not pick up what is dropped on the road. There are no widowers or widows in the villages, and the houses have stores to spare. If at such a time we do not offer taxes and tribute and repair the palace, we fear we shall be held guilty before heaven." But the emperor still bore with it and did not consent.

In the tenth month of the tenth year levies were laid for the first time and the palace was built. Then the people, without being urged, helped the old and led the young, carried timber and shouldered baskets, and worked with all their strength by night and by day, vying with one another. So in no long time the palace buildings were all finished.

On the sixteenth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year the emperor gave command to the ministers: "Looking now at this land, the moors and marshes are wide and far, but the fields and gardens are few and scanty. Moreover the river waters run over sideways, and when there is long rain they ride on the backward flow of the tide, so that the villages go by boat and the roads are buried in mud. Let the ministers look at this together, let the overflowing water be carried to the sea, let the backward flow be kept off, and let the fields and dwellings not be drowned."

In the tenth month the moorland north of the palace was dug through and the water from the south was led into the western sea. That water was named the Horie. Also, to keep off the flooding of the northern river, the Mamuta embankment was raised. At this time there were two places that broke away whenever they were built and could not be stopped. The emperor had a dream. A god instructed him: "There is Kowakubi, a man of Musashi, and Koromonoko of the Mamuta no Muraji, a man of Kawachi. Offer these two to the river god, and the gaps can certainly be stopped." So the two were sought out and found, and offered to the god of the river. Kowakubi wept and grieved and sank into the water and died, and his stretch of the embankment was completed. Koromonoko took two whole gourds, faced the water that would not be stopped, and said: "The god of the river has laid a curse and made me his victim. Therefore I have come now. If he truly means to have me, let him sink these gourds and not let them float. Then I shall know he is a true god and go into the water of myself. But if he cannot sink the gourds, I shall know of myself that he is a false god. Why should I destroy my body for nothing?" At once a whirlwind rose and drew the gourds down to sink them. But they rolled on the waves and floated and did not sink, and were carried far away. So Koromonoko did not die, and his stretch of the embankment was also completed. It was by his wit that his body was not lost. The people of the time named the two places the Breach of Kowakubi and the Breach of Koromonoko.

On the third day of the seventh month of the twelfth year the land of Koma sent as tribute shields of iron and targets of iron. On the tenth day of the eighth month the guests from Koma were entertained. On that day the ministers and all the officials were gathered and made to shoot at the iron shields and targets that Koma had presented. Most could not shoot through the target. Only Tatehito no Sukune, ancestor of the Ikuha no Omi, shot through the iron target. The guests from Koma saw the force of his shooting and were awed, and rose and did him reverence. The next day Tatehito no Sukune was praised and given the name Ikuha no Toda no Sukune.

In the ninth month of the thirteenth year the granary of Mamuta was established for the first time. In the tenth month the Wani pond was made, and in the same month the Yokono embankment was raised.

In the eleventh month of the fourteenth year a bridge was built at the ferry of Ikai, and for that reason the place is named Obashi. In this year a great road was made through the capital, running straight from the southern gate to the village of Tajihi. Also a great channel was dug at Koku, and the water of the Ishikawa river was led through it, watering the moorland of four places: Upper Suzuka, Lower Suzuka, Upper Toyoura and Lower Toyoura. More than forty thousand kei of rice-land were gained by this, so that the people there grew rich and had no fear of a bad year.

In the seventeenth year Silla sent no tribute. In the ninth month Toda no Sukune, ancestor of the Ikuha no Omi, and Sakashikoshi no Omi, ancestor of the Ohatsuse no Miyatsuko, were sent to ask about the failure to send tribute. At this the people of Silla were afraid and sent tribute: one thousand four hundred and sixty bolts of silk, together with goods of many kinds, in eighty ships.

On the first day of the seventh month of the sixteenth year the emperor wished to give Kugahime of Kuwata, one of the palace women, to one of the attendants near him. He did not take her himself, out of regard for the empress's jealousy. So he called together those in attendance and, meaning to bestow Kugahime, sang:

　The maiden of the ministers,

　where the water pours down —

　who will take her and keep her?

Hayamachi, ancestor of the provincial rulers of Harima, came forward alone and answered in song:

　Hayamachi of Harima,

　where the tide is strong —

　rock-breaking though it be,

　and awesome though it be,

　I will take her and keep her.

That day Kugahime was given to Hayamachi. On the evening of the next day Hayamachi came to Kugahime's house. Kugahime would not go with him and said: "I shall end my life a widow. How can I go with you?" The emperor, wishing Hayamachi's desire to be met, sent Kugahime with him to Kuwata. Kugahime fell ill on the road and died. Her grave is there to this day.

In the first month of the twenty-second year the emperor said to the empress: "I wish to take Princess Yata and make her my consort." The empress would not consent. So the emperor sang, asking it of the empress:

　As a man of standing

　sets up his word and keeps it,

　so a second bowstring

　is joined where the first gives way —

　would that she might be set beside me.

The empress answered in song:

　A robe is well enough

　worn one over another,

　but a sleeping mat

　that you would set beside your own —

　that, my lord, is a fearful thing.

The emperor sang again:

　At the cape of Naniwa,

　where the light lies bright,

　the beaches run side by side:

　it was to be set beside me

　that this child was born.

The empress answered again in song:

　Like the summer moth,

　to wear the fire-moth's robe

　in two thicknesses

　and be hidden in it —

　that is no easy thing.

So the empress would not consent in the end, and kept silent and made no answer.

On the eleventh day of the ninth month of the thirtieth year the empress made a progress to the land of Kii, came to the cape of Kumano, gathered the mitsuna leaves of that place, and returned. Meanwhile the emperor, watching for the empress's absence, took Princess Yata and brought her into the palace. When the empress reached the ferry of Naniwa and heard that the emperor had joined himself to Princess Yata, she resented it greatly. She threw the leaves she had gathered into the sea and would not put in to shore. For this reason the people of the time named the sea where the leaves fell the Ferry of Leaves.

The emperor did not know that the empress was angry and would not land, and went himself to Ōtsu to wait for her ship. But the empress did not stop at Naniwa and went on up the Yamashiro river. As she went she sang:

　Up the Yamashiro river,

　where the peaks lie fold on fold,

　up toward the palace,

　as I make my way up,

　past Nara,

　where the blue earth is good,

　past Yamato

　of the little shields,

　the land I long to see

　is the high palace of Katsuraki,

　the neighborhood of my home.

From Yamashiro she went around toward Yamato, but in the end she did not enter Yamato. She turned back to Yamashiro, built a palace south of the hill of Tsutsuki, and lived there.

On the first day of the tenth month Kuchimochi no Omi, ancestor of the Ikuha no Omi, was sent to summon the empress. Kuchimochi no Omi came to the palace of Tsutsuki and asked to be received by the empress, but she gave no answer. It was raining. Kuchimochi no Omi did not take shelter from the rain, but lay in the courtyard and did not move for days.

Kuchimochi no Omi's younger sister, Kuniyorihime, was in the empress's service. She was beside the empress at that time, and when she saw her brother lying there soaked with rain she wept and sang:

　At the palace of Tsutsuki

　in Yamashiro,

　he who lies there

　speaking his message —

　my brother brings tears to my eyes.

The empress said to Kuniyorihime: "Why do you weep?" She answered: "The one lying in the courtyard now, asking to be received though the rain wets him, is my brother. That is why I weep." The empress said: "Tell your brother to go back quickly. I shall not return." Kuchimochi no Omi went back and reported to the emperor.

On the seventh day of the eleventh month the emperor made a progress to Yamashiro. Mulberry branches came floating down with the river. The emperor looked at the mulberry branches and sang:

　The radish the women of Yamashiro

　dug with their wooden hoes,

　where the peaks lie fold on fold —

　loud and clear

　as you have spoken to me,

　so I have come across,

　spreading like mulberry branches,

　come in and come to you.

The next day the emperor took his carriage to the palace of Tsutsuki and summoned the empress, but she would not be seen. Then the emperor sang:

　The radish the women of Yamashiro

　dug with their wooden hoes,

　where the peaks lie fold on fold —

　white at the root,

　white as your arm.

　Had I never made it my pillow,

　then you might say

　that we had never known each other.

The empress sent a messenger to say: "Your Majesty has taken Princess Yata as consort. I do not wish to be a consort together with the princess." And so she did not see him. The emperor turned his carriage and went back to the palace. The empress stayed at Tsutsuki with her resentment unappeased.

In the sixth month of the thirty-fifth year the empress Iwanohime no Mikoto died in the palace of Tsutsuki.

On the twelfth day of the eleventh month of the thirty-seventh year the empress was buried on Mount Nara.

On the sixth day of the first month of the thirty-eighth year Princess Yata was made empress.

In the seventh month the emperor and the empress were on a high terrace taking the cool air. Night after night the belling of a stag was heard from the moor of Toga. The sound was lonely and sorrowful, and it moved them both to pity. Toward the end of the month the belling of the stag was no longer heard. The emperor said to the empress: "Tonight the stag does not call. What can it be?"

The next day the Saeki-be of the district of Ina brought an offering of game. The emperor had his cook ask: "Where was that animal taken?" The Saeki-be answered: "It was taken at Toga." The emperor thought it must be that stag and said: "This animal is the stag that comforted me and the empress." And he moved the Saeki-be to Nuta in Aki. These are the ancestors of the Saeki-be of Nuta today.

Before this there was a stag on the moor of Toga. One night he said to the doe: "I dreamed tonight. White frost fell thickly and covered my body. What sign can this be?" The doe answered: "If you go out, you will surely be shot by men and die. White salt will be rubbed on your body, so that it will be as if frost had fallen." A man who was watching for deer in the moor heard this. The next morning the stag went out and was shot by a hunter and died. So the people of the time said: "Even a stag has a dream that comes true."''

In the second month of the fortieth year the emperor wished to make Princess Metori his consort, and sent Prince Hayabusawake, her younger brother by the same mother, as go-between. Prince Hayabusawake secretly took her himself and for a long time made no report.

Not knowing this, the emperor went himself to Princess Metori's hall. The women who served the princess were weaving and singing:

　The cloth that my lady,

　Princess Metori, weaves —

　for whom is it made?

　It is a robe for Hayabusawake,

　who flies high.

The emperor heard the song and knew that Prince Hayabusawake had taken Princess Metori, and he resented it in his heart. But out of regard for the empress he bore with it and did not call him to account.

Afterwards Prince Hayabusawake was lying with his head on Princess Metori's knee. The prince said: "Which is swifter, the wren or the falcon?" The princess said: "The falcon is swifter." The prince said: "Then I shall be first." The emperor heard these words and his resentment rose again. Then the attendants of Prince Hayabusawake sang:

　The falcon

　goes up into the sky

　and soars in flight —

　let him take the wren

　on the sacred perch.

The emperor heard this song and was greatly angered, and said: "I cannot bear to harm my own kin for a grudge of my own. But this may not be let pass."

He raised soldiers to kill them. Prince Hayabusawake took Princess Metori and fled, meaning to reach the shrine of Ise. When the emperor heard that Prince Hayabusawake had fled, he sent Ozaki of the Kibi no Homuchibe and Aganoko of the Harima no Saeki no Atai, with the command: "Kill them where you overtake them."

Prince Hayabusawake went with Princess Metori by way of Uda and came to Mount Soni. There Prince Hayabusawake sang:

　Even the steep mountain,

　steep as a set-up ladder,

　when I cross it

　together with my wife

　is an easy mat to rest on.

Ozaki and the others overtook them at Mount Soni and killed them both. Then Aganoko took the jeweled armlets that Princess Metori wore on her arm and gave them to his own wife.

In the eleventh month of that year there was a feast of the first fruits. On the day of the feast wine was given to the noble ladies of the palace and of the court. The wife of Ōtomo no Muraji was wearing jeweled armlets on her arm. The empress saw the armlets and knew them for those of Princess Metori. She ordered the officials to look into it, and it was made plain that Aganoko had taken them. Aganoko was liable to death. Aganoko said: "My offence deserves death indeed. But I beg to offer my own land and redeem myself from death." So he offered his land, and for that reason the place is named Tamate, the price of the jewels.

In the third month of the forty-first year Ki no Tsunu no Sukune was sent to Paekche, and for the first time the boundaries of the provinces and districts were divided and the products of each region were recorded in detail. At that time Sakenokimi, of the royal house of Paekche, behaved without courtesy. Ki no Tsunu no Sukune therefore reproached the king of Paekche. The king was afraid, bound Sakenokimi with an iron chain, and sent him over in the charge of Sotsuhiko.

When Sakenokimi arrived he at once ran away and hid in the house of Korosu, ancestor of the Ishikawa no Nishikori no Obito, and said falsely: "The emperor has already pardoned my offence. So I will depend on you and live." After a long time the emperor did at last pardon him.

On the first day of the ninth month of the forty-third year Abiko of the Yosami granary caught a strange bird and presented it to the emperor, saying: "I am always spreading nets and catching birds, but I have never taken a bird like this. So I bring it as a strange thing." The emperor called Sakenokimi and asked: "What bird is this?" Sakenokimi answered: "There are many of this kind in Paekche. If it is trained it follows a man well. It flies swiftly and catches other birds. In the speech of Paekche this bird is called kuchi." So it was handed to Sakenokimi to be fed and trained. In no long time it was tame. Sakenokimi put a leather strap on its foot and a small bell on its tail, set it on his wrist, and presented it to the emperor.

That day the emperor went to the moor of Mozu and hunted. Many hen pheasants rose. The hawk was loosed and made to take them, and in a moment several dozen pheasants were caught. In that month the Takakai-be, the hawk-keepers, were established. So the people of the time named the place where the hawks were kept the village of Takakai.

On the fifth day of the third month of the fiftieth year a man of Kawachi reported: "A wild goose has laid an egg on the Mamuta embankment." A messenger was sent at once to look, and he reported: "It is true." The emperor asked Takeuchi no Sukune in song:

　Uchi no Aso,

　you whose life is bound to its span,

　you are the one

　who has lived long in the world.

　In the land of Yamato,

　seen from the sky,

　have you ever heard

　of a wild goose laying an egg?

Takeuchi no Sukune answered in song:

　My great lord,

　who rules the eight quarters in peace,

　rightly, rightly

　do you ask this of me.

　In the land of Yamato,

　the isle of the dragonfly,

　of a wild goose laying an egg

　I have never heard.

In the fifty-third year Silla sent no tribute. In the fifth month Takefuru no Se, ancestor of the Kamitsukeno no Kimi, was sent to ask about the failure to send tribute. Halfway on the road he took a white deer, returned, and presented it to the emperor. Then he chose another day and set out again.

Not long after, Tamichi, the younger brother of Takefuru no Se, was also sent. The command was given: "If Silla resists, raise troops and strike." And picked soldiers were given him. Silla raised troops and resisted, and they fought day after day. Tamichi asked a prisoner: "Where are the strong ones?" The prisoner answered: "The south is strong." So Tamichi avoided the south and struck the west. The soldiers of Silla were broken. He pursued them and killed several hundred, and took the people of four villages captive and returned.

In the fifty-fifth year the Emishi rebelled. Tamichi was sent to strike them. He was beaten by the Emishi and died at the harbor of Ishi. One of his followers got Tamichi's armlet and gave it to his wife. She held the armlet to her and hanged herself. The people of the time heard of it and shed tears.

Afterwards the Emishi came again and plundered the people, and they dug open Tamichi's grave. A great serpent appeared, came out of the grave with angry eyes, and struck at them. The Emishi were all touched by the serpent's poison and many of them died; only one or two escaped. So the people of the time said: "Tamichi is dead, yet he has repaid them in the end. How can it be said that the dead know nothing?"

In the fifth month of the fifty-eighth year two ryū trees suddenly grew on the road south of the pine wood of Arahaka, on either side of the road, and their tops joined above it. In the tenth month the land of Wu and the land of Koma sent tribute.

In the tenth month of the sixtieth year the guardians of the tomb of the white bird were made into laborers. The emperor came to the place where they were at work. Mekui, one of the tomb guardians, suddenly turned into a white deer and ran away. The emperor gave command: "This tomb was empty from the first. That is why I meant to do away with its guardians and make them laborers. Now I have seen this strange thing, and I greatly fear it. The tomb guardians are not to be moved." And he gave them again into the charge of the Haji no Muraji.

In the fifth month of the sixty-second year the governor of Tōtōmi reported: "A great tree came floating down the Ōi river and stopped at a bend of the river. It is ten spans around; the trunk is single and the upper end forks in two." So Akoko of the Yamato no Atai was sent to have a ship made of it. It was brought around by the southern sea to the harbor of Naniwa and made the emperor's ship.

In this year Prince Nukata no Ōnakatsuhiko hunted at Tsuge. He climbed a hill and looked out over the moor, and there was something like a hut. He sent a man to look at it, who came back and said: "It is a pit." So Ōyamanushi, the Inagi of Tsuge, was called and asked: "What is that pit in the moor?" He said: "It is an ice-house." The prince asked: "How is the ice stored, and what is it used for?" He said: "The earth is dug out more than a fathom deep, grass is laid over it and thick reeds spread inside, and the ice is taken and set upon them. It does not melt even in the summer months. When it is used, it is put into water or wine." The prince took some of the ice back and presented it at the palace. The emperor was pleased. From this time on, ice was always stored in the last month of winter and given out at the spring equinox.

In the sixty-fifth year there was a man in the land of Hida called Sukuna. He had one body and two faces, and the faces were turned away from each other. The crowns of the heads were joined and there was no nape. Each face had its own hands and feet. There were knees, but no hollows behind them and no heels. He was strong and light of body. He wore a sword on the right side and on the left, and used a bow and arrows with all four hands. He would not obey the imperial command, and took pleasure in robbing the people. So Naniwa no Neko Takefurukuma, ancestor of the Wani no Omi, was sent and killed him.

On the fifth day of the tenth month of the sixty-seventh year the emperor went to the plain of Ishizu in Kawachi and fixed the site of his tomb. On the eighteenth day the building of the tomb was begun. On that day a deer suddenly started up out of the moor, ran in among the laborers, fell down and died. Wondering at its sudden death, they searched for its wound, and a shrike came out of its ear and flew away. When they looked inside the ear, it had been eaten away throughout. So the place was named Mozu no Mimihara, the ear-plain of the shrike.

On the sixteenth day of the first month of the eighty-seventh year the emperor died. On the seventh day of the tenth month he was buried in the tomb on the moor of Mozu.