Tokoyo

Tokoyo

Tokoyo is a figure in Japanese mythology. She was the daughter of a samurai named Oribe Shima. Shima had displeased the emperor, who was in an ill state of health, and subsequently banished him from the kingdom. As a result, he had to set up home on a group of islands called the Oki Islands, away from his daughter. Both he and Tokoyo were miserable at being separated, and she became determined to find him. She sold all her property, and set out for a place called Akasaki, which was just off the coast from the Oki Islands. Although she asked the fishermen to ferry her there, they all refused, since it was forbidden to visit anyone banished there.

One night, she took a boat and sailed to the islands herself. She spent the night on the beach. The next morning while searching for her father she encountered a fisherman, whom she asked about her father. The fisherman replied he knew nothing, and warned her not to ask anyone else about his whereabouts. As a result, she was forced to eavesdrop on people's conversations, rather than simply asking them directly. Unfortunately, Tokoyo could not gather any useful information this way.

On one evening, she came upon a shrine of Buddha, and after praying to him, collapsed and fell asleep. She was awoken by the sound of a girl crying, and looked up to see a young girl and a priest. The priest led the girl to the edge of a cliff and would have pushed her off the edge, if it wasn't for the intervening of Tokoyo. The priest said he was going to sacrifice the girl in order to appease the god Okuninushi, who demanded the annual sacrifice of a young girl. Tokoyo offered to take the girl's place, begrieved and hopeless from not finding her father. After praying to Buddha again, she dived down into the ocean; dagger in her teeth.

At the bottom of the ocean, Tokoyo found a mighty cave, which housed a statue. The statue was of the emperor who banished her father, and she immediately decided to destroy it. However, thinking better of it, she tied it to herself and began to swim back with it. Before she could leave the cave, a serpentine creature (not Okuninushi, but some unnamed monstrosity) confronted her. Devoid of fear, Tokoyo first stabbed it in the eye, blinding it, then relentlessly attacked until she succeeded in killing it. When she arrived at the shore, the priest and girl carried her to town. Word of her heroic deed spread. The emperor's unknown ailment had also suddenly been lifted. He realized that Tokoyo must have released him from a curse, because of what she did to the statue. He ordered the release of Oribe Shime. The father and daughter happily returned to their home town.

References

Cotterell & Storm, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology, 1999

ee also

Yofune-nushi


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tokoyo —    Eternal land, tokoyo no kuni. An other world, either across the sea or a realm of its own beneath the water, equated with the dragon s palace, ryugu, inhabited by beneficent and demanding spirits including spirits of the dead and particularly… …   A Popular Dictionary of Shinto

  • Marunouchi — Tokoyo’s financial center …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Villains of Shinsetsu Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo — This is a list of the general villains of the current Maruhage Empire from the manga series, Shinsetsu Bobobo bo Bo bobo. This list mainly consist of villains who rule under Czar Baldy Bald the Third.Neo Maruhage Empire (Introduction… …   Wikipedia

  • NScripter — Стиль этой статьи неэнциклопедичен или нарушает нормы русского языка. Статью следует исправить согласно стилистическим правилам Википедии …   Википедия

  • Puyi — Aisin Gioro Puyi 愛新覺羅.溥儀 Xuantong Emperor Emperor of Manchukuo …   Wikipedia

  • Magic (cryptography) — Magic was an Allied cryptanalysis project during World War II. It involved the United States Army s Signals Intelligence Section (SIS) and the United States Navy s Communication Special Unit. [1] Contents 1 Codebreaking 1.1 RED …   Wikipedia

  • Kannazuki no Miko — Chikane (left) and Himeko (right), as depicted in promotional material for the anime 神無月の巫女 Genre …   Wikipedia

  • Ugayafukiaezu — commonly shortened to Ugayafukiaezu, is a Japanese deity (kami) and in Japanese mythology, he is the father of Japan s (mythical) first emperor, Emperor Jimmu. In Kojiki , his name appears as Amatsuhitaka hiko nakisatake ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto… …   Wikipedia

  • NScripter — is a software engine that is used for the creation of visual novels, written by Naoki Takahashi. Due to its simplicity and its liberal license (while it is not open source, royalty free commercial use is permitted), it quickly became popular in… …   Wikipedia

  • Yofune-nushi — is a Japanese sea monster, living off shore the Oki Islands.The story of the Yofune nushi was recorded by Richard Gordon Smith in the book Ancient Tales and Folk Lore of Japan , published in 1918. In the story, Yofune nushi is a monster, living… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”