Episode 52: The Many Loves of Nintoku
The Eurasian Wren, or Sazaki, the namesake of our current sovereign in the stories. THat said, though the Kojiki clearly names him as Ōsazaki, the Nihon Shoki uses the character for “suzume”, or sparrow, though likely at the time it jsut meant a small bird of some kind. Other translators have suggested the term “wagtail”. Photo detail from a public domain photo found on Wikimedia Commons.
This episode is mostly going to just be stories from the Chronicles about the many loves of Ōsazaki no Mikoto, aka Nintoku Tennō. Some of the most interesting parts of this, to me, are, for one, the use of songs and poetry to tell the stories. I really think this hearkens back to some kind of tradition of oral history. Also, the fact that many of these songs and poems occur in the same or different parts of the Chronicles, often dealing with similar subjects. While the dating for this period seems to be way off, I find it highly likely that, at least by the 8th century, many of these stories were well known enough, and the different chroniclers were drawing from the same sources when compiling these histories.
References
Ō, Yasumaro, & Heldt, G. (2014). The Kojiki: An account of ancient matters. ISBN978-0-231-16389-7
Bentley, John. (2006). The Authenticity of Sendai Kuji Hongi: a New Examination of Texts, with a Translation and Commentary. ISBN-90-04-152253
Chamberlain, B. H. (1981). The Kojiki: Records of ancient matters. Rutland, Vt: C.E. Tuttle Co. ISBN4-8053-0794-3
Aston, W. G. (1972). Nihongi, chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN0-80480984-4
Philippi, D. L. (1968). Kojiki. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN4-13-087004-1