Toyokiiribikono-mikoto (豊城入彦命)
Toyokiiribikono-mikoto (豊城入彦命) (the year of birth and death unknown) is a member of the Imperial Family (the royal family) of the Tumulus period according to the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) and the Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan). The name is also written in kanji as 豊城命 or豊木入日子命. He is the first son of the Emperor Sujin. His mother was Tootsuayumemaguwashi-hime, the daughter of Arakawatobe. He was an older paternal half-brother of the Emperor Suinin and an older maternal half-brother of Toyosuki iribime no mikoto. He is the ancestor of Kamitsukenono-kimi and Shimotsukenono-kimi according to the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki. The "Nihonshoki" says that he was dispatched to Togoku (the eastern part of Japan, particularly Kanto region) under the orders of the Emperor Sujin in B.C.50.
Description in the mythology
The Emperor Sujin advised his two sons, Toyokino-mikoto (Toyokiiribikono-mikoto) and Ikumeno-mikoto (who later became the Emperor Suinin), that he could not decide which one of them should succeed to him as he equally loved both of them, and that he would make the decision through divination that would be facilitated by the dreams his two sons would have. Toyokino-mikoto had a dream in which he climbed Mt. Mimoro and, facing east, he thrust a spear forward eight times and swung a sword down eight times. Meanwhile Ikumeno-mikoto dreamed that he climbed to the top of Mt. Mimoro where he put up a straw rope on the four sides around him and chased away the sparrows that tried to eat millet. So the Emperor Sujin decided to have the younger brother Ikumeno-mikoto succeed to the emperorship interpreting that the younger brother was considering securement of land and promotion of agriculture, and to dispatch Toyokino-mikoto to govern eastern Japan as he took up arms facing east in his dream.
The Nihonshoki
Some people view that the story about Toyokino-mikoto is one of the stories concerning subjugation of the whole country by the royal family, relating to the dispatch of Shido-shogun (generals dispatched to four circuits) and the legend about Yamato Takeru, and suggesting how the early Yamato sovereignty (the ancient Japan sovereignty) extended its right of control over regional areas.
Shrines where Toyokiiribikono-mikoto is enshrined
Utsunomiya Futaarayama-jinja Shrine in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture: Ichinomiya (a shrine with the highest ranking in the area) of Shimotsuke Province
Akagi-jinja Shrine in Fujimi Village, Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture (present-day Fujimi-cho, Maebashi City)
Ninomiya Akagi-jinja Shrine in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture
Hasu-jinja Shrine in Toyoshiro-cho, Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture
Oarahiko-jinja Shrine in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture
Shimoniikawa-jinja Shrine in Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture
Tarumi-jinja Shrine in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture and others
Imperial mausoleum
Although not verified, Souja-futagoyama tumulus in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture was considered as a possible mausoleum of Toyokiiribikono-mikoto, where a grave keeper had reportedly been placed until 1870. There is also an opinion that Omuro tumuli cluster (Gunma Prefecture) in the same city is the imperial mausoleum of Toyokiiribikono-mikoto. A belief has been handed down in Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture that Maruyama tumulus located in the city is it.
Descendants of Toyokiiribikono-mikoto
It is traditionally said that Toyokiiribikono-mikoto is the ancestor of clans such as Kamitsukenu clan, Shimotsukenu clan, Sami no asomi, Ono no asomi, Ikeda no asomi, Suminoe no asomi, Ikehara clan, Kurumamochi no kimi, Tarumi no kimi, Tanabe no fuhito, Sajinu no kimi, Sate no kimi, Chinu no agatanushi, Tomi no obito, Umaraki no miyatsuko, Oyosami no kimi, Kuwahara no kimi, Kawai no kimi, Tarumi no fuhito, Akinoosa no obito, Kimikobe, Hirokitsu no kimi, Tomi no muraji, Murage no obito, Shimokai no kimi and Karayatabe no miyatsuko.