the river and offers the carpenter a deal: he will build the bridge for him
in exchange for the carpenter’s eyes. The carpenter agrees, and the bridge
is magically completed. Having fulfilled his side of the bargain, the demon
intends to collect his prize, but the carpenter runs away from him. While
running through the mountains, the carpenter hears a song that identifies
the demon’s name as oniroku. The following day the demon demands his
eyes again unless, he says, the carpenter says the demon’s name correctly.
The carpenter shouts “oniroku,” and the demon disappears.
When we turn to the Tale of Amewakahiko, as the title of this picture scroll
dictates, the main male character’s name is supposed to be Amewakahiko.
However, instead of Amewakahiko, Amewaka m iko frequently appears in the
text. To be precise, Amewakahiko is used three times and Amewakamiko is
used four times; they seem to alternate, as if the writer of the text, perhaps
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Emperor GoHanazono, could not make up his mind as to which one he
should adopt.
As many Japanese scholars point out, Amewaka h iko is a famous or
perhaps infamous figure in the ancient works Kojiki and Nihon shoki (or
Nihongi, Chronicles of Japan 720). He is a heavenly deity who acts against
the decisions of the Heavenly Council; that is, he rebels against the central
authority. According to the ancient accounts, Amewakahiko is sent from
Takama ga hara (Plain of High Heaven—the realm of heavenly deities) to
Ashiwara no naka-tsu-kuni (Central Land of Reed-Plains—Japan) in prepa-
ration for the descent of the Heavenly Grandchild of the Sun, Goddess
Amaterasu Ōmikami (the progenitor of the imperial line), to pacify and
take control of the Central Land. Earlier, another deity had been sent with
the mission to negotiate with Ōkuninushi, an earth deity and lord of the
Central Land, and arrange the transfer of power over the Central Land to
the Heavenly Grandchild. But that deity failed to return, so Amewakahiko
is given the same mission. Like his predecessor, Amewakahiko does not
return to the Plain of High Heaven; instead, he marries Shitateru-hime,
a daughter of Ōkuninushi, and plans to rule the Central Land himself.
Takamimusuhi (the Deity of Heavenly Creation and an imperial ancestor)
sends a pheasant to check on Amewakahiko’s intentions, but Amewakahiko
kills the bird. In return, Takamimusuhi dispatches an arrow that strikes the
heart of Amewakahiko and kills him.
The name Amewaka m iko was instead widely known in Heian literature
(794–1185) as a music deity who descends from heaven. For example, in
Utsuho monogatari (Tale of the Hollow Tree, ca. tenth century), Amewakamiko
descends from heaven and makes a koto (Japanese string instrument) for
the male protagonist. In Sagoromo monogatari (Tale of Sagoromo, ca. elev-
enth century), impressed by the flute played by the tale’s male protago-
nist, Sagoromo, Amewakamiko descends from heaven and attempts to take
Sagoromo to heaven with him. According to Mitani, Amewakamiko, a deity
who comes from heaven to interact with humans or other supernatural
beings on earth, was never called Amewakahiko in the Heian period. In
fact, amewakamiko was a term used more like a common noun, to refer to
any heavenly deity. In this sense, Amewakahiko is an amewakamiko (as he, a
heavenly deity, has descended from the Plain of High Heaven and married
Shitateru-hime on earth), but the named Amewakamiko is not identical to
Amewakahiko (Mitani, Monogatari bungakushiron 471).
The mixing up of Amewakahiko and Amewakamiko in the medieval
tales seems to have occurred as a result of medieval Japanese scholars’ stud-
ies of ancient and classical Japanese literature, as explained below.
Tale of Amewakahiko
141
Replacing the Names: The Influence of Medieval Approaches to
Ancient and Classical Japanese Literature
During the medieval period (1185–1603), Kokinshū or Kokin wakashū (A
Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern, 905) was required reading for
the aristocracy. In particular, the kana preface to the Kokinshū, which laid
the foundation for all subsequent poetics, was considered invaluable, tan-
referred to as the oldest extant poem: “our poetry appeared at the dawn
of creation. But that which survives goes back to Shitateru-hime in the
eternal heavens.” This is followed by a note, added after the initial text was
written, “Shitateru-hime was the wife of Amewakamiko.” Here, Shitateru-
hime’s husband is written as Amewakamiko, not Amewakahiko. The com-
ment in the note continues, “The reference is probably to the rustic songs
in which she sang of hills and valleys lighted up by her divine elder brother’s
beauty” (McCullough, Kokin Wakashū 8; ozawa and Matsuda 17). Shitateru-
hime’s poem, which is referred to as “the rustic song,” appears in Nihon
shoki (and slightly differently in Kojiki ), “Ame naru ya / ototanabata no /
unagaseru / tama no misumaru no / anatama ha ya / mitani futawatarasu /
Ajisukitakahikone” (Like the string of jewels / Worn on the neck / of the
Weaving-maiden, That dwells in Heaven—/ oh! The luster of the jewels
/ Flung across two valleys / From Aji-suki-taka-hiko ne) (Kojima et al. 1:
127; Aston 75).
According to Katsumata Takashi, scholar of Japanese literature, the
earliest example of the confusion of Amewakahiko and Amewakamiko
appears in Kokinshū kanajo kochū (old Annotations to the Kana Preface to A
Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern, date unknown.)8 Kokinshū kanajo
kochū is also the earliest description of Amewaka hi ko in the literature of
the Heian period. Katsumata assumes that when Amewakahiko was written
in hiragana (a Japanese phonetic syllabary) as あめわかひこ, the “hi” ひ
written in the cursive script was probably misread as “mi” み (Katsumata,
“ ‘Amewakamiko zō’ no hensen ni kansuru ichi kōsatsu” 6).9
As a vital text, Kokinshū produced many commentaries. Likewise, dur-
ing medieval times, many lecture notes and annotated writings on Nihon
shoki were produced. According to intellectuals of the medieval period
such as Ichijō Kanera (1402–81), a court noble with distinguished scholarly
achievements, and Tōgen Zuisen (1430–89), a Buddhist monk, Shitateru-
hime was often compared to and sometimes considered the Weaver, oto-
Tanabata. Ichijō Kanera writes in his Kokinshū dōmōshō (Secret Writings on
Kokinshū) that oto-Tanabata is Vegas (Hanawa, Gunsho ruijū 178; quoted in
Izumo 52). Likewise, Tōgen Zuisen writes in his Nihon shoki Tōgenkyō that
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oto-Tanabata is the Weaver, and if the poem is interpreted as an expression
of admiration by the people who gathered at Amewakahiko’s funeral, oto-
Tanabata is compared to Shitateru-hime (quoted in Izumo 53). When the
belief that Shitateru-hime equals Vega is applied to “Qian Luwei’s Tale,”
Vega’s husband’s name becomes Amewakahiko, easily
replacing Hikoboshi
(Izumo 49–58). Thus, the replacement of Hikoboshi by Amewakahiko or
Amewakamiko occurred in the process of producing various annotated
editions of classical Japanese texts, especially Kokinshū. As Hikoboshi is
a heavenly being who descends from the sky and marries someone on
earth, he was easily replaced by Amewakahiko or Amewakamiko, who had
a similar role.
Regarding Amewakamiko’s status as an ocean dragon king and the
change from Bontennō to an oni, Izumo notes that several annotated edi-
tions of Kokinshū consider Ōkuninushi to be a dragon deity. Some edi-
tions of Nihon shoki, such as Nihon shoki tōgenshō (Tōgen’s Nihon shoki
Commentaries, authored by Tōgen Zuisen), state that Amewakamiko is
Ōkuninushi’s son. This makes Amewakamiko a dragon king, too (Izumo
60–61).10 In the same Nihon shoki tōgenshō, Ōkuninushi is considered an evil
demon and a wicked deity ( akki jashin). Izumo surmises that these various
interpretations of ancient literary characters by medieval scholars may have
caused the name change in the Tale of Amewakahiko’s characters. Presumably,
the Tale of Amewakahiko was shaped by someone who had access to these
various annotated writings and lectures on the Japanese classics.
Moreover, the name change may have possibly occurred because
Bontennō, who frequently appears in esoteric Buddhism as a leading Deva
among the Twelve Devas to give happiness and remove suffering, does not
fit the role of a mean father who presents almost impossible challenges to a
happy marriage. The role is more suitable for an oni considered evil by nature.
Cupid and Psyche
The plot of Tale of Amewakahiko, especially the difficult challenges the
girl must endure, might remind readers familiar with Western literature
and folklore of the tasks given to Psyche in Cupid and Psyche by Lucius
Apuleius. In fact, the hypothesis that Cupid and Psyche is the origin of the
Tale of Amewakahiko goes back to 1910, when Nonokuchi Seiichi pub-
lished an article titled “The origin of the Tale of Amewakamiko—Eros
and Psyche,” in which he wrote, “I do not doubt that the origin of the
Tale of Amewakamiko is ancient Greek myth” (quoted in Inoue, Nanban gensō
290). While Nonokuchi does not mention the route of transmission, Tsuda
Sōkichi, a Japanese historian, also suggested in 1916 that the origin of the
Tale of Amewakahiko
143
Tale of Amewakahiko is Cupid and Psyche, and the Greek story was perhaps
transmitted through Buddhist scriptures. He surmises that stories of the
Roman period were perhaps adopted into Buddhist scriptures, just as the
Gandhāra style of Buddhist art was born, merging Greek, Syrian, Persian,
and Indian artistic influences (Tsuda, Bungaku ni arawaretaru waga kokumin
shisō no kenkyū 176–79; also see Inoue, Nanban gensō 290–91, 297–99). Tsuda
repeated this suggestion in his monumental book Bungaku ni arawaretaru
waga kokumin shisō no kenkyū (An Inquiry into the Japanese Mind as Mirrored
in Literature), first published in 1917.
Indeed, the plots of the two tales are similar. In Cupid and Psyche, the
youngest of three sisters becomes the wife of a divine being; the two older
sisters cause the youngest sister to break her promise to Cupid; the girl
travels in search of her husband, and she has to meet Venus’s challenges
to be finally reunited with her husband. In 1969 Doi Kōichi, a scholar of
English comparative literature, identified further similarities: for example,
Eros’s apparatus is a bow and arrow, and these are Amewakamiko’s tools
as well. While Cupid is introduced as a dragon’s son,11 Doi writes that
Amewakamiko calls himself Dragon King. Psyche goes to the underworld
and nearly dies (falls into an “infernal” asleep), and a similar phenome-
non may have happened to the girl when Amewakamiko tells her to wait
for him to return for “seven, fourteen, or twenty-one days.” This phrase,
“seven, fourteen, or twenty-one days,” suggests the Buddhist memorial days
for the dead after one dies;12 to join her husband in the sky, the girl’s soul
leaves her body and she becomes physically dead so she can travel to the
heavenly realm. Moreover, the difficult challenges given to the girl are simi-
lar to the tasks given to Psyche (Doi 155–82). Doi further comments that
the relationship between Cupid and Amewakamiko is like that of broth-
ers. He reprinted his article in his book Shinwa, densetsu no kenkyū (Study of
Mythology and Legends) in 1973.
Primarily based on Doi’s scholarship, Katsumata Takashi lists their sim-
ilarities (“Chūsei shōsetsu ‘ Tanabata’ to senkō bunken no kankei ni tsuite”
17–18). Katsumata, however, suggests that these similarities are not neces-
sarily directly related to the two stories. I discuss Katsumata’s similarities in
the following paragraphs.
1. The youngest of the three sisters is the most beautiful in mind
and appearance. Katsumata writes that it is not rare for the
third daughter or youngest sister to be the most beautiful, as
in the case of Cinderella stories or “Hachikazuki” (in this case,
the youngest son’s bride).13
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2. Both heroines are left by themselves before their ominous
marriages, and the monstrous husbands turn out to be the
handsome, heavenly beings. In Cupid and Psyche, Psyche is left
on the rock of a mountain peak because the oracle predicted
she would become a monster’s bride. The monster turns out
to be Cupid, divine and immortal. In the Tale of Amewakahiko,
the girl is left alone in a house by a pond because the letter
from the huge serpent demanded that she wed the serpent.
Amewakahiko is a good-looking dragon king who resides in
the sky. Katsumata contends that there are many stories about
a female being who is sacrificed to or marries a serpent. Good
examples in ancient literature are the story of Yamata no
Orochi (Eight-Headed Giant Serpent), who ate a female sacri-
fice every year, and the legend of Mt. Miwa, in which the deity
(or messenger) of Mt. Miwa is a serpent who in the guise of a
male human being marries a village girl.14
3. Before losing their husbands, both heroines live in gorgeous
mansions with many servants. The elder sisters visit their
younger sister and become jealous of her.
4. The younger sister’s promise to her husband is broken
because of her elder sisters. As their interdictions are vio-
lated, both husbands leave their brides. Psyche was urged to
look at her husband, and unintentionally she hurts him by
spilling a drop of oil from her lamp on his shoulder. Cupid
leaves for his mother’s residence on Mt. olympus. In the
Tale of Amewakahiko, the sisters open the forbidden Chinese
chest from which white smoke emerges; thus, Amewakamiko
is unable to come back to earth to be united with the girl.
Katsumata writes, however, that there are numerous tales
about a woman breaking her promise to her supernatural
husband, resultin
g in separation from him. The “forbidden
promise” or “taboo” that separates a couple is not particularly
unique to Cupid and Psyche or the Tale of Amewakahiko.
5. Both Psyche and the girl set out on an arduous journey in
search of their husbands, and both receive four difficult tasks
from their in-laws. Psyche is tested by her mother-in-law,
Venus; the girl by her father-in-law, an oni. The first difficult
task for Psyche is to sort a random heap of seeds, which she
achieves with the help of ants. In the Tale of Amewakahiko,
Tale of Amewakahiko
145
the second task for the girl is to carry a huge number of
rice grains from one storage site to another; this task is also
achieved with the help of ants. The second difficult task for
Psyche is to obtain a tuft of fleece from a golden sheep. In
the Tale of Amewakahiko, the first task for the girl is to take
1,000 cattle to pasture in the field during the day and bring
them into the barn at night. However, Katsumata argues that
a woman in search of her disappeared husband is common
and that it is not unusual to see a parent impose difficult tasks
on a son- or daughter-in-law and then bless the in-law’s mar-
riage once the difficult tasks are accomplished.
Further, as pointed out by Mitani Eiichi and others
(see Mitani, Monogatari bungakushiron 457), the difficult tasks
charged upon the girl in the Tale of Amewakahiko are closer to
those that appear in the Kojiki (Ancient Matters, dated 712)
(Katsumata, “Chūsei shōsetsu ‘Tanabata’ to senkō bunken
no kankei ni tsuite” 18–20). Earlier in Kojiki, Ōkuninushi
goes down to the underworld ( Ne no kuni ) to avoid being
murdered by his older brothers. In the underworld he meets
Suseribime, the daughter of Susanoo (the Storm God).
Suseribime and Ōkuninushi marry without her father’s con-
sent. When Suseribime introduces Ōkuninushi to her father
at his residence, Susanoo imposes four challenging tasks on
Ōkuninushi. First, Ōkuninushi is confined to a chamber full
of snakes. Suseribime gives Ōkuninushi her scarf and tells
him to wave it as snakes approach. As he does so, no snakes
come near him. On the next visit, Susanoo puts Ōkuninushi
in a room full of centipedes and wasps. Suseribime again pro-