
Tajima Shrine:I visited Tajima Shrine and Kagamiyama Mountain, both of which were described in the mentioned literary works and records. Tajima Shrine is located on Kabeshima Island, near Yobuko in Karatsu. Tajima Shrine is one of the oldest shrines in Japan. It worships three goddesses: Tagirihimemikoto, Ichikishimahimemikoto, and Takitsuhimemikoto. To support my description of these three goddesses, I’d like to describe Japan’s mythology in brief first.

Tajima Shrine:I visited Tajima Shrine and Kagamiyama Mountain, both of which were described in the mentioned literary works and records. Tajima Shrine is located on Kabeshima Island, near Yobuko in Karatsu. Tajima Shrine is one of the oldest shrines in Japan. It worships three goddesses: Tagirihimemikoto, Ichikishimahimemikoto, and Takitsuhimemikoto. To support my description of these three goddesses, I’d like to describe Japan’s mythology in brief first.

Japan’s Mythology: According to Kojiki, a couple of gods, Izanagi and Izanami, gave birth to many gods. When Izanami gave birth to the deity of fire called Gakuchi, she was burnt and died. When Izanami bore the deity of fire called Gakuchi, she was burnt and died.When Izanagi went to the land of the dead to look for his wife, he found Izanami had turned ugly. Stunned, Izanagi ran away from there. Afterwards, when he purified himself, many gods including three significant gods were born. One was Amaterasu, the god of the sun; another was Tsuyokumi, the god of the moon; and the other was Susanou, the god of the sea. As the god of the sea, Susanou was ordered to govern the seas by his father Izanagi. However, he never stopped demanding for a chance to go to the world where Izanami, his mother, lived. When Susanou was exiled after angering Izanagi, he went to the world of Amaterasu called “Koutenbara”. His older sister, Amaterasu suspected her brother of trying to attack her land. To make it clear that he didn't have any intention of attacking Amaterasu’s country, Susanou surrendered his swords to Amaterasu. And Amaterasu bit his swords into pieces. At that time, the three goddesses worshiped at Tajima Shrine were born. (They are also worshiped at Munakata Shrine in Munakata city, Fukuoka and Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima.) So Amaterasu forgave Susanou and allowed him to stay in her land. But Susanou broke his promise and went on a rampage in her land. Eventually, Amaterasu hid and concealed herself within a rock called Amano Iwato according to Japanese historical records. As a result, the country became dark because there was no sun. The other 8 million gods called Yaorozu no Kami in Japanese got together and planned to drive Amaterasu from the rock. They succeeded in coaxing Amaterasu out of the rock by holding a festival. Later on, the 8 million gods drove Susanou away from her country. When Susanou fell to Toyoashiharanokuni (which is believed to be present-day Izumo in Shimane prefecture), he fought and killed a monster having eight heads and tails called Yamata no Orochi, which had been causing serious damage to the local residents. He became a hero in the latter part of his life. Actually, Japan's mythology has a long continuous story. Let me tell the rest of the story another time.

The legend of Sayohime


A small shrine which worships Sayohime stands in the precinct yard of Tajima shrine. Is is beleved to a shrine of marriage	The views of Karatsubay sea where Sadehilo is leaving from top of Kgamiyama mountain.


The Legend of Sayo-hime　At Tajima Shrine, there is a small shrine, which worships Sayo-hime. The legend of Sayo-hime was adopted and described in Manyoushu and Hizen Fudoki. In 537, Yamato-Chotei dispatched its forces from Matsura, around Karatsu Bay to the southern Korean Peninsula to help Kudara. Yamato-Chotei had allied itself with Kudara to counter the threat posed by Shiragi and the Tang Dynasty. Ootomo Sadehiko leads a military force from Heijokyou, a capital of Japan at the time, to Matsuura. A young woman in the local town is given the responsibility of taking care of the chores in support of Sadehiko’s everyday life there. Her name is Sayo-hime. She is extremely beautiful. Sadehiko falls in love with her, and they developed affection for each other. But He has to leave Matsuura to go to Korea. He gives a beautiful mirror to Sayo-hime, saying “Please hold this as if this is me.” When his vessel is leaving the Genkai Sea, Sayo-hime climbs up to the top of the Kagami Mountain, shouting his name many times and waving her Kimono sleeves even though she eventually loses sight of his ship. She can't help chasing after the vessel.She runs down the mountain and crosses over the Matsuura River, eventually reaching Kabeshima Island. She eventually becomes petrified due to her deep sadness.


The Waka inscribed in this monument says “How sad she was...no matter how many times she waved her sleeve, she couldn’t stop the departure of the vessel." -- By Yamonoueno Okura	Kagamiyama Mountain is also called “Hirefuriyama” referring to the waving sleeves mountain mentioned in a Waka poem which goes, "The mountain was named after Sayo's constant waving of her sleeves.”(Her way of expressing her sorrow and longing at the sight of her husband sailing out-of-sight).-- By Ootomono Tabibito

There are many other endings for the Sayo-hime story around the Matsuura area. One is that Sadehiko comes back to Sayo-hime. They spend time together during the evening hours. However, every morning Sadehiko goes somewhere.　Sayo-hime decides to attach some strings to Sadehiko's sleeve so that she can find out where he is going.When she follows the strings, she reaches a pond at the top Kagamiyama Mountain and finds a monster having a human head and the body of a snake. Actually, the monster loves the beautiful woman and transforms itself into Sadehiko.	Another ending comes from Imari. The legend goes that Sayo-hime boards a small vessel alone to chase after Sadehiko. Fishermen in western Imari find a dead graceful woman who looks like a goddess. They pick Sayo-hime up and sincerely bury her. The residents in Uranosakki, in the western part of Imari, built a shrine to Sayo-hime to commemorate this event and worship her to this day.