Who Is Emperor Suinin (Suinin Tenno)?
The eleventh emperor, devoted to his queen and son
Ikumeiribiko-Isachi-no-Mikoto
Emperor Suinin is the figure the Kojiki names as the eleventh emperor of Japan; his name was Ikumeiribiko-Isachi. He was the son of Emperor Sujin.
While sleeping with his head on the lap of his queen Sahobime, he dreamed that "rain came from the direction of Saho and wet my face, and a small brocade-colored snake coiled around my neck." When he woke, the queen confessed her brother's plot. He sent his army, but because he loved her deeply he could not bring himself to storm the rice-bale fortress, and he tried hard to win her back. Later, for the sake of his son Homuchiwake, who could not speak, he did everything he could — having a swan chased and sending the prince to Izumo.
In his last years he sent Tajimamori to the Land of Tokoyo to bring back a wondrous fruit, but he died before it arrived. The Kojiki says this fruit is today's tachibana citrus.
Episodes featuring this character2
NEWEpisode 6
She Raised a Blade Over Her Sleeping KingSahobiko and Sahobime
"Who do you love more, your husband or your brother?" Sahobime's brother asks her this, and she is the Emperor's wife. Three times she raises a blade over her sleeping husband, and three times she can't strike. Inside a burning fortress of rice she gives birth to a son. She sends the child to her husband and stays at her brother's side, choosing an answer that abandons neither of them.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 7
Chase the Swan Until the Prince SpeaksPrince Homuchiwake
Born inside a burning fortress, Prince Homuchiwake still has not spoken a word, even with a beard down to his chest. His father, Emperor Suinin, sends a hunter to chase a white swan to the ends of the land. But what finally wakes the prince's voice is the wish of a forgotten god in Izumo. This episode follows his first words, a night with a serpent princess, the death of a loyal servant who brought back fruit from the Everlasting Land, and the prince's vow to speak the words his father never heard.
19 pages