Who Is Yamatohime (Princess Yamato)?
The aunt who stood by Yamato Takeru
Yamatohime-no-Mikoto
Yamatohime is the daughter of Emperor Suinin and the younger sister of Emperor Keiko. The Kojiki describes her as serving at the shrine of the Great God of Ise.
When her nephew Prince Ousu set out to subdue the Kumaso in the west, she gave him her own robe and skirt, which he used to disguise himself as a young girl. When he headed east, Yamato Takeru stopped at Ise, and she gave him the sword Kusanagi and a bag, saying, "If you are ever in sudden danger, open this bag." When he was surrounded by fire in Sagamu, the fire-striker inside that bag saved his life.
She is portrayed as one of the few people to whom Yamato Takeru, feared by his own father, could open his heart. She is also known as a woman connected with the origins of Ise Grand Shrine.
Episodes featuring this character4
NEWEpisode 8
Japan's Greatest Hero, Disguised as a GirlYamato Takeru and the Kumaso Brothers
Kojiki Book II, Episode 8. Prince Ousu carries out his father's order to the letter—and the terrified Emperor Keiko sends him off to the far west. Disguised as a girl in his aunt's robe, the boy slips into the Kumaso Takeru brothers' feast. The name his dying enemy gives him: Yamato Takeru.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 9
The Sword I Gave My Friend Was WoodYamato Takeru and Izumo Takeru
On his way home from the west, Ousu (Yamato Takeru) befriends the hero of Izumo, then kills him with a hollow wooden sword. Back in the capital, his father sends him straight off to conquer the east. In front of his aunt, the boy cries for the first time, and she gives him a real sword and a tightly tied pouch.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 10
Open It Only When You're DesperateKusanagi, the Grass-Cutting Sword
Before heading east, Yamato Takeru receives a sword from his aunt Yamatohime, along with a small pouch she tells him to open only when he's in real trouble. In Owari, he and Miyazuhime promise to marry when he comes back. Then, in the land of Sagamu, the Chieftain lures him into a field with a story about a violent god and sets it on fire. With flames closing in on every side, what saves him is the gift in his aunt's pouch.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 13
Home Was Just Over the MountainsThe Death of Yamato Takeru
Gravely ill, Yamato Takeru reaches the plain of Nobono. There he sings a farewell song to his homeland, Yamato, and entrusts his father's cord to his son before he dies. He then becomes a great white bird and flies away, and his family chases it across paddies, bamboo stubble, sea and rocky shore, singing as they go. This is the final chapter of Book II.
19 pages