f "flies swarming in the fifth month." Finally he was
driven out of Yamato, and retiring to Izumo, found that the local
prefect was unable to resist the raids of a tribe from the
north under the command of a chief whose name--Yachimata no
Orochi--signified "eight-headed serpent."

This tribe had invaded the province and taken possession of the hills
and valleys in the upper reaches of the river Hi, whence tradition
came to speak of the tribe as a monster spreading over hills and
dales and having pine forests growing on its back. The tribute of
females, demanded yearly by the tribe, indicates an exaction not
uncommon in those days, and the sword said to have been found by
Susanoo in the serpent's tail was the weapon worn by the last and the
stoutest of Orochi's followers.

There is another theory equally accordant with the annals and in some
respects more satisfying. It is that Susanoo and his son, Iso-takeru,
when they were expelled from Yamato, dwelt in the land of
Shiragi--the eastern of the three kingdoms into which Korea was
formerly divided--and that they subsequently built boats and rowed
over to Izumo. This is distinctly stated in one version of the
Chronicles, and another variant says that when Iso-takeru descended
from Takama-ga-hara, he carried with him the seeds of trees in great
quantities but did not plant them in "the land of Han" (Korea).
Further, it is elsewhere stated that the sword found by Susanoo in
the serpent's tail was called by him Orochi no Kara-suki (Orochi's
Korean blade), an allusion which goes to strengthen the reading of
the legend.

THE DESCENT OF NINIGI

Omitting other comparatively trivial legends connected with the age
of Susanoo and his descendants, we come to what may be called the
second great event in the early annals of Japan, namely, the descent
of Ninigi on the southern coast of Tsukushi (Kyushu). The Records and
the Chronicles explicitly state that this expedition was planned in
the court at Takama-ga-hara (the "plain of high heaven"), and that,
after sending forces to subdue the disturbed country and to obtain
the submission of its ruler, the grandson (Ninigi) of the Sun goddess
was commissioned to take possession of the land. It is also clearly
shown that Izumo was the centre of disturbance and that virtually all
the preliminary fighting took place there. Yet when Ninigi descends
from Takama-ga-hara--a descent which is described in one account as
having taken place in a