ng at the Yamato Court, but its
opponents were still active. Their leader, the o-muraji, thought that
his best chance of success was to contrive the accession of Prince
Anahobe, whose attempt to take precedence of his elder brother, the
Emperor Yomei, has been already noted. The conspiracy was discovered,
and the Soga forces, acting under the nominal authority of the
deceased Emperor's consort, Umako's niece, moved against Anahobe and
Moriya, who had not been able to combine their strength. The
destruction of Prince Anahobe was easily effected, but the work of
dealing with the o-muraji taxed the resources of the Soga to the
utmost. Moriya himself ascended a tree and by skill of archery held
his assailants long at bay. Archery had been practised assiduously by
the Yamato warrior from time immemorial, and arrows possessing
remarkable power of penetration had been devised. During the reign of
Nintoku, when envoys from Koma presented to the Court iron shields
and iron targets, a Japanese archer, Tatebito, was able to pierce
them; and in the time of Yuryaku, a rebel named Iratsuko shot a shaft
which, passing through his adversary's shield and twofold armour,
entered the flesh of his body to the depth of an inch. There was an
archery hall within the enclosure of the palace; whenever envoys or
functionaries from foreign countries visited Yamato they were invited
to shoot there; frequent trials of skill took place, and when oversea
sovereigns applied for military aid, it was not unusual to send some
bundles of arrows in lieu of soldiers.

Thus, the general of the Mononobe, perched among the branches of a
tree, with an unlimited supply of shafts and with highly trained
skill as a bowman, was a formidable adversary. Moriya and his large
following of born soldiers drove back the Soga forces three times.
Success seemed to be in sight for the champion of the Kami. At this
desperate stage Prince Shotoku--then a lad of sixteen--fastened to
his helmet images of the "Four Guardian Kings of Heaven"* and vowed
to build a temple in their honour if victory was vouchsafed to his
arms. At the same time, the o-omi, Umako, took oath to dedicate
temples and propagate Buddhism. The combat had now assumed a
distinctly religious character. Shotoku and Umako advanced again to
the attack; Moriya was shot down; his family and followers fled, were
put to the sword or sent into slavery, and all his property was
confiscated.

*The "Four Guardian Kings