Ame no Hiboko

• Mythological character within both the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki
• Distinction: the king of the Korean kingdom of Silla's son
• Possible alternate name: Hiboko
• Name meaning: Spear of the Heavenly Sun

Overview

Ame no Hiboko is believed to have travelled from Silla to Japan, with "magical jewels" that made for tranquil ocean travel.

In the Cambridge History of Japan, it is suggested that he was reverenced by those Koreans that had travelled to the Japanese archipelago and brought continental technology.

In the Chikuzen fudoki, a deity called Hiboko is listed as being the tutelary kami of a strong family located in northern Kyushu. This Hiboko may be one and the same with Ame no Hiboko. This Hiboko, within the fudoki is supposed to have came to earth in Koguryo.

The items carried by Ame no Hiboko resemble those usually bore by other ancestor kami.

Ame no Hiboko within the Nihon Shoki

Nihon Shoki. Aston, 1.168-9

B.C. 27: 3rd year, Spring, 3rd month. The Silla prince, Ama no hi-hoko (this means 'The sun-spear of Heaven,' and is purely Japanese. It cannot be a Corean name) arrived. The objects which he brought were-one Ha-buto gem, one Ashi-daka gem, one red-stone Ukaka gem, one Idzushi short sword, one Idzushi spear, one sun-mirror, one Kuma-himorogi , seven things in all. These were stored in the Land of Tajima, and made divine things for ever. One version says:--In the beginning, Ama no hi-hoko, riding in a ship, anchored at the land of Harima, where he dwelt in the village of Shisaha. Then the Emperor sent to Harima Ôtomonushi, the ancestor of the Yamato no Atahe, and inuired of Ama hi-hoko, saying:--'Who art though, and to what country dost thou belong?' Ama no Hi-hoko answered and said:--'I am the son of the King of Silla. Hearing that in the Land of Japan there was a sage monarch, I gave my country to my younger brother, Chiko, and have come to offer my allegiance and to bring tribute of the following objects, viz.--a Ha-boso gem, an Ashi-daka gem, an Ukaka red-stone (or Akashi) gem, an Idzushi short sword, an Idzushi spear, a sun-mirror, a Kuma-himorogi, and an Isasa sword-eight objects in all.' So the Emperor gave orders to Ama no hi-hoko, saying:--'Do thou dwell in either of these two villages--Shisaha in the land of Harima, or Idesa in the island of Ahaji, at thy pleasure.' Then Ama no hi-hoko addressed the Emperor, saying:--'In regard to a dwelling-place for thy servant, if the celestial favour is bestowed on him so far as to grant thy servant the place of his desire, thy servant will himself proceed to and visit the various provinces, and he hopes that he may be granted the place which is agreeable to his mind.' This was agreed to. Thereupon, Ama no hi-hoko, ascending the river Uji, went northwards, until he arrived at the village of Ana, in the province of Ômi. Afterwards, he proceeded onwards, from the province of Ômi, through the province of Wakasa, and going westward arrived at the province of Tajima. So there he fixed his dwelling place. Therefore the potters of Kagami no Hasama, in the province of Ômi, are the servants of Ama no hi-hoko. Accordingly, Ama no hi-hoko took to wife Matawo, the daughter of Futomimi, a man of Idzushi in Tajima, who bore to him Tajima Morosuke, ho was the father of Tajima no Hinaraki, who was the father of Kiyohiko, who was the father of Tajima-mori.

Nihon Shoki. Aston, 1.185-6

A.D. 59: 88th year, Autumn, 7th month, 10th day. The Emperor [Suinin] commanded the Ministers, saying:--'We hear that the divine treasures which the Silla Prince Ama no hihoko brought with him when he first came here are now in Tajima. They were originally made divine treasures because the people of that province saw that they were admirable. We desire to see these treasures.' That same day messengers were despatched with the Imperial commands to Kiyo-hiko, great-grandson of Ama no hihoko, directing him to present them to the Emperor. Thereupon, Kiyo-hiko, when he received the Imperial orders, brought the divine treasures himself, and laid them before His Majesty.

Aston's Nihongi writes Ame no Hiboko as Ama no hi-hoko, or Ama no hihoko, but it is of little matter. Many of the names contained within his work differ from modern history books.

Continuing, Kiyo-hiko attempted to hide the Idzushi short sword from Emperor Suinin, but was caught in the act. However, it magically disappeared from Suinin's posession, and found itself on the Island of Ahaji, where it was worshipped and enshrined.

Ame no Hiboko as a representative figure

Michiko Aoki, in her Records of Wind and Earth (pages 15-19) chronicles the disagreements between Ôkuninushi and Ame no Hiboko. She raises the interesting point that Ôkuninushi belonged to the Izumo region, which lies along the Japan Sea side of the archipelago. Ame no Hiboko, the foreign immigrant, came to the region and was denied entrance to the land by the aforementioned diety. However, by means of magic (Ame no Hiboko's powers have already been brought up), he proved to Ôkuninushi that he was not going to flee. The fudoki are filled with occurences of battles between these two deities.

Aoki suggests that the name Ame no Hiboko (Spear of the Heavenly Sun) gives clues to the foreign immigrants' place in early Japan. The people already established in the Izumo region must have had to contend with immigrants who brought with them iron weapons or implements. It is an interesting hypothesis, one that is given much credit by the fact that the Izumo kami are barely mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, as compared to the Kojiki (Cambridge History of Japan).

Records of Wind and Earth. Aoki. Page 201n

Ame no Hihoko and Ashihara no Shikowo [(Ôkuninushi)]: Ame no Hihoko repreents newcomers (immigrants) to this area. Ashihara no Shikowo represents the local people who were already settled there when the newcomers arrived. It is reasonable to interpret this story as a reflection of conflict between the indigenous leadership and an intruding power.

Ame no Hiboko's involvement in place names

Following the order given by Empress Gemmei in 713, fudoki were to note why place names had the name that they did. In the Harima no Kuni Fudoki, Ame no Hiboko is listed as being involved in multiple place name origins.

• Ihibo Woka
• Hamlet of Kahato