Mikoto, saying:—"Do ye each tell me the thing ye would dearly like to have." The elder Prince said:—"I should like to have a bow and arrows." The younger Prince said:—"I should like to have the Imperial Dignity." Thereupon the Emperor commanded, saying:—"Let the desire of each of you be complied with." So a bow and arrows were given to Inishiki no Mikoto, and a decree was addressed to Oho-tarashi hiko no Mikoto, saying:—"Thou must succeed to Our Dignity."
A.D. 3. 32nd year, Autumn, 7th month, 6th day. The Empress Hibasu-hime no Mikoto died.
One version has Hibasu ne no Mikoto.
Some time before the burial, the Emperor commanded his Ministers, saying:—"We have already recognized that the practice of following the dead is not good. What should now be done in performing this burial?" Thereupon Nomi no Sukune came forward and said:—"It is not good to bury living men upright at the tumulus of a prince. How can such a practice be handed down to posterity? I beg leave to propose an expedient which I will submit to Your Majesty." So he sent messengers to summon up from the Land of Idzumo a hundred men of the clay-workers' Be. He himself directed the men of the clay-workers' Be to take clay and form therewith (VI. 20.) shapes of men, horses, and various objects, which he presented to the Emperor, saying:—"Henceforward let it be the law for future ages to substitute things of clay for living men, and to set them up at tumuli." Then the Emperor was greatly rejoiced, and commanded Nomi no Sukune, saying:—"Thy expedient hath greatly pleased Our heart." So the things of clay were first set up at the tomb of Hibasu-hime no Mikoto. And a
funerals of the sovereigns. Before this time five men and five women were put to death at the King's tomb. "Tongkam," v. 5.
Cases of suicide at the tomb of a beloved lord or sovereign have not been uncommon in Japan even in modern times. There was one in 1868.
The Japanese, like the Chinese, make no distinction between voluntary deaths and human sacrifices. Both are called jun-shi, a term which means "following in death." Indeed, as we may see by the Italian Suttee, it is often hard to draw the line between these two forms of what is really the same custom.
