Tanuki Den (aka Homepost): Date 20220428 
Tanuki Scroll XXVIII: 橿原神宮について 
I had planned to read some of the origin story about Emperor Jimmu「神武天皇」 today, but ended up reading about the shrine where he was said to have ascended the throne: Kashihara Shrine「橿原神宮」.
Which leads into two problems I’ve been having with reading (well, not really problems, just inconveniences).
- First is trying to Google for things in Japanese. The results page are mostly Chinese, maybe there is some magic secret way to filter Japanese only, but I’m too lazy to find it.
- Second is, while I love reading about all the history stuff, it’s pretty much always too hard for my current level, the stories on Hukumusume on the other hand are a little easy now. I’m in that awkward stage of trying to find some middle-ground material to read.
Anyway, Emperor Jimmu is Japan’s legendary first emperor, while his existence is historically debateable (I mean it’s claimed he lived to 126/127), I always like these origin stories and find them interesting. I suppose it’s a bit like the King Arthur legends, he probably existed as a person at some point and in some form, but his exploits got exaggerated and altered over the years.
Kashihara shrine, located in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, is the place where Emperor Jimmu supposedly ascended the throne in 660BCE.
Japanese found in the tall grass
New Things
絶する「ぜっする」ー To exceed by a lot; to surpass greatly
苦難「くなん」ー Hardship; suffering
天孫「てんそん」ー Descendant of a god
聖徳「せいとく」ー Holy virtue; heavenly virtue
Places
橿原「かしはら」ー Kashihara, Nara prefecture
畝傍山「うねびやま」ー Mt. Unebi
People
瓊瓊杵尊「ににぎのもこと」ー Grandson of Amaterasu and great grandfather of Emperor Jimmu
(there were a lot more historical names in this article, but I got pretty lost with them all)