Chapter 5 - Gaiden - The Snake and the Mountain

Finally getting all these translation attempts up and organized. Here is the history of the Yamajijin. I'm nowhere near fluent in Japanese, so sorry for any mistakes in translation, and for the very awkward sounding English especially in older attempts.

Yamajijin

Around BC 800, the highest mountain rising in the north of Aria Te’laria on the Eijeek continent, Mt.Mifushi, had a large eruption. It is said that the origin of those called the Yamajijin people began from here. Apart from that as well, it can be traced back about 200 years. From the western continent Garukia, some of the Humina arrived at the continent of Eijeek.
They have been said to have been the people who lived at Garukia continent’s western edge fjord area.
At first when they reached the Eijeek continent, it seems they settled from Amateri Forest through Junabaru plain. They had lived at Amateri Forest and traces can be seen, from below layers of volcanic ash in the ground, many have been unearthed.

Eventually, they were divided into those flowing to the north, and those flowing to the south.
Thus, due to Mt.Mifushi’s large eruption, many people became victims, and due to the disaster of the eruption, the people of the north and south were completely divided.

At the time around 300 years after Mt.Mifushi’s large eruption, among the northern people, leaders appeared.
Ame no Uzume- in later written Masinowa’s mythology, written down as/remembered as Kunitsu Himemiko, has been worshipped as a god.
She is said to be able to hear the voice of nature, has come to a mutual understanding with the one who caused the eruption, Mt.Mifushi’s incarnation “Omifushisama”- was a medium (Kannagi).
Is the archetypal miko of Masinowa.

In mythology, Omifushisama and Ame no Uzume went beyond the relationship of God and human, it is told that it was deep love. Yamajijin elders tell, a large eruption does not happen again like that is Ame no Uzume and Omifushisama’s relationship,
At the top of Mt.Mifushi, it is told the beautiful metal that can be seen, Apoitakara , is what Omifushisama is thought to have presented to Ame no Uzume.

The northern people followed Ame no Uzume, came to reside in the vicinity of Mt.Mifushi’s surrounding mountainous area. The soil at the foot of the mountain is rich, harvesting a crop was easy, they were farming there.
Ame no Uzume taught the people the concept of various everyday sins and impurity.
Unsanitary things, hideous things, death, loss of people and animals due to pests, and so forth.
Since commonly accepted idea “mahoshikarazumono” is distant from “kegare”, preached that should never be exposed in front of Omifushisama.

For the sake of Ame no Uzume governing the people, “kegare” was the meaning of a ritual carried out and was considered an opportunity to enhance the mystique.
This concept of sin and impurity in a flash permeated into people’s lives.
Strong fear towards natural phenomenon such as eruptions, enclosed space, Ame no Uzume’s powerful mesmerizing nature and sophisticated speech and rituals was found to strongly affect people’s psychology and fundamental principles.

Ame no Uzume is said to have lived long, and seemed to have a tremendous impact on the mountain people.
After her death, she seems to have been grandly enshrined, in the vicinity of Mt.Mifushi from the remains of the great shrine how worshipped able to be understood.
Scattered throughout Masinowa, Kunihime no yashiro(shrine to Kunihime), in later times from this shrine, there are bunrei sprits. (division of a shrine's tutelary deity, in order to share it with another shrine; spirit divided in such a manner- see Shinto encylopedia)
And thus, this great founding miko’s lineage for generations becomes the mountain god’s miko,
Would for a long time become the top of the ruling structure of Masinowa.

After about 250 years had passed since Ame no Uzume’s death, a sudden serious famine/bad crop hit the Yamajijin settlement.
The miko at that time, Hare no Itoyo performed as a medium to Omifushisama like the following oracles had received. (???)

-The calamity’s main cause was due to the existence of “people who become unclean”. Without purifying impurity, no way to live. -

Due to this, the Yamajijin for the first time would be conscious of events outside the range of their own society.
They, in accordance with Hare no Itoyo, searched for the people who become unclean, descended the mountain.

However, there is a possibility that this oracle was acting at the discretion of Hare no Itoyo.
That is to say because increasing number of people, increasing number of settlements, as there is social and cultural development, then Ame no Uzume’s teachings of impurity gradually in people’s lives became irrational, burden to the Miko’s ritual and so forth, becoming a problem era.

Hare no Itoyo had foresight, was said to have been a wise person.
Likely she, after this, was thinking it was necessary to have a social structure that incorporates a ruled over people to support the nation’s principles.
To rule the yet unseen people who become unclean, they were deeply concerned with “Mahoshikarazumono” (?) so the Yamajijin completely separated themselves from impurity in their everyday life,
By creating a ruling structure, seems to have thought they were trying to build a society of higher national consciousness.
May have earlier sensed that already at the place where they descended the mountain there were people who could be ruled over.

Found settlements scattered throughout the plains, Hare no Itoyo and the Yamajijin who joined up with these saw that all the people in these settlements had a birthmark like a snake on their backs, this for sure was the “people who become unclean”.
This community’s people who knew nothing were helpless to the Yamajijin who suddenly attacked, but there was no way to live but to obey.

This community’s people are snake-god people- the Kagachijin.
The difference in power of the Kagachijin and Yamajijin seems to have been Apoitakara.
Apoitakara was from early on refined, compared with the Yamajijin who possessed tough armor, the Kagachijin civilization was very low.
This is, there is a wealth of resources around their residence as well but above all destroyed in the ancient war, by the southern Dalisian land’s race the Gadena, that in the past there had been genocide, culture was considerably without development, was a big thing.(???)

The “people who become unclean” Kagachijin put under the control of the Yamajijin dwelled in a segregated location that doesn’t enter the eye of Omifushisama, allowed to purify the impurity.
This structure, over time, became stronger/more firm.

BC 182. Country centered around Ame no Uzume’s decedent’s Toyo no Himemiko, Shinkoku Masinowa is founded.
Toyo no Himemiko is considered Tenjin no Ko, becomes sign of country’s house.
Thus, from the first Tenjin no Ko Toyo no Himemiko until the mysterious death that was carried out with the 15th, Kunue no Himemiko, people who descend from Ame no Uzume’s blood at the top Yamajijin country was formed.

This is the encyclopedia I was talking about- It also has information on the mitama mentioned in the drama cd- http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=1476

I still have no idea what "mahoshikarazumono" refers to, it was written entirely in hiragana, I'm going to try and figure it out...


I also have the information on kagachijin, but as it was literally the 2nd thing I attempted to translate, it's especially bad, so i'm going to edit it a bit before I post it here.

Corrected an old error of mine, the chapter's actual title is not Gaiden (which is the Japanese term for tale, or side story). It also belongs somewhere around chapter 5, not chapter 7. Whoops! XD