17. Nihon Shoki I — 17
1Satow and Anderson have noted that the wani is usually represented in art as a dragon, and Toyo-tama-hime (see Index), who in one version of the legend changes into a wani, as her true form, at the moment of child-birth, according to another changes into a dragon. Now Toyo-tama-hime was the daughter of the God of the Sea. This suggests that the latter is one of the Dragon-Kings familiar to Chinese (see Mayers' Manual, p. 142) and Corean fable who inhabit splendid palaces at the bottom of the sea. It is unnecessary here to follow the Dragon-Kings into Indian myth, where they appear under the form of the Nâga Râdja or Cobra-Kings. The reader who wishes to do so should consult Anderson's British Museum Catalogue, p. 50. Chamberlain has remarked that "the whole story of the Sea-God's palace has a Chinese ring about it, and the cassia-tree mentioned in it is certainly Chinese." Is it possible that wani is for the Corean wang-i, i.e. "the King," i being the Corean definite particle, as in zeni, fumi, yagi, and other Chinese words which reached Japan viâ Corea? We have the same change of ng into n in the name of the Corean who taught Chinese to the Japanese Prince Imperial in Ojin Tennō's reign. It is Wang-in in Corean, but was pronounced Wani by the Japanese. Wani occurs several times as a proper name in the "Nihongi." Bear (in Japanese kuma) is no doubt an epithet indicating size, as in kuma-bachi, bear-bee or bear-wasp, i.e. a hornet; kuma-gera, a large kind of wood-pecker, etc.
2Dr. Schlegel in his "Problèmes Géographiques" mentions a Chinese notice of a Han-ming-kuo, the inhabitants of which sew together skins of birds for clothing. He identifies this country with the Kuriles, where modern travellers have found this to be the custom. The bird whose skins are thus used is the Procellaria gracilis (petrel).
3Hirata identifies Sukuna-bikona with Yebisu and Oho-na-mochi with Daikoku. See Anderson's B. M. Catalogue, p. 36. All these identifications, of which Hirata is profuse, are somewhat problematical.