4 Ancient and Medieval Hachijojima
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The Legend of Xu Fu of Qin
This is a legend belonging to the continental Chinese culture, in which the first emperor of Qin, seeking the elixir of life, sent the alchemist Xu Fu to the east. When it could not be found, the ship carrying 500 young girls drifted to Hachijojima, and the ship carrying 500 young boys drifted to Aogashima. It is said that if men and women lived together, they would be cursed by the sea god, so once a year the men would come to Hachijojima to form a bond. This legend is said to have been spread by the adventure novel of Takizawa Bakin (a late Edo period author of popular fiction).
Xu Fu on a voyage in search of the elixir of life (painting by Utagawa Kuniyoshi)
Picture of Xu Fu reaching Mount Horai in the Eastern Sea, collection of the Ota Memorial Museum of Art
Hachijojima has three legends about the origin of the island, with different roots: continental Chinese culture, mainland Japanese culture, and southern culture. Although all are legends, they show that the culture of Hachijojima was influenced by a wide range of regions, including the mainland, China, and the south, due to its geographical characteristics.
The Legend of Princess Yasoyae
The Izu Islands, located on an oceanic plate, have long been a site of frequent eruptions and mountain-building activity, which people considered to be the work of the gods and worshipped as the Mishima Deity. Even today, there are many shrines dedicated to the Mishima Deity, his consorts, and his children on the Izu Peninsula and the Izu Islands. The Mishima Deity dies on Miyakejima, but one of his eight consorts, Princess Yasoyae, crosses to Hachijojima and gives birth to Kohomaru, and the two become the ancestors of Hachijojima and bring prosperity to the island. Ubai-Homei Shrine enshrines the two deities, Princess Yasoyae (Ubai no Okami) and her son, Kohomaru (Homei no Kami), and houses a wooden seated goddess statue (Princess Yasoyae) dedicated by Okuyama Sorin during his rule of Hachijojima.
The Legend of Tanaba
This is a legend of mother-child union, with a woman named "Tana" and her child as the ancestors, a legend with no other example in Japan. Long ago, all the islanders were swept away by a great tsunami, and only she, a pregnant woman, survived. She then increased the population with the child she gave birth to. This legend is noteworthy as one of the types of southern origin legends widely recognized in the Western Pacific. However, in the first document to record this legend, "Mukashi no Itoshima Banashi," the child born is a girl.