MIZUMAKI'S FOLK TALES
THE STORY OF THE KINUTA PRINCESS
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MIZUMAKI'S FOLK TALES
There are dozens of legends and folk tales that have been transmitted over the years in the area of Mizumaki. This is a summary of "the Kinuta Princess," Mizumaki's most famous folk tale. |
THE STORY OF THE KINUTA PRINCESS 
Long ago, during the battles between the Yamato Imperial Court and the Kumaso factions, the Yamato imperial warrior Mikoto entered the Onga River during his journey to Kyushu and camped in the Tateyashiki area to rest after his long journey. As Mikoto walked along the bank of the river, he heard the sound of someone pounding a wooden block used to wash clothing, called kinuta.
Following the sound of the pounding, he peered through some bushes and saw an old house. Mikoto peered quietly inside, and he saw a beautiful young woman, beating rhythmically against the wooden block. He was intrigued and called out to the young woman.
The woman told him that she was known as the Kinuta Princess, and that she had earlier lived in the capital as a servant of the imperial court, but that she had left the capital and was now living quietly in this area.
Mikoto pitied her, but as she took care of him during his stay, the two fell in love.
When his battle with the Kumaso faction ended, Mikoto returned to Tateyashiki and spent many happy days with the princess until, one day, he received news of a battle in Ezo (present-day Hokkaido), and that he must return to the capital. Thus ended the short, but happy days he spent with the young woman.
 As a symbol of his love with the young princess, Mikoto planted a gingko tree before returning to the capital. That tree is now known as the giant gingko tree of Yatsurugi Shinto Shrine and still stands in Mizumaki.
Shortly after Mikoto's departure, Princess Kinuta gave birth to the Kinuta Prince. She gave the love she felt for Mikoto to her new son. The gingko tree grew tall and strong, with several knobs that resemble a mother's nipple. The legend grew among the villages nearby Tateyashiki that if a mother crushed some of the bark from the tree into a drink, she would produce plentiful breast milk. Soon many young mothers began coming to obtain bark from the tree.
On returning home from the battle of Ezo, the warrior Mikoto died in the province of Ise, but the house where he lived in Tateyashiki became a shrine, and today it is known as the site of the present-day Yatsurugi Shrine. |
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