Wowake - To separate

… [Yukio Kobayashi]
[Iron Sword Inscription]
During conservation treatment at the Gangoji Cultural Properties Research Institute in Nara in 1978, X-ray photography revealed that a 73.5cm long iron sword, which had been placed on the outside of the left leg of a body found on a boat-shaped river stone bed measuring 5.7m in length and 1.2m at its widest point, had a 115-character inlaid inscription on both sides. The first half of the sword records the genealogy of eight generations from the ancestor Ohohiko to the protagonist of the inscription, Wowake, and the second half of the sword records the sword's history and explains that the sword had been served as the "Head of the Johtojin" (chief of the imperial guard) for generations, but that when the court (temple) of King Wakatakeru was located in Shiki Palace, Wowake helped him rule. The prevailing theory is that the Great King Wakatakeru is Emperor Ohatsuse no Yomu (the Wa no Mu who appears in the Wakokuden in the Song Shu, Emperor Yuryaku), that Shiki Palace is Isono in Yamato, and that the Xinhai year corresponds to the year 471 during his reign.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Wowake" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…【小林 行雄】
［鉄剣銘］
　河原石を用いた全長5.7m，最大幅1.2mの舟形礫床にあった遺体の左脚外側に置かれていた全長73.5cmの鉄剣の表裏に115文字の金象嵌銘文の刻まれていることが，1978年奈良･元興寺文化財研究所における保存処理作業の過程で，X線透過撮影によって判明した。　前半には上祖オホヒコ(意冨比垝)からこの銘文の主人公であるヲワケ(乎獲居)に至る8代の系譜が記され，後半には今まで代々〈杖刀人の首〉(親衛隊の長)として仕えてきたが，ワカタケル(獲加多支鹵)大王の朝廷(寺)がシキ(斯鬼)宮にあるとき，ヲワケがその統治を助けた記念として，この刀を作り来歴を記した旨が刻まれている。ワカタケル大王を大泊瀬幼武天皇(《宋書》倭国伝にみえる倭王武で，雄略天皇)，シキ宮を大和の磯城に当て，辛亥年をその治世の471年に比定する説が有力である。…

※「ヲワケ」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報