Tokoyo no Kuni - Tokoyo no Kuni

Japanese: 常世国 - とこよのくに

A foreign land that was said to be beyond the sea, and an eternal and unchanging country. According to the legends of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Sukunabikona, who created the country together with Oonamuchi, crossed over to Tokoyo no Kuni, and Emperor Suinin sent Tajimamori to Tokoyo no Kuni to search for the fruit of the Tokijiku fragrant tree (tangerine). In the poem about Urashima Taro in the Manyoshu, "Watatsumi no Kuni" is expressed as "Tokoyo," and there is also the cliched phrase "A country where the waves of Tokoyo are heavy," which is inseparable from the impression of the ocean.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

海のかなたにあるとされた異郷で，永遠不変の国の意。記紀の伝承では大己貴（おおなむち）とともに国作りした少彦名（すくなびこな）命が常世国に渡ったといい，垂仁天皇は田道間守（たじまもり）を常世国につかわして非時（ときじく）の香（かく）の木の実(橘)を求めさせたなどとある。《万葉集》の浦島子を詠んだ歌には〈ワタツミの国〉を〈トコヨ〉と表現し，〈常世の浪の重浪（しきなみ）よする国〉という常套句もあって，海原の印象と切り離せない。

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

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