Princess Matsuura Sayohime

A legendary figure. He appears in the Man'yoshu as early as the 19th century. When Otomo no Satehiko (Sadehiko) set off as an envoy to a foreign land, his wife Matsuura Sayohime was saddened by their separation and waved her hire (a white cloth draped from the neck to the shoulders and hanging down on both sides) on top of a high mountain, so the mountain is said to be called "Hirefuri no Mine" (ridge of the hire-furi). The article on Emperor Senka's second year (537) in the Nihon Shoki states that Otomo no Satehiko (Sadehiko) was dispatched to Mimana by order of the Imperial Court, but there is no mention of Sayo-hime. This legend developed in the Hizen region, and appears in the Nara period "Hizen no Kuni Fudoki" as a tale of "Hirefuri no Mine" in Matsuura County, telling the story of Otomo no Muraji and Otohihimeko. After separating from her husband, Otohimeko is visited by a man who resembles her husband. She ties a hemp thread to the hem of the man's kimono, and when she follows it, it turns out to be a snake in the swamp at the top of the mountain. Otohimeko enters the swamp and dies, and her grave is still there today. It is a tale of the Odamaki version of the old tale "Snake Bride."

Matsuura Sayohime was also a popular figure in medieval literature, and in stories such as the sekkyo joruri story "Matsuura Choja," Matsuura Choja's daughter, Sayohime, appears as a woman offered as a sacrifice to a giant snake. This is likely a variation of legends such as those in the Hizen no Kuni Fudoki. In the Oku-joruri of the Tohoku region, this story is told and spread as the "original location of Chikubu Island," and in Iwate Prefecture and other areas, the tale of Sayohime being offered as a human sacrifice to a giant snake has become a legend.

Mount Hirefuri is said to be Mount Kagami in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, and there are legends related to Sayohime in the surrounding area. At the top of the mountain is the Sodekakematsu (also known as Sayohimematsu), where Sayohime is said to have hung her sleeves when they parted, and in the upper reaches of the Matsuura River there is a large rock called Sayohimeiwa (also known as Matsuuraiwa), in the river, where it is said the princess jumped off Mount Hirefuri and there is a depression in the rock called a footprint. The old name of Yobuko Bay in Yobuko Town, Karatsu City, is Yobuna no Ura, which is said to come from the fact that the princess called out her husband's name here. Sayohime Shrine, a branch shrine of Tajima Shrine in Kabe Island in the same city, enshrines the princess, and in the small shrine there is the Bofu stone, where the princess is said to have cried her heart out. Tachiiwa in Yamashiro Town, Imari City, is said to be the place where the princess's body washed ashore in a dugout boat, and there is Sayohime Shrine, which enshrines her. There is also a mound where the princess is said to have been buried, on the rice field ridge between the shrine and Uranosaki Station. The shrine is known as a treasure, as is a Korean ware jar, which is said to have been used by Otomo no Satehiko, who filled it with sacred offerings, after returning to Japan. In the Hizen region and northern Kyushu, the god of the road ("Sae no Kami") is called Sayo no Kami, and is said to be the god who was buried and enshrined there.

[Yo Kojima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

伝説上の人物。古くは『万葉集』にみえる。大伴佐提比古(おおとものさてひこ／さでひこ)が異国へ使者として旅立つとき、妻の松浦佐用比売(さよひめ)が別れを悲しみ、高い山の上で領巾(ひれ)（首から肩に掛けて左右に垂らす白い布）を振って別れを惜しんだので、その山を「領巾麾(ひれふり)の嶺(みね)」とよぶと伝える。大伴狭手彦(さてひこ／さでひこ)が朝廷の命で任那(みまな)に派遣されたことは『日本書紀』の宣化(せんか)天皇2年（537）条にみえるが、佐用姫の伝えはない。肥前(ひぜん)地方で発達した伝説で、奈良時代の『肥前国風土記(ふどき)』にも、松浦(まつら)郡の「褶振(ひれふり)の峯(みね)」の伝えとしてみえるが、大伴狭手彦連(むらじ)と弟日姫子(おとひひめこ)の物語になっている。夫に別れたのち、弟日姫子のもとに、夫に似た男が通ってくる。男の着物の裾(すそ)に麻糸をつけておき、それをたどると、峯の頂の沼の蛇であった。弟日姫子は沼に入って死に、その墓がいまもある、とある。昔話の「蛇婿入り」のおだまき型の話になっている。

　松浦佐用姫は中世の文学でも人気のあった人物で、説経浄瑠璃(じょうるり)の「松浦長者」などの語物のなかでは、松浦長者の娘さよ姫は、大蛇の生贄(いけにえ)に捧(ささ)げられる女として登場する。『肥前国風土記』の伝説などからの転化であろう。東北地方の奥浄瑠璃では「竹生(ちくぶ)島の本地」となって語り広められ、岩手県などでは佐用姫を大蛇の人身御供(ひとみごくう)にする物語が伝説になっている。

　領巾振(ひれふり)山は佐賀県唐津(からつ)市の鏡山のこととされ、その周辺には佐用姫にちなむ伝説が残っている。別れのとき佐用姫が袖(そで)を掛けたという袖掛松（別名、佐用姫松）が山頂にあるほか、松浦川上流には佐用姫岩（別名、松浦岩）という大きな岩が川の中にあり、姫は領巾振山からここに飛び降りたといい、その岩には足跡というくぼみがある。唐津市呼子(よぶこ)町の呼子の浦の古名を呼名(よぶな)の浦というのは、姫がここで夫の名を呼んだのに由来すると伝える。同市加部(かべ)島にある田島神社の末社の佐与姫神社は姫を祭神とし、祠(ほこら)には姫が泣きあかしたという望夫(ぼうふ)石がある。また、伊万里市山代(やましろ)町立岩(たちいわ)は、姫の死骸(しがい)が丸木船に乗って漂着した所といい、姫を祀(まつ)る佐代姫神社がある。神社と浦ノ崎駅の中間の田の畦(あぜ)には、姫を葬ったという塚もあった。神社には、帰国した大伴狭手彦が神饌(しんせん)を盛って供えたという高麗(こうらい)焼の壺(つぼ)が、宝物として伝わっている。なお、肥前地方をはじめ、九州北部では道祖神（「塞神(さえのかみ)」）をサヨの神(かん)といい、松浦佐用姫を葬って祀った神であると伝える。

［小島瓔］

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