Okume no Mikoto - Ookume no Mikoto

Japanese: 大久米命 - おおくめのみこと

The legendary ancestor of the Kume clan who led the Kumebe. In the Nihon Shoki, he is written as Okime. The Kumebe was a military group of the Yamato Imperial Court. According to the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, he accompanied Emperor Jimmu's eastern expedition with Michiomi-no-mikoto, an ancestor of the Otomo clan, and led the successful pacification of Yamato. The battle song Kume-uta, which is said to have been sung at this time, well represents the group's half-farming, half-hunting nature. It later became one of the court songs and dances and was performed during ceremonies. It is a song and dance accompanied by heroic movements that is still performed today at the Imperial Household Agency Music Department. According to the Kojiki, Okume-no-mikoto appealed to the empress before her marriage with a song, mediating her relationship with Emperor Jimmu, indicating that he had the character of a close attendant. He is also said to have had tattoos around his eyes, which suggests the undifferentiated form of kingship in the early period of the war of conquest and the remnants of primitive times.

(Mutsuko Mizoguchi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

久米部を率いた久米氏の伝説上の先祖。『日本書紀』は大来目と表記。久米部は大和朝廷の軍事集団。『古事記』『日本書紀』によると,神武天皇の東征に,大伴氏の先祖道臣命と共に従軍し,大和の平定を成功に導いたとされる。このとき歌われたという戦闘歌久米歌は,この集団の半農半猟的性格をよく表している。のちに宮廷歌舞のひとつとなり,儀式の際に演奏された。現在も宮内庁楽部で行われる勇壮な所作を伴う歌舞である。『古事記』によると,大久米命は結婚前の皇后に歌で呼びかけ,神武天皇との仲をとりもったとあり,近侍的性格をもっていたことを示している。また目のまわりに入れ墨をしていたともあり,初期の征服戦争時代の未分化な王権の形態や,原始の残存をしのばせるものがある。

(溝口睦子)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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