Recognition at the well
Toyotama learns of Hoori when a servant brings a vessel to which his jewel has adhered. She goes out to see him and is delighted; her father then recognizes his heavenly descent and welcomes him into the palace. The marriage produces the alliance that eventually helps Hoori recover the lost fishhook. She is not merely an unnamed reward waiting at the end of that quest.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §40
A request made before exposure
When pregnant, she comes ashore so the child can be born outside the sea realm. Before giving birth she tells Hoori that she will assume her native form and asks him not to watch. He looks anyway, sees a great wani, and reacts with fear. Her subsequent withdrawal responds to a broken agreement. The account does not describe her as having lured him through an undisclosed plan to attack.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §42
Care persists after separation
She closes the passage between the realms and leaves, but later sends a song through Tamayori, who nurses the child. Affection and anger coexist. The continuing genealogy depends on the sea princess even after the household has broken apart. This makes her more than an example of an animal bride whose exposure ends a trick: the story retains her speech, her prior request, and her continued concern for a child across the separation.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §§42–43
- Period / witness
- Kojiki presented in 712 CE; Chamberlain translation 1882. Narrative time is not a historical date.
- Recording context
- Kojiki, a Japanese court compilation attributed to Ō no Yasumaro from material recited by Hieda no Are; cited by Chamberlain’s numbered sections, not asserted as the origin of the tradition.
A recording location is not necessarily a story’s origin. Dates of texts, copies, and translations answer different questions.
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These references support the explanation above. Rights and edition notes are recorded individually.
Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation ↗
Ō no Yasumaro (compiler, as identified in the preface); translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850–1935) · Court compilation presented 712 CE; translation published Yokohama, 1882
Edition & rights note