Harima-no-Kuni Fudoki no Sato Kasai （English）
“Harima-no-Kuni Fudoki” has been formed by the orders of the official law on May, 713, which is the early days of the Nara Period. It was compiled in 715 and it was spread to many parts of Japan. Currently, Fudoki only remains in five areas. Those five areas are “Izumo, Hitachi, Hizen, Bunngo, and Harima. “Harima-no-Kuni Fudoki” is Japan’s oldest chorography. It describes the name origin, tradition and the quality of the land. It mentions that people had an abundant life over 1300 years ago. By reading this, you can understand the life, culture, nature, and transportation of this period.
Kasai city is depicted as Kamogunn in the Harima-no-Kuni Fudoki. Kamogunn includes the current Kasai city, Ono city and Kato city. One of the most famous descriptions of Kasai City is the Tamaoka mount tombs’ Nehime story. Currently, there is a Kasai city mascot named Neppy. This Yurukyara Mascot was modeled after Nehime.
Now, I would like to tell you the tale of Nehime.
“Nehime is the daughter of Kuninomiya-tukoma, who rules the valley of Harima-no-Kuni Kamo. One day, she saves two young men’s lives by accident. Nehime falls in love with those two young men. These two young men are in next in line to become the emperor. They’ve proposed to Nehime to marry them; however Nehime cannot leave the valley. Therefore, the two princes returned back to the capital, Nara and became the emperor. The princess seeks to marry Nehime, but Nehime dies right before the marriage. The two princesses became sad and establish a tomb in Kamo for Nehime. They made the tomb in a place where the sun shines all day and night. They have placed precious stones on the surface and created a beautiful tomb.”
This is a sad ending, but Nehime pursued her true love until the end. Currently, Nehime is living in the hearts of the Kasai people.
This tomb is the Tamaoka-Kofun seen in the present time. There are other tombs, such as the Kuwansu-kofun and the Dantozann-kofun placed nearby the Tamaoka Kofun. These tombs were constructed in the begging of the 5th century. All of these tombs are under the maintenance of Tamaoka Shiseki Park. Anyone is welcome to observe the ancient history. Also, the historical finding from the tomb is stored at the buried artifacts maintenance room. Harima-no-kuni Fudoki describes many things about Kasai city. We will establish an information board, so that many visitors can enjoy Kasai from this year.
Please visit Kasai city where it has an interesting and romantic history.
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