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ZZ XXXX YY, Yayoi Period
My name is Yuiman Asama, Princess of Yuimankoku.
I record these journal entries once every sixty years, at the start of a new cycle.
Today was a splendid day. As per any day within my life, I spent my time graciously and with great freedom, tracking down and hunting many deer amidst my reserves of nature.
I believe it is currently Autumn. The orange of the leaves is a splendid sight to see - falling gracefully amidst my various hunts. Taking in the brisk, cool air of the open world, enjoying nature to its fullest.
As the princess of Yuimankoku, I have many duties to tend to and many to oversee. Many of the other god-humans - hitogami - look to me for guidance. It is my duty to do just that. To give them guidance and someone to follow.
Thus, the responsibility of looking after this land of god-humans lies with me. Yuimankoku is a special place for any to come to, god or human, or god-human, alike. Thusly, it is paradise. It may not be on the same level as the realm of true gods, of Takamagahara, but even so.
Yuimankoku is a land which exists truly for the god-humans to dwell and live upon, it is my dominion. My land, my kingdom, stands on the edge of the land of the gods, but we neighbour the realm of death.
It is a dangerous place, but in spite of it all, we live and we laugh, enjoying merriment day by day, and many of my fellow kin look to me, to take me as an example, and to follow my example through and through. Thus, it is paradise. It is my paradise.
The seasons can be observed here splendidly, it is a fantastic land, full of fantastic people and equally as fantastical nature. It truly is beautiful, I could not have asked for a better home to preside over.
Why, just the other day, about a month ago, my previous wife, Koga Saburo - a god-human of wind, water, and agriculture - had come to me with uncertainty in her mind. She wished to be reunited with her old wife - Princess Kasuga. Of course, I am no stranger to humouring the requests of those around me and live under my rule in Yuimankoku. So, I obliged Koga when it came to her request. Yuimankoku is not a place that discriminates when it comes to love, nor does anybody here look down upon another.
If she wished to be reunited with her old love, then of course I would help her do so. It was quite an eventful experience, and it is quite a long story, but we succeeded in the end, and Koga was happily reunited with Princess Kasuga. Thus, that tale ended, and I felt a celebration was necessary. A festival would be held within Yuimankoku, in honour of Koga who was no longer dwelling in Yuimankoku with us, but in the world of the mortals, with her true love.
However, there was a strange person at the festival I had held in honour of Koga reuniting with her wife. If I had to guess, perhaps they were someone from the realm of the gods, sent to investigate our unusual rowdiness. Of course, we are no stranger to receiving beings from higher realms to our splendid paradise.
I just simply hope that our paradise remains simply that - a paradise, and nothing more, nothing less.
ZZ XXXX YYY, Kofun Period
Another cycle has since passed since my last entry in this journal.
My name is Yuiman Asama, Princess of Yuimankoku.
Much has happened since my last recording. Yuimankoku is growing more and more populated by the day.
Of course, I have enjoyed the splendid festivities and nature that Yuimankoku has offered more and more since my last entry.
It is a humble, perhaps mundane, life, but it is one I live with joy held over my heart. I would not give anything for another life, for I do not want something else.
But, that visitor from sixty years ago, she is truly a remarkable person. I believe she was the daughter of Lord Oyamatsumi, the god of warfare, mountains, and seas. What was her name? Iwanaga? Hm, yes, that was her name.
Ariya Iwanaga was what she identified herself as - she saw the festivities within Yuimankoku and investigated, for it had caught her interest. One thing had led to another, before I knew it, Iwanaga and I had enjoyed countless hunts together within Yuimankoku - she remarked that she had never quite had anything like this before, her father always forbade her from indulging in the world of mortals.
But the world of god-humans - that of Yuimankoku - was open to the gods from above us simple god-humans. That much I am aware of, but rarely do we actually receive visitors from those realms, for the realm of gods is far beyond that of us mere hitogami.
For what purpose would the pristine, highest gods of Takamagahara have for even approaching us lowly god-humans? We are only one step above the average mortal, made by Lord Izanagi, but we are all still children of Lord Izanagi and Lady Izanami. That much I am certain of, so why must we be treated so differently?
It is a… hm. It is a very complicated thought process. But, there is nothing that I cannot understand from it. Complicated it may be, incomprehensible it is not. Ah, yes, that reminds me.
Lady Iwanaga - though she much prefers it that I call her simply Iwanaga, a commemoration of our blossoming kinship - is a very intriguing woman. Despite being from the realm of the highest gods, she still enjoys plenty with us god-humans. So much so, we have actually ventured to the world of mortals time and time again, within the mountain ranges of Mt. Asama. That mountain… is where I once lived, before becoming a god-human and reigning over Yuimankoku.
She had told me she was planning to make her home at a shrine within the mortal world, at a sanctuary of some sort, away from the prying eyes of both her father Lord Oyamatsumi and the rest of Takamagahara. I think it's a splendid idea - living and residing upon the world where nature can truly run rampant sounds lovely. It must be fantastic to view the world around you as it comes to one's self, with the cold but refreshing air blowing through one's own hair and onto one's face, cleansing their mind for the day ahead, as the sun, provided by Lady Amaterasu Omikami, shines down and warms one's soul, refreshing their vigour and vitality.
But it would get awfully lonely, which Lady Iwanaga did consider. So, she offered that I join her in unchanging eternity - teaching me that god-humans, just like gods, can be enshrined and deified in several places at once, and that some gods are not afraid of mingling with god-humans. I am astounded that someone of her status thinks so highly of someone like I. I have no idea what her father might say if he ever found out, as mysterious as Lord Oyamatsumi is.
So, perhaps, that is what I shall do. I have agreed to be enshrined alongside Lady Iwanaga, so that we may live together and thrive amongst nature, even in an impure world.
By the by, I found quite an adorable white snake before we left Yuimankoku for the mortal world. I have opted to take it in and raise it as a pet, with Lady Iwanaga's permission. It shall be named Toko. Such was what Lady Iwanaga wished to name it, though Toko shall always stay coiled around me when she wishes, it is both the pet of Lady Iwanaga and I.
I hope this will be the start of quite a fascinating and enjoyable new life. Enshrined together with Lady Iwanaga, I…
…Well, it gives me quite a lot to think about, I believe. Lady Iwanaga truly is graceful, much about her is admirable, and even though many are repulsed by her appearance, I do not feel similarly. She is beautiful in her own way, stone can be carved, and it is not what is on the surface that matters.
I believe I can prove that, with enough time.
ZZ XXXX YYY, Kofun Period
It has been yet another cycle, hasn't it…
My name is Yuiman Asama, Princess of Yuimankoku and presently enshrined alongside Lady Iwanaga.
Living with Lady Iwanaga is most enjoyable. I have enjoyed our time together, a lot can happen within sixty years. We had built and developed our own shrine. Most interestingly, Lady Iwanaga said it could be in the shape of my own mountain - from when I previously lived on Mt. Asama.
Thus, we toiled and worked endlessly for days, weeks, months, and even years. But eventually, by now, we had made it. We had made our shrine into something much more beautiful, and now, it will be called Mt. Asama Joue, now that all of our hard work has concluded.
It is a splendid place, beautiful too. Even though it towers above all else around it, the inside of the shrine itself is lovely. It embodies the nature I have come to love and has many visages and paintings of the scenery I am used to in all seasons. It is a wonderful place to live, especially alongside Lady Iwanaga. I have never been happier.
Though, if I had one qualm, I do miss the deer-hunting in Yuimankoku. But Lady Iwanaga said that we could still hunt deer in the mortal realm, so I suppose that is fine.
…I just hope that I can still throw arrows at them as well as I could in Yuimankoku. Hopefully not much is different in that regard.
However, recently, we did have a strange visitor accompanied by people that seemed to be rabbits, identifying themselves as people of Takamagahara. Lady Iwanaga did not seem to trust them and turned them away, acting oddly hostile, but… I am worried. What if those people come back? What if they do something? How did they even find our shrine, when it is in the world of mortals, the place where the gods dare not venture usually?
I can only hope that nothing bad is to come of this. I can only hope that Yuimankoku is unharmed in my absence. I can only hope that…
…
…hm. Come to think of it, my snake, Toki, has been acting a lot more bizarre than usual. I can only hope that nothing bad will come of it. Thus concludes this cycle's journal entry.
ZZ XXXX YYY, Asuka Period
My name is Yuiman Asama, Princess of… hm. I believe I was a princess of something, but I believe I've seem to have… forgotten. Odd. It feels like I should know what I was a princess of, but…
If I forgot, then perhaps it is not important… but perhaps I should consult Lady Iwanaga about it. Perhaps she would know.
Ah, that is besides the point. It is a new period in the world of mortals. Thus, it is appropriate that I update my journal accordingly, is it not?
Hmm. Those strange people came by again and…
…Come to think of it, I have not seen Lady Iwanaga for a while. I remember her saying that she was off on an errand, but I have not seen her since.
But those people returned again whilst she was not here. Again, they identified themselves as gods from Takamagahara and requested that I cooperate with them. Unlike Lady Iwanaga, who was unusually hostile to them, I…
…I do not feel the same way. Therefore, I have no reason to deny the request… and I accepted their request. Their request was… was to…
…what was their request? I remember them telling me what it was they wished me to do, then they gave me something that…
…resembled my pet snake. Toki. But… It was like an accessory of sorts that I was to wear at all times. It bore a striking resemblance to the pet serpent which Lady Iwanaga and I had raised together, but… it was distinctly clothing-based. What was odd, it definitely did feel similar to when Toki would coil around my body and remain there for a period of time, like she was protective of me…
…How… How odd. I must be imagining things, surely. But… why can I not recall what it is they wanted me to do exactly? It was so recent as well, but… no matter how hard I try to think of it, my mind only returns blank information. How… How unusual. But… no, I do know what else they did. They stated that the shrine that Lady Iwanaga and I shared was to be used as a… form of 'impurity removal'. Whatever that meant.
I do not quite know what they intended by calling it that, but they said that accessory they gave me, the serpent-like accessory, was capable of cleansing impurity and reducing it to something utterly harmless. I don't know how impurity could even be harmful to begin with, but so long as I fed it to the accessory, it would be filtered and reduced to nothing, made utterly harmless.
Come to think of it, there has been an odd amount of impurity gathering around the shrine. Perhaps I'll start by cleansing the impurities here first, before I do anything else.
I just hope that the home Lady Iwanaga and I share stays as lovely as it has been.
ZZ XXXX YYY, Asuka Period
It has been yet another cycle.
My name is Yuiman Asama. I live to clean out the impurity that gathers within Mt. Asama Joue. Looking back on this diary, I talked a lot about various things, but…
…maybe I was imagining a lot of it. I don't recall anyone named Lady Iwanaga, I boldly claimed myself to be the Princess of Yuimankoku, but perhaps I was just hallucinating most of, if not all of that, because I have no recollection in my mind of such things.
Who even is Lady Iwanaga, anyway? She clearly must have been someone important in my delusional stupor. Perhaps she was just an imaginary friend that I had thought up in my confusion - one that I had grown quite attached to. But, now, I realise that she might not have been real at all.
Perhaps once I did have a pet snake, but this new snake I wear fits the same purpose as the old one, only this time, it is a much lesser hassle to take care of it.
Instead, there is someone who manages and oversees my work within Mt. Asama Joue. I regularly cleanse the impurities that enter this facility and cleanse it through and through, so that it may do no harm, and her purpose here is to make sure that I am working well.
At the very least, I remembered what it was those people wished for me to do. They are gods from Takamagahara who had moved to the Moon, forming a place called the Lunar Capital. What they wished me to do was simple, and something I am happy to oblige in, as it is a peaceful life free from strife.
I can still enjoy the great scenery within Mt. Asama Joue as well. Truly, this life is paradise. Even though I now hold the same divinity as those same gods, no longer a mere ordinary god-human, they still keep me here working.
But I do not mind staying here. It is better than the Lunar Capital. I can still enjoy the view of the four seasons and the nature of my homeland. Hm, but, perhaps they prepared these sights for me as well. They truly are thoughtful.
It is better to not think too much of it though. For what purpose does a person like me need to think? I have everything I could ever want right here.
Right here in Mt. Asama Joue. My paradise, now and forevermore, unchanging in nature.
May the Lunar Capital prosper with my hard work.
…
…unchanging…? Why does that word…
…
No. No it is nothing. I… hrm. But it is odd. Unchanging… Why does that word make me feel like I'm dearly forgetting something…?
…
…perhaps it will come to me eventually.
In any case… This is to be my life from now on, for the rest of these sixty-year cycles. Again, may the Lunar Capital prosper with my hard work.
Now and forevermore.