The God of Izumo, Yatsu Kamizu Omitsuno no Mikoto declared, “This young
country is too narrow for my liking. It was made far too small in the first
place, perhaps I can find some more land to truss onto this country and
maybe we can make this place a little bigger.” Thereupon he began his
search, and after inspecting the lands around him he declared, “On the
Korean Peninsula, in the kingdom of Shiragi, there is an unused plot of
land on the coast.” So with that, he tethered a rope to Mount Sanbe in
Shimane and to Mount Daisen in neighboring Tottori and hitched it to the
far off land. As he heaved he began to call out,
“Kuni yo koi! Kuni yo koi!” (Country, come here! Country, come here!).
He heaved the land towards Izumo until he had reached the coastline of
his domain. The new earth became Kodzu and Cape Kizukinomisaki 支豆支;
the rope, Sono no Nagahama Beach.
“Kuni yo koi! Kuni yo koi”
(country come here! country come here!) |
Then, searching for more land, he cast his eye northwards and soon declared,
“To the North, in the country of Saki, I can see a leftover plot of unused
land.” And with that he tethered his rope and began to call out,
 “Kuni yo koi! Kuni yo koi!”
and as he called out he heaved and pulled the land into his domain. He
trussed the lands onto his own, forming the area around Sadakukawa 多久川
that forms Sadaku no Kuni (the area that now contains Hirata City).
Not yet satisfied, the god surveyed the surrounding areas, and after a
while, loudly proclaimed, “To the North, in the Kingdom of Yonami, I see
unused land.” With that, he fastened his rope and, straining and heaving,
once again commanded,
“Kuni yo koi!, Kuni yo koi!”
With this acquisition, he created the Unami area that forms Kurami no Kuni
(The region now forming Matsue City, Kashima-cho, and Shimane-cho).
However, the god still desired more land for his domain and he cast his
eye over the neighbouring kingdoms and declared, “There, in Hokuriku,
on the Tsutsu coast I see a leftover plot of land that lies unused.” And
with that, he once more anchored his rope and began to call out,
“Kuni yo koi! Kuni yo koi!”
He then anchored the lands onto his own, and it became the area of Mihonosaki.
The rope became the Yumigahama Peninsula.
At last, having accomplished the great feat of pulling 4 lands into his
realm, and thus creating present day Shimane Peninsula, Yatsukamizu Omitsuno
no Mikoto was satisfied with its size and could finally relax. He stuck
his staff into the ground at Mori and let out a sigh of relief−“Ohhhhh.”
From that time onwards, the area came to be known as Oh Mori.
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