Episode 6The Hare Who Bragged One Shark Too SoonThe White Hare of Inaba
Episode 6. A hare crosses the sea by hopping along a line of wani (sharks), counting their backs as he goes. Then, one step from shore, he says one word too many and loses his whole coat. The Eighty Brothers give him a fake cure that leaves him in agony, and the one who saves him is their youngest brother, Onamuji, who walks at the very back carrying everyone's bags. When the princess spots yellow pollen and white fur on his sleeve, her choice is clear…
The White Hare of Inaba Explained: Kojiki Myth of Onamuji
The White Hare of Inaba: The Original Myth
The White Hare of Inaba (Inaba no Shirousagi) is one of the best-known stories in the Kojiki, Japan's oldest surviving chronicle, compiled by Ō no Yasumaro and presented in 712. It opens the section about Okuninushi, the great god of the land, who has several names. In this episode he is called Onamuji. He had a crowd of brothers called the Yasokami, the "Eighty Gods" ("eighty" here just means "very many"). The Kojiki says that in the end they all gave up the land to him, and it tells the hare story to explain how that began.
Each of the brothers wanted to marry Yakami-hime, a princess of Inaba. They travelled there together and made Onamuji come along as their servant, carrying their bag. At Cape Keta they found a hare lying on the ground with no fur. The brothers told it to bathe in seawater and then lie on a high ridge in the wind. As the salt dried, the hare's skin cracked all over, and it lay there crying in pain.
Onamuji came along last and asked why it was crying. The hare explained. It had been on the island of Oki and had no way to cross to the mainland. So it tricked the wani of the sea. It suggested a contest to see whose family was bigger: if the wani lined up from the island to Cape Keta, the hare would count them as it hopped across their backs. The wani lined up, and the hare crossed, counting as it went. But just before it reached land, it told them they had been fooled. The wani at the very end of the line grabbed it and stripped off all its fur. Then the brothers' advice made its injuries much worse.
Onamuji told the hare to go to the river mouth at once, wash in the water there, scatter the gama (cattail) flowers that grew there, and roll in them. The hare did as he said, and its body healed. The narrator adds that this is the White Hare of Inaba, now worshipped as the Hare God. The hare then told Onamuji that the brothers would never win the princess, and that he would, even though he was the one carrying the bag. Yakami-hime told the brothers she would not listen to them and would marry Onamuji instead. Furious, the brothers plotted to kill him, which leads into the next chapter of the myth.
Main Characters
Onamuji, later known as Okuninushi, is the hero. The Kojiki's family tree makes him a sixth-generation descendant of Susanoo, the storm god. (In the main text of the Nihon Shoki, another early chronicle, he is Susanoo's son, so the two sources disagree.) The Kojiki never describes how he looks, how old he is, or what kind of personality he has. It does not even say he is the youngest brother, although that is how the story is usually told. The Eighty Brothers have no individual names. Yakami-hime gets only one line in the text, but it is her own clear choice.
What the Myth Tells Us
The story makes a simple point that people still feel today: the brother treated like a servant turns out to be the one who deserves to win. The brothers give harmful advice, while Onamuji asks what happened and knows a cure that really works. The Kojiki never explains why the brothers gave their advice. It only records what they said. The hare is not a simple villain either. It is punished for its trick, saved by kindness, and finally honored as a god.
Some details have more than one reading. The text never describes the wani. Many readers take them to be sharks, since wani means "shark" in the local dialect of the San'in region, while others picture crocodiles. Cape Keta is traditionally placed near Hakuto Beach in Tottori Prefecture. Oki is usually taken to be the Oki Islands, though some say it was a small island near the shore. The "shiro" in the hare's name is usually read as "white," but the character may also mean "bare." Most scholars think the gama flowers were cattail pollen, a traditional remedy for wounds, and that the water at the river mouth was fresh water rather than salt water. The text itself says neither.
What the Manga Changed
Throughout the series, the manga draws the wani as crocodile-like sea beasts. The Kojiki uses the same word, wani, for the true form of Toyotama-hime in a later story, so drawing them the same way keeps the series consistent. How many wani there are, how big they are, and the fact that they can talk were all chosen by the manga.
The hare's "one word too many" is also the manga's choice. The Kojiki says only that the hare spoke, not whether it was boasting or let the words slip. The brothers' personalities and the reason they mislead the hare were invented for the manga. So was Onamuji walking at the very back with everyone's bags. In the original he carries a bag and arrives last, but the text gives no reason for either.
The biggest addition is the princess noticing yellow pollen and white fur on Onamuji's sleeve. In the Kojiki, Onamuji only tells the hare what to do, and the hare treats itself. Yakami-hime simply gives her answer, with no scene showing how she makes up her mind. The manga adds this visual clue so readers can see why she chooses him.
Where to Read It
You can read this story in Episode 6 of KOJIKI: Chronicle of the Gods here on Manga Portal. It follows the order of events in the Kojiki and adds its own staging and characters where the original text is silent. Every episode is free to read, with no sign-up, so you can go back to the earlier stories of Izanagi, Izanami, and Susanoo, or read on to find out what the angry brothers do to Onamuji next.
Characters in this episode
Onamuji (Okuninushi)
The hero of this episode: the brother made to carry the bag, who helps the injured hare and later becomes Okuninushi, the great god of the land.
The White Hare of Inaba
A clever hare that tricks the wani to cross the sea, loses its fur, is healed by Onamuji, and is later worshipped as the Hare God.
The Eighty Brothers (Yasokami)
Onamuji's many brothers, all hoping to marry Princess Yakami, who give the hare harmful advice and plot against Onamuji when the princess turns them down.
The Wani
A clan of sea creatures, often understood as sharks, that the hare tricks into forming a bridge across the sea.
Princess Yakami (Yakami-hime)
A princess of Inaba whom all the brothers want to marry, and who chooses Onamuji instead.
FAQ
What is the story of the White Hare of Inaba?
It is a myth from the Kojiki (712). A hare tricks a line of wani into letting it cross the sea on their backs and loses its fur as punishment. The Eighty Brothers make its injuries worse, but their brother Onamuji tells it how to heal, and Princess Yakami chooses Onamuji as her husband.
Were the wani in the White Hare story sharks or crocodiles?
The Kojiki never describes them. Many people think they were sharks, because wani means "shark" in the local San'in dialect, while others imagine crocodiles or crocodile-like sea creatures.
Is Onamuji the same as Okuninushi?
Yes. The Kojiki gives Okuninushi several names, and Onamuji is the one used in this episode. He later becomes the great god who rules and builds the land.
How did the hare heal its skin?
Onamuji told it to wash in the water at a river mouth and roll in gama flowers scattered on the ground. They are usually understood to be cattail pollen, a traditional remedy for wounds, though the Kojiki itself doesn't explain this.
Where does the White Hare of Inaba take place?
Inaba was a province in what is now Tottori Prefecture. Cape Keta is traditionally placed near Hakuto Beach, and Oki is usually taken to be the Oki Islands, though some think it was a small island near the coast.
