Japan: General Tawara Hidesato and the Dragon Princess, from the series '53 Pairings for the Tokaido Road', Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), 1845. The giant centipede Seta is depicted in the top left panel

'My Lord Bag of Rice' or in Japanese Tawara Tōda (俵藤太 'Rice-bag Tōda') is a fairy tale about a hero who kills the giant centipede Seta to help a Japanese dragon princess, and is rewarded in her underwater Ryūgū-jō 龍宮城 'dragon palace castle'.

The 1711 Honchō kwaidan koji 本朝怪談故事 contains the best-known version of this Japanese myth about the warrior Fujiwara no Hidesato. There is a Shinto shrine near the Seta Bridge at Lake Biwa where people worship Tawara Tōda.

Fujiwara no Hidesato (藤原 秀郷?) or Tawara Toda was a kuge (court bureaucrat) of tenth century Heian Japan. He is famous for his military exploits and courage, and is regarded as the common ancestor of the Ōshū branch of the Fujiwara clan, the Yūki, Oyama, and Shimokōbe families.

Hidesato served under Emperor Suzaku, and fought alongside Taira no Sadamori in 940 in suppressing the revolt of Taira no Masakado. His prayer for victory before this battle is commemorated in the Kachiya Festival. Hidesato was then appointed Chinjufu-shogun (Defender of the North) and Governor of Shimotsuke Province.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History

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JAPANESE EMPERORS