Paper short abstract:

I argue that two key words in the understanding of the representation of topographical borders in the ancient period were hashi and saka. In my paper I trace the historical evolution of the word hashi as a type of boundary and show how and why it underwent various changes during its history.

Paper long abstract:

The Umisachi/Yamasachi legend in the Nihon shoki tells about the marriage between the heavenly god Hoori and the daughter of the sea god, Toyotamabime. Toyotamabime goes on land for childbirth, accompanied by heavy wind and waves. This expression may have been used to portray Toyotamabime as the mighty daughter of the sea god. However, in the Hikohohodemi no mikoto emaki, believed to have been produced during the late Heian period, Toyotamabime is portrayed as arriving on land via a "bridge" connecting the two worlds.

Why did such a change occur? During ancient times, the word "hashi" was not only used to refer to horizontal bridges (橋), connecting the banks of a river, but also to vertical bridges, i.e. ladders (梯子). The word hashi appears in the "Amanohashidate" anecdote in the surviving fragments of the Tango fudoki, the "Yasohashi" anecdote in the Harima fudoki, and poem 13:3245 in the Man'yōshū, which expresses the desire for a "heavenly bridge" (amahashi) that leads to the moon. These are mostly of the vertical ladder type, a majority of which connect heaven and earth. There are almost no examples of the horizontal hashi .

In fact, during ancient times, the word used to indicate boundaries is saka. For example, in the Nihon shoki, "Yomotsu hirasaka" serves as the boundary between the Ashihara no nakatsu kuni and Yomi no kuni. In Man'yōshū 9:1740, "Poem Composed on Mizue no Urashimako," the other world that Urashimako arrives at is also called unasaka. Thus, unlike its modern counterpart (which means "slope"), during ancient times, the word saka was used to indicate boundaries (sakai), not necessarily slopes, and a place where one receives divine messages.

However, from the Heian period onward, the horizontal hashi came to be used to indicate the boundary with another world, such as the Maiden of Uji Bridge in the poem Kokinshū 14:689. In my paper I trace the historical evolution of the word hashi as a type of boundary and show how and why it underwent various changes during its history.