Japanese legends in F. Hadland Davis’s English retellings (1912)
Tokoyo and the Sea Serpent
Tokoyo travels towards the Oki Islands to find her banished father, Oribe Shima. After reaching the islands herself, she interrupts the threatened sacrifice of a young woman to the serpent Yofuné-Nushi and takes her place. Beneath the sea she finds a cave containing an image of Hojo Takatoki, the ruler responsible for the exile. She defeats the serpent and brings both its body and the image ashore. In the story’s conclusion, Takatoki recovers from an unexplained illness at the moment the cursed image is restored. Learning who Tokoyo is, he releases her father. Davis explicitly credits R. Gordon Smith’s collection for the legend; its supernatural causation remains part of the tale.
Also known as Tokoyo
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In the sources
A search becomes a rescue
DocumentedTokoyo’s attempt to find her father brings her to the threatened maiden and the serpent’s demand.
An image connects two places
DocumentedThe underwater image links the island adventure with the ruler’s recovery and the lifting of the exile.
Context & interpretation
This entry records “The Slaughter of the Sea Serpent,” not a verified account of a historical sacrifice, disease or magical cure. Tokoyo’s rescue, recovery of the image and family reunion are kept within the same narrative. This entry follows Davis’s historical English retelling, rather than establishing a universal Japanese belief or an independently verified event.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths and Legends of Japan
The Slaughter of the Sea SerpentOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 333
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0361
- Original scan leaf
- 393
- Recorded leaf number
- 393
- Current Reader position
- 360
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths and Legends of Japan
his beautiful daughter TokoyoOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 334
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0362
- Original scan leaf
- 394
- Recorded leaf number
- 394
- Current Reader position
- 361
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 3
Myths and Legends of Japan
a statue of Hojo TakatokiOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 335
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0364
- Original scan leaf
- 397
- Recorded leaf number
- 397
- Current Reader position
- 363
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 4
Myths and Legends of Japan
his own homeOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 336
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0365
- Original scan leaf
- 398
- Recorded leaf number
- 398
- Current Reader position
- 364
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
The Spirit of the Woman’s Sword
A luminous apparition leads fishermen to an abandoned sword, whose recovery resolves a coastal disturbance in Davis’s tale.
Same subject and traditionKato Sayemon’s Renunciation
A palace resident sees jealousy as snakes in his household’s hair, becomes a monk and refuses recognition by his son in Davis’s account.
Same subject and traditionMomotaro, the Peach Boy
A child found inside a peach gathers three animal companions and journeys to free an island’s captives in Davis’s retelling.