Week 7: Reading B

 The Jewel of Heart's Desire

- the Emperor is sitting strumming his lute and his wife, who was a warrior, said that she couldn't believe that he was related to the famous hero Yamato

-the Empress tells the Emperor that Amaterasu told her in a dream that she would give them the long lost jewel of heart's desire

- the emperor scoffed at that idea, and so Amaterasu showed up and killed him

- the prime-minister had to keep his death a secret so that the Empress could be in charge

- the Empress asked Amaterasu for a sign, cast a line into the sea with a cherry blossom on it, and caught a huge shark

- the Empress asks Amaterasu for help and dives into the sea to get the jewel

- the Empress is decked out in armor and given the Sacred Sword by maidens at the bottom of the sea, and she emerges from the waves as a warrior

-the Empress led the Japanese to Korea to retrieve the jewel of heart's desire, and mermaids helped steer the boat the right way

- when they showed up at Korea, a huge tidal wave followed them, and the Koreans were so intimidated they gave the Japanese the jewel

- right at the end the jewel gets stolen by a dragon

Empress Jingu wielding the Sacred Sword. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Jingū#/media/File:EmpressJinguInKorea.jpg

I really enjoyed this story - it has lots of powerful images and I could picture it all playing out in my mind like a movie! I am partial to a strong female protagonist as well, so I enjoyed Amaterasu helping the Empress become a powerful warrior and wield the Sacred Sword. 

Bibliography: "The Jewel of Heart's Desire,"  Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).