Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 白猪, White Boar, White Wild Boar
Category: Pig
The Myth
Shiroi, meaning “White Boar,” appears in the Kojiki, an ancient Japanese chronicle, in the legend of Yamato Takeru. After marrying Miyazu-hime, the daughter of the governor of Owari, Yamato Takeru set out to subdue the deity of Mount Ibuki in Ōmi Province. Before departing, he entrusted his divine sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, to his wife, having received it from Princess Yamato-hime of Ise. He intended to confront the mountain deity with his bare hands.
While climbing Mount Ibuki, Yamato Takeru encountered a white boar as large as an ox. He assumed that the animal was merely a messenger of the mountain god and declared that he could kill it on his return rather than stopping to deal with it immediately. However, the boar was actually the mountain deity itself. His careless declaration angered the god, which unleashed a violent storm of rain and hail that overwhelmed Yamato Takeru and caused him to lose consciousness.
When he regained consciousness, Yamato Takeru descended the mountain in a daze until he reached a clear spring at Tamakurabe, where he recovered his senses. The spring became known as the Izame no Shimizu, or “Refreshing Spring.” Having incurred the mountain deity’s wrath, Yamato Takeru fell ill and continued his journey toward Yamato in a weakened state. He eventually collapsed and died at Nobono, in present-day Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, after composing four poems, including one beginning with the famous words “Yamato is the most beautiful of lands.” His spirit then transformed into a great white bird and flew toward the heavens.
The Nihon Shoki, another early Japanese chronicle, also recounts Yamato Takeru’s encounter with the deity of Mount Ibuki, but its version differs: instead of a white boar, the deity appears in the form of a serpent. The contrasting accounts preserve different traditions concerning the divine being that brought about the hero’s downfall.
Sources
“Shiroi.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1073403665.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com