She recalled the words from her mother’s story, and repeated them to Hiro.
“Right! So you know about us!” he exclaimed.
“Not so much. I want to know more. Can you tell me? No one else seems to be able to,” Jet sighed, frustrated.
Hiro smiled. “You should know more,” he replied. “I’ll teach you about the tribe. First of all, do you know why Japan is called Nippon?”
“No.” She shook her head, wondering what—if anything—this had to do with the Kuroi family.
Hiro looked at her askance, as if—again—reading her mind. “Ojiisan says if you want to understand a people, look at their language. The words write the history, not the other way around.”
She nodded, trying to quell her impatience, this shortcoming her mother had said came from her “American side.”
“Nippon was translated into English as ‘Jippon,’ which became Jipang. When foreigners came, they had an easier time saying Japan than Jipang. So the name stuck. Here, hold out your hand,” he said and traced two ideograms on her palm.
日本
“That’s ni-hon,” Jet said, proud that she’d remembered.
“Right. But you can also read them as hinomoto, the original name of Japan. 日 (Nichi) means sun and 本 (Hon) means origin.”
“I get it!” Jet said. “The place where the sun rises! Is that why Japan’s called ‘The Land of the Rising Sun?’”
“Yes. Because that’s what the Emishi called their ancient kingdom in Nara. The first king, queen, and residents of Hinomoto were the Emishi–our tribe!”
“I don’t understand,” Jet said, frowning. “What does this have to do with the Emishi?”
“Hinomoto is an Emishi word. Not a word of the Wa. Why? Because this was our kingdom first!”
“Weren’t the imperial family the rulers of Nara?” Jet asked, confused.
Hiro sighed. “That’s what they want you to believe, but it’s only their version. Our ancestors were here first. The Emperor’s army took the land from them. They wanted to ‘civilize’ the barbarians,” he snorted.
Jet was dubious. “How do you know for sure?”
“Don’t take my word for it. The Kojiki says, ‘Emperor Jinmu advanced toward the East, defeating the ‘barbarians’ and ‘relieving’ Nara from the Emishi.’”
“So?”
“So, if Japan’s oldest book says the Emperor had to ‘relieve’ it, clearly the Emishi were already there. Get it?”
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