Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79.
Japan: Niphon (Nippon), the Island
Niphon
From the Japanese
Anonymous translation
“After the separation of chaos into earth and heaven (an idea borrowed from China, and interwoven in the legend with the purely Japanese story) the god Izanagi and the goddess Izanami, descendants of the original primeval god, stood on the Bridge of Heaven, and with a staff made of coral stirred up the ocean lying far beneath. The drops of brine as they fell from the staff on its withdrawal congealed and became land, and thus was created the main island of Nippon, the other islands of the Japanese Empire being after-creations, concerning which various legends are extant.”—Westminster Review, XXXVIII. 328.
