Imperial Prince Oshikuma (Oshikuma no Miko) (忍熊皇子)

Imperial Prince Oshikuma (Oshikuma no Miko; his date of birth was unknown, the date of his death was in March of 201.) first appeared in the "Kojiki" (The Records of Ancient Matters) and the "Nihonshoki" (Chronicles of Japan) as an Imperial family (royal family) during the Kofun period (tumulus period) in Japan. Imperial Prince Oshikuma (忍熊皇子) was written in different ways, such as 忍熊王 and 忍熊別皇子. Imperial Prince Oshikuma was a Prince of the Emperor Chuai, and his mother was Onakatsuhime (also known as Onakatsuhime no Mikoto) who was a daughter of Prince Hikohito no Oe. Imperial Prince Oshikuma was a young maternal half-brother of Imperial Prince Kagosaka.

According to the "Kojiki" and the "Nihonshoki," the Emperor Chuai met with his demise during the Shiragi seito (the Conquest of Silla [ancient Korean Kingdom]), and then Empress Jingu gave birth to Homutawake no Mikoto (later, he became the Emperor Ojin.)
Since Imperial Prince Oshikuma was afraid the child prince would ascend to the throne as the next Emperor when he knew the death of the Emperor Chuai and the birth of his baby prince (the Emperor Ojin), he conspired with Imperial Prince Kogasaka, his older brother, to attack the Empress army during their retuning trip from Tsukushi Province. On the pretext of building the Emperor's (Chuai) tomb, Imperial Prince Oshikuma created positions in Akashi, Harima Province (Akashi City), and ordered Kuramiwake (an ancestor of Inukami no kimi) and Isachi no Sukune (an ancestor of Inukami no kimi) to raise the armies of Togoku (eastern country, or eastern provinces, or Kanto provinces) as shoguns (general). However, Imperial Prince Kagosaka met with his demise by the attack of a wild boar during hunting for predicting his success in the rebellion at Togano (this location is possibly the present Toga river basin in Nada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture). Because of this omen, Imperial Prince Oshikuma was frightened and retreated to the Suminoetsu Port. On the other hand, the Empress Jingu performed the Chinsai (religious ceremony to appease the gods) for Amaterasu Omikami (the Sun Goddess) and Sumiyoshi Okami (the great gods of Sumiyoshi) at important points along the sea route (Seto Inland Sea). She finally landed on the Kii Province. Imperial Prince Oshikuma ordered his army into retreat; then established his battle array in Uji City, and prepared for engage the army of the Empress, whose shoguns were 'Takenouchi no Sukune' and Takefuru Kuma (ancestoer of Wani Uj). However, Imperial Prince Oshikuma lost his bow and sword through the tactics of Takenouchi no Sukune, then ran away, and was finally defeated at Osaka. (In the "Shoki"(Chronicles).
(In the "Kojiki," there was no description about Takenouchi no Sukune in the scene of the battle and all the achievements were credited to Takefuru Kuma.)
After Imperial Prince Oshikuma had lost his escape route, he jumped into Yodo-gawa River along with Isachi no Sukune. Then, in an anecdotal story, their dead bodies were pulled from the Yodo River a few days later.

The existence of the Emperor Chuai and the Empress Jingu is doubtful, and so with the existence of the Imperial Prince Oshikuma. There is a view that this rebellion was created in order to legitimize the enthronement of the Emperor Ojin based upon the dispute between Prince Kusakabe and Prince Otsu.

[Original Japanese]