[Japanese] Ojin was the fifteenth Tenno, or emperor of Japan, the son of Emperor Chuai and Empress Jingo. According to the Nihon Shoki or Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan), he was carried in his mother's womb for the duration of her conquest of the three kindgoms of Korea. Prior to her departure she declared that if her child was to be a god, he would be born after her campaign was complete. On the day Jingo returned, she went into labor and bore a son. At the time of his birth Ojin bore a red birthmark on his elbow in the shape of the homuda or elbow-pad designed to protect archers from recoiling bowstrings. Owing to recent military victories, this was seen as a good omen, and the child was given the childhood name Homuda-wake (literally "Elbow-pad Prince"). Both the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki state that he was a bright, cunning child who was wise beyond his years and a grand strategist. After assuming the throne following his mother's death he welcomed Korean and Chinese scholars into his court so th...
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