Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things

(1) Present-day Nara Prefecture.

[1] This name “Tokoyo” is indefinite. According to circumstances it may signify any unknown country,—or that undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns,—or that Fairyland of far-eastern fable, the Realm of Hōrai. The term “Kokuō” means the ruler of a country,—therefore a king. The original phrase, Tokoyo no Kokuō, might be rendered here as “the Ruler of Hōrai,” or “the King of Fairyland.”

[2] The last phrase, according to old custom, had to be uttered by both attendants at the same time. All these ceremonial observances can still be studied on the Japanese stage.

[3] This was the name given to the estrade, or dais, upon which a feudal prince or ruler sat in state. The term literally signifies “great seat.”