In the reign of the tenth emperor, Sujin, a plague spread through the land. So many died, the Kojiki says, that nearly half the people were lost.
The emperor lay upon the divine bed to seek the will of the gods. In a dream Ōmononushi appeared and declared: “This pestilence is by my will. Seek out my descendant Ōtataneko and let him worship me; then the calamity will cease and the land be at peace.”
Messengers found Ōtataneko in the village of Mino in Kawachi. When he was set to worship the god of Mount Miwa, the raging plague stopped at once, and the land grew prosperous again.
With the country calm, the emperor sent generals to the four quarters: Ōbiko to the north, Takenunakawawake to the east, Kibitsuhiko to the west, and Hikoimasu to Tanba. Through these campaigns, later called the Four Generals, unsubmissive regions were pacified.
The emperor also decreed that men should render game from the hunt and women their weaving — held to be the first taxation in Japan. For uniting worship and practical rule, Sujin is honored as “the emperor who first ruled the land.”