Yamato Takeru-no-Mikoto ('Brave Hero of Yamato') is a semi-legendary prince-hero of the Japanese imperial line, a central figure of later (7th-century and later) legend and the 'heroic' stratum of Japanese narrative [S2]. He is famed for his campaigns (the eastern and southern subjugations) and his death by a trick (the 'arrow that sings'). He belongs to the heroic/legendary layer rather than the primordial Kojiki theogony, and he illustrates the range of the Japanese tradition from cosmic theogony to imperial hero-legend [S1][S2][S21].