In a warm, sunny part of Japan, lived a brave young prince named Iwarebiko. One day, he thought, "This place is nice, but I bet there's an even better place to the east, a land where everyone can live happily!"

So, Iwarebiko, along with his brave older brother Itsuse, gathered their friends and set off in their boats. Whee! Across the sparkling sea they sailed, meeting friendly people in places like Usa and Aki who waved and gave them yummy food.

After a while, they reached a new land near a big bay. But oh dear! A very grumpy local chief named Nagasunehiko didn't want any visitors. "Go away!" he shouted. A big fight started, and sadly, Prince Itsuse got hurt by an arrow. "Oh no," he said, "we must have made the Sun Goddess angry by fighting with the sun in our faces. That's not good." He felt very weak and soon, he closed his eyes for the last time. Iwarebiko was very sad, but he knew he had to keep going to find that peaceful land.

Iwarebiko decided to sail around a different way, to avoid fighting with the sun in his eyes. But then, in a deep forest in a place called Kumano, a giant, sleepy-looking bear appeared! As soon as they saw it, poof! Iwarebiko and all his men fell fast asleep, like magic. It seemed like their adventure was over.

But don't worry! A kind man named Takakuraji, who lived nearby, had a special dream. In his dream, a god told him, "There's a magic sword in your shed. It’s called Futsu-no-Mitama. Give it to Iwarebiko!" Takakuraji woke up, rushed to his shed, and sure enough, there was an amazing, shiny sword! He hurried and gave it to the sleeping prince. The moment Iwarebiko touched the sword, ZING! He woke up, and so did all his men! The sleepy magic was broken, and the big bear was gone!

Now, how would they find their way through the tricky mountains ahead? Just then, a fantastic, shiny black crow with three legs flew down from the sky! This was Yatagarasu, a super-smart messenger bird sent by the gods. "Follow me!" it seemed to caw, and it hopped and flew, leading Iwarebiko and his friends safely through all the winding paths and dark forests.

They met a few more not-so-friendly people, and had to be very clever to get past them. One time, some tricky brothers tried to trap them in a pit, but Iwarebiko was too smart for them!

Finally, they reached the beautiful land of Yamato. And who was there? Grumpy Nagasunehiko again! Another battle was about to start. But this time, another important person arrived, named Nigihayahi. This person showed everyone special treasures that came from the sky, proving he was also a friend of the gods. He knew Nagasunehiko, and told him that Iwarebiko was a good leader. When Nagasunehiko still wouldn't listen and wanted to fight, Nigihayahi decided to help Iwarebiko. Soon, the land was peaceful.

Iwarebiko had found it! The perfect place he had been searching for. He built a beautiful palace in a place called Kashihara. And there, he became the very first Emperor of Japan, and people then called him Emperor Jimmu. He worked hard to make his new country a wonderful and peaceful home for everyone, just like he had dreamed.

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