the sun than two legs. The legs represent the sunrise, daylight, and sunset. In China, the three-legged crows have appeared in books since the Former Han period (3rd century BCE), and have been depicted on artifacts found in the tombs of kings. The triskelion, an abstract design composed of three spirals, and its derivative, the three-legged crow, are widespread designs. History As mentioned above, Three-legged crow lore can be found in ancient Chinese cultural regions. If it is in China, it is the Golden Crow. If in the Korean peninsula, it is depicted on a burial mound in the area where Goguryeo (1st-6th century BC) once stood (present-day North Korea). The people of Goguryeo believed that Three-legged crows lived in the sun and turtles lived in the moon. On the other hand, there is a theory that they did not spread to the southern part of the Korean Peninsula (present-day South Korea). In the Japanese myth of the "Eastern Expedition," Yatagarasu is said to have served as a guide for Emperor Jimmu as he attempted to advance from the Seto Inland Sea to the Kinki region. Emperor Jimmu initially attacked Osaka from the west and was defeated, so he thought that he, as a descendant of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, should attack from the east to the west with his back to the sun, instead of from the west to the east. Therefore, guided by Yatagarasu, they decided to attack from the vicinity of the present-day Shingu, largely bypassing the Kii Peninsula, and then went through Yoshino to Kashihara, where they established the Yamato Imperial Court. In mythology, Yatagarasu is also a messenger of the god Kumano. In the reign of Emperor Kōrei, a hunter named Chiyokane, who was chasing wild boar in the mountains, was led by a crow to a large tree. When he pointed an arrow at the light, he heard a voice saying, "I am the god of Kumano. He built a shrine dedicated to the deity and became the chief administrator of the three Kumano mountains. This was the moment when the god of Kumano first appeared to the people. Yatagarasu is recorded in the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), the Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan), and the Enki Shiki (Records of Ancient Matters), as well as in the wall paintings of the Kitorazuka burial mound, the mural paintings of the stone chamber in the side