The Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan, compiled 720 AD) is a history of ancient Japan.
The Chronicle describes an incident when the 21st emperor, Yuryaku Tenno, was hunting in an open plain in Yoshino (southern Nara Prefecture today). A horsefly landed on his arm and stung him. Just then, a dragonfly swooped down and took off with the horsefly. The emperor was so satisfied with this that he named the area Akitsu-no (Dragonfly Plain). The Chronicle says that these events gave Japan its old name, Akitsu Shima (The Dragonfly Isles).
