So we are back from our foray into archaeology and once again looking at the stories of the Age of the Gods. Now some people may be familiar with the story of Ninigi no Mikoto and how he descends from Heaven, and it is actually his descendants that eventually become the royal lineage of the Yamato sovereigns, but we aren’t quite there yet. Before that happens, the land needs to be pacified, first, and so this is the story of how that happens.

There’s a lot that we talk about in this episode. A lot of names and players, and I’m going to try to lay out some of this for you to try to make it easier to follow along. Some info can also be found by searching the Encyclopedia of Shinto. So let’s get into some of these characters, shall we?

Takami Musubi - The High God of Heaven—possibly the original, long with Kamu Musubi, if you assume that the Kamuyogoto is correct. We’ll probably hammer this home a few more times, but it is useful to remember that Amaterasu did not originally hold such a high and mighty place in the stories, and her importance may have significantly increased during the Temmu dynasty, when these stories were written down. There is a lot of evidence that Takami Musubi was an important deity early on—from his creation before even Izanagi and Izanami, to his place in various stories, particularly in the Izumo cycle. Whether they were part of the Izumo tradition that was used as the basis for much of the mythology or were part of a larger mythology throughout the archipelago is unclear. There is some evidence that the “Musubi” deities may, in fact, derive from pre-agricultural concepts. Whether that means they were influenced by the earlier Jomon culture or they were already developed before coming over from the Korean Peninsula, I certainly couldn’t speculate, but they certainly seem to be part of the Izumo mythos that Yamato is using. You may remember that Takami Musubi was also the father of Sukuna Bikona, along with many other gods.

Kamu Musubi - Honestly, I debated whether or not to bring them into this. Kamu Musubi seems to be Takami Musubi’s original partner, as evidenced in some of the language used in the Izumo cycle, where the two are often together, and how they are both considered to be the parents of deities like Sukuna Bikona. It is, therefore, interesting that they don’t show up more prominently in this next part, and that is possibly because Amaterasu steps in as the strong female character.

Amaterasu - If you don’t know this kami yet, I don’t know what to say. Amaterasu is at the head of the modern pantheon. In household shrines, Amaterasu is often given pride of place, even over the deities of the local Shinto Shrine. She is also refereed to as Ōhirume, and she is considered the progenitor of the sovereign lineage of Yamato. By a quirk of fate—or storytelling—it just so happens that they can also trace themselves back to Takami Musubi as well. So there is a merging of these lines, which would make sense if you were trying to describe a lineage that had traditionally descended from one deity (Takami Musubi) and now you needed to show how they were related to another (Amaterasu). Fortunately, parents usually come in pairs, so it isn’t that difficult to explain.

Masakatsu Akatsu Kachi Hayahi Ama no Oshihomimi - He of the extremely long name. This is, in fact, one of the offspring of the “contest” between Susano’o and Amaterasu—in fact one of the first of the eight (or nine) princes. He and his descendants are charged with overseeing the Central Land of the Reed Plains. One thing we skip in the podcast, though, is the fact that some of the stories skip over him altogether—the stories where Takami Musubi is sending down his descendant, in particular. This is probably why they skip Oshihomimi and go to his descendant, a child born through the union of Oshihomimi (of Amaterasu’s lineage) and a daughter of Takami Musubi. But we’ll talk about that more in a future episode…

Ōkuninushi - AKA Ōnamochi, Ōnamuchi, Utsukushidama, Ōmononushi, et cetera. He was the fly in the ointment of the Heavenly gods’ plans. The god of Izumo Shrine is a creator god, who finished creating and governing the land—whether that was just Izumo or, as the Chronicles have it, the whole of the archipelago. The implication is that if he cedes the land over to the Heavenly Descendant, then this whole thing will be much more peaceful, but if he resists, he’ll sway others to resist.

Omoikane - A god of thought, though not all of his thoughts seem to work out. He did pretty good with getting Amaterasu out of the Heavenly Rock Cave, but not all of his ideas work quite as seamlessly.

Ame no Hohi - Another one of the kami that came out of the contest between Susano’o and Amaterasu, he is the ancestor of the Izumo no Omi, who, at least by the 8th century, were the traditional lords of Izumo and maintained their title as they maintained control of the Shrine of Ōkuninushi.

Ame no Wakahiko - The Young Prince who followed after Ame no Hohi, and who learned, too late, to “Fear a returning arrow.”

Shitateru Hime - Daugher of Ōkuninushi and wife to Ame no Wakahiko.

Ajisukitaka Hikone - A dear friend to Ame no Wakahiko, his brother-in-law, and it was said that the two looked exactly alike—so much so that not even their parents could tell them apart.

Itsu no Ohabari - Izanagi’s sword, who was later living in the Heavenly Rock Cave and accused of blocking the Heavenly Yasu River. The idea of objects taking on a spirit and becoming a type of kami themselves is a natural extension of the idea that places, trees, and rocks had spirits—why not something manmade as well? In the Heian period there were rites designed to properly dispose of items to ensure they wouldn’t become evil spirits, and there is a lovely scroll, with images and translation that you can find here:, in the Tsukumogami ki (The Record of the Tool Spectors); translation and scholarship by Noriko T. Reider.

Takemikazuchi - A descendant of Itsu no Ohabari, and considered a warrior thunder god. In one story he was created from the blood which dripped off of Izanagi’s sword, Ohabari, after the former had slain the Fire Kami, Kagutsuchi, whom he blamed for his wife, Izanami’s, death.

Futsunushi - Born from the rocks of the Heavenly riverbed itself, Futsunushi’s name is thought to come from the sound of a sword cutting through the air. Unlike Takemikazuchi, he also appears in the Izumo Fudoki and in the Kamuyogoto.

Kotoshironushi - Izumo’s own “Master of Thought”, Ōkuninushi refuses to even think about handing over the land without consulting with him, first.

Takeminakata - Another of Ōkuninushi’s sons, and clearly the muscle in Izumo. But can he stand up to the might of a heavenly thunder god?

Those are a few of the cast of characters from this episode.

Also, as we discuss Moyama, here is what is believed to be the resting place of Ame no Wakahiko, known as Moyama Kofun:

References

Torrance, R. (2016). The Infrastructure of the Gods: Izumo in the Yayoi and Kofun Periods. Japan Review, (29), 3-38. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/44143124
Ō, Yasumaro, & Heldt, G. (2014). The Kojiki: An account of ancient matters. ISBN978-0-231-16389-7
Carlsqvist, Anders (2010). The Land Pulling Myth and Some Aspects of Historic Reality. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 37/2: 185-222. Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture. Accessed 4/22/2020 at https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/3016
Aoki, Michiko Yamaguchi (1997). Izumo Fudoki. Association for Asian Studies. Published by the Japanese Historical Text Initiative of the University of California at Berkeley at https://jhti.berkeley.edu/NIJL%20gateway.html
Chamberlain, B. H. (1981). The Kojiki: Records of ancient matters. Rutland, Vt: C.E. Tuttle Co. ISBN4-8053-0794-3
Aston, W. G. (1972). Nihongi, chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN0-80480984-4
Philippi, D. L. (1968). Kojiki. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN4-13-087004-1