Ajisukitakahikone (also Ajishikitakahikone or Ajisukitakahiko) is a ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

'' in

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...

Name

The god is referred to both as 'Ajisukitakahikone-no-Kami' (阿遅鉏高日子根神;

Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial. Old Jap ...

: ''Adisuki₁takapi₁ko₁ne-no₂-Kami₂'') and 'Ajishikitakahikone-no-Kami' (阿遅志貴高日子根神;

Man'yōgana is an ancient writing system that uses Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. It was the first known kana system to be developed as a means to represent the Japanese language phonetically. The date of the earliest usage of this ...

: 阿治志貴多迦比古泥能迦微; O.J.: ''Adisiki₂takapi₁ko₁ne'') in the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'', while the '' Nihon Shoki'' consistently calls him 'Ajisukitakahikone-no-Kami' (味耜高彥根神). Renditions of the name found in other texts include 'Ajisukitakahiko-no-Mikoto' (阿遅須枳高日子命;

Izumo Izumo (出雲) may refer to: Locations * Izumo Province, an old province of Japan * Izumo, Shimane, a city located in Shimane Prefecture ** Izumo Airport * Izumo-taisha, one of Japan's most ancient and important Shinto shrines Ships * ''Izumo ...

Fudoki are ancient reports on provincial culture, geography, and oral tradition presented to the reigning monarchs of Japan, also known as local gazetteers. They contain agricultural, geographical, and historical records as well as mythology and ...

''), 'Ajisukitakahikone-no-Mikoto-no-Kami' (阿遅須伎高日古尼命神;

Harima or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During the ...

''Fudoki'') and 'Ajisukitakahikone-no-Mikoto' (阿遅須伎高孫根乃命; ''Izumo-no- Kuni-no-Miyatsuko no Kan'yogoto''). ''Aji'' (O.J. ''adi'') may mean either "excellent" (cf. ''

aji Aji or AJI may refer to: Location *Aji (town), Tieling County, Liaoning, China *Aji Island, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan *Aji, Kagawa, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan * Aji River (disambiguation), rivers with the same name Other * Aji (Go), a latent tr ...

'' "taste, flavor") or "flock, mass, many", while ''shiki'' (O.J. ''siki₂'') is variously interpreted either as a corruption of ''suki'' (O.J. ''suki₁'', "

spade A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...

" or "

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

"), a derivation from the

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

word A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...

''suki'' "village", a word meaning "blade", or a place name in

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, the ...

. (One factor that complicates a proper interpretation of the name is that ''ki₁'' and ''ki₂'' are thought to be different syllables in Old Japanese.)

Basil Hall Chamberlain Basil Hall Chamberlain (18 October 1850 – 15 February 1935) was a British academic and Japanologist. He was a professor of the Japanese language at Tokyo Imperial University and one of the foremost British Japanologists active in Japan during th ...

, in his 1882 translation of the ''Kojiki'', left the name untranslated (noting that " e meaning of the first two members of this compound name is altogether obscure");Chamberlain (1882)
Section XXVI.—The Deities the August Descendants of the Deity Master-of-the-Great-Land.
/ref> likewise,

William George Aston William George Aston (9 April 1841 – 22 November 1911) was an Anglo-Irish diplomat, author and scholar-expert in the language and history of Japan and Korea. Early life Aston was born near Derry, Ireland.Ricorso Aston, bio notes/ref> He dis ...

(1896) merely commented that there is "no satisfactory explanation of this name." Donald Philippi (1968) proposed two possible interpretations of the name: "Massed-Ploughs High-Princeling Deity" or "Excellent Shiki High-Princeling Deity" (with 'Shiki' being understood here to be a toponym). Gustav Heldt's translation of the ''Kojiki'' (2014) meanwhile renders the name as "Lofty Little Lad of Fine Plows".

Mythology

Parentage

The ''Kojiki'' describes Ajisukitakahikone as one of the two children of the god

Ōkuninushi Ōkuninushi ( historical orthography: ''Ohokuninushi''), also known as Ō(a)namuchi (''Oho(a)namuchi'') or Ō(a)namochi (''Oho(a)namochi'') among other variants, is a ''kami'' in Japanese mythology. He is one of the central deities in the cycle ...

by Takiribime, one of the three Munakata goddesses, the other being Shitateruhime (also known as Takahime). In infancy, his crying and screaming were so loud that he had to be placed in a

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

and sailed around the islands of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

until he was calm. In adulthood, he was the father of Takitsuhiko, a rain god.

Ajisukitakahikone and Ame-no-Wakahiko

When the sun goddess

Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the ''Kojik ...

and the primordial god

Takamimusubi Takamimusubi (高御産巣日神, lit. "High Creator") is a god of agriculture in Japanese mythology, who was the second of the first beings to come into existence. It is speculated that Takamimusubi was originally the tutelary deity for the J ...

, the rulers of the heavenly realm of

Takamagahara In Japanese mythology, Takamagahara (高天原, "Plain of High Heaven" or "High Plain of Heaven", also read as Takaamanohara, Takamanohara, Takaamagahara, or Takaamahara), is the abode of the heavenly gods (''amatsukami''). Often depicted as locate ...

, decreed that the earth below (

Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni is, in Japanese mythology, the world between Takamagahara (Heaven) and Yomi (Hell). In time, the term became another word for the country or the location of Japan. The term can be used interchangeably with Toyoashihara no Nakatsukuni (豊葦原� ...

) should be ruled over by Amaterasu's progeny, they dispatched a series of messengers to its ruler, Ōkuninushi, to command him to cede supremacy over the land. One of these,

Ame-no-Wakahiko Ame no Wakahiko (天若日子, 天稚彦 Heavenly Young Boy) in some versions of Japanese mythology is a god of grains, and the son of Amatsukunitama. Mythology Sent to earth In many versions, when Ame no Hohi did not send word for three ye ...

, ended up marrying Shitateruhime, one of Ōkuninushi's daughters, and even plotted to gain the land for himself. After eight years had passed, a

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

sent by the heavenly gods arrived and remonstrated with Ame-no-Wakahiko, who killed it with his bow and arrow. The arrow flew up to Takamagahara, but was then promptly thrown back to earth; it struck Ame-no-Wakahiko in the chest while he was asleep, killing him instantly. During Ame-no-Wakahiko's funeral, Shitateruhime's brother Ajisukitakahikone, a close friend of Ame-no-Wakahiko, arrived to pay his condolences. As he closely resembled Ame-no-Wakahiko in appearance, the family of the deceased mistook him for Ame-no-Wakahiko come back to life. Offended at being mistaken for his friend (as corpses were regarded as

unclean Unclean may refer to: * Unclean animals, those whose consumption or handling is labeled a taboo * Unclean food, in Jewish dietary custom * Ritually impure, in various religions * Unclean hands, a term in contract law * ''Unclean'' (album), a 19 ...

, to be compared with or mistaken for a dead person was seen as an insult), Ajisukitakahikone in anger drew his ten-span sword, hacked to pieces the funeral hut (喪屋 ''moya'') where Ame-no-Wakahiko's corpse was laid and the funeral held, and then kicked it away. The ruined hut landed in the land of Mino and became a mountain called Moyama (喪山, lit. 'mourning mountain'). Ajishikitakahikone, still fuming, then flew off, the radiance that exuded from him being such that it illuminated the space of two hills and two valleys. Shitateruhime, wishing to reveal to the mourners her brother's identity, then composed the following song in his honor: :

Name

Mythology

Parentage

Ajisukitakahikone and Ame-no-Wakahiko

Notes

References

See also