Amenohoakari (天火明命, Amenohoakari-no-mikoto) is a god of

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

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 ...

. His descendants are called ''Tenson-zoku''. He is identified with the deity , ancestor of the

Mononobe clan The was a Japan, Japanese aristocratic kin group Uji (clan), (''uji'') of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, partly on religious grounds, claiming that the ...

, who was among the first to recognize

Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the '' Nihon Shoki'' and ''Kojiki''. His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture"Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

during

Jimmu's Eastern Expedition refers to a series of stories in which Emperor Jimmu became emperor of Japan for the first time (Emperor Jimmu) after defeating Nagasunehiko, who had ruled the Nara Basin and its surrounding area, after leaving Hyuga Province. Overview ...

Name

Names for Amenohoakari are listed below. * Amaterukuniteruhikoamenohoakarikushitamanigihayahi-no-mikoto (天照国照彦天火明櫛玉饒速日尊) in ''

Kujiki , or , is a historical Japanese text. It was generally believed to have been one of the earliest Japanese histories until the middle of the Edo period, when scholars such as Tokugawa Mitsukuni and Tada Yoshitoshi successfully contended that it was ...

'' * Amaterukuniteruhikoamenohoakari-no-mikoto (天照國照彦天火明尊) * Amaterukuniteruhikohoakari-no-mikoto (天照国照彦火明命) in '' Nihon Shoki'' * Amenohoakari-no-mikoto (天火明命) in ''

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 ...

'' * Hoakari-no-mikoto (火明命) in ''Nihon Shoki'' * Ikishiniho-no-mikoto (膽杵磯丹杵穂命) * Amaterumitama-no-kami (天照御魂神) in ''Jinjyashiryō''

Genealogy

According to ''

'' and '' Nihon Shoki'', Amenohoakari was born to

Ame-no-oshihomimi Amenooshihomimi (天之忍穂耳命) or Oshihomimi for short, is the first son of Amaterasu. He is believed to be the ancestor to the Japanese imperial family. Name and Etymology Amenooshihomimi name means (Ruling Rice Ears of Heaven) he als ...

and Takamimusubi's daughter, Yorozuhatahime.

Ninigi-no-Mikoto is a deity in Japanese mythology. Grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, Ninigi is regarded according to Japanese mythology as the great-grandfather of Japan’s first emperor, Emperor Jimmu. The three sacred treasures brought with Ninigi from ...

is his younger brother, but in another book of ''Nihon Shoki'' Ninigi is his father. In ''

'', Amenohoakari is considered the same ''kami'' as , the ancestral god of the Hozumi and

Mononobe The was a Japanese aristocratic kin group (''uji'') of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, partly on religious grounds, claiming that the local deities wo ...

clans, but this contradicts their generational relationships and areas of activity. In ''Harima-no-kuni Fudoki'', Amenohoakari is the child of

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 ...

and Dotsuhime.

Descendants

In ''

Shinsen Shōjiroku is an imperially commissioned Japanese genealogical record. Thirty volumes in length, it was compiled under the order of Emperor Saga by his brother, the Imperial Prince Manta (万多親王, 788–830). Also by Fujiwara no Otsugu and Fujiwara no ...

'', the descendants of Amatsuhikone,

Ame-no-hohi Ame no Hohi (アメノホヒ, "Heavenly grain sun") is a male deity and the second son of sun goddess Amaterasu in Japanese mythology. Kokusō is said to have originated from Ame no Hohi. He was also said to be the ancestor to Izumo rulers. M ...

, and Amanomichine, together with the descendants of Amenohoakari are referred to as ''Tenson-zoku''. The ''Tenson-zoku'' descended from

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 ...

(Plain of High

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

) to Owari and Tanba provinces, and are considered to be the ancestors of Owari, Tsumori, Amabe, and Tanba clans. However, it is clear that ''Amabe-shi Keizu,'' which records these four clans as descendants of Amenohoakari, is a forged document, and that these clans actually descended from the sea deity

Watatsumi , also pronounced Wadatsumi, is a legendary ''kami'' (神, god; deity; spirit), Japanese dragon and tutelary water deity in Japanese mythology. is believed to be another name for the sea deity Ryūjin (龍神, Dragon God) and also for the , which ...

. In addition, Owari clan's genealogy includes the great-grandson of Watatsumi, Takakuraji, as their ancestor, and this is considered to be the original genealogy. The

is a clan whose ancestor was Nigihayahi. The Hozumi clan and the Kumano no Kunizukuri Wada clan are said to have the same ancestor. The Yuge clan is closely related to the Mononobe clan. A genealogical tree handed down to the Kaifu clan, the family of the Kagome Shrine, has been designated a national treasure . .

Name meaning

As Amenohoakari's name suggests, he is the deification of sunlight and heat. In ''

Kojiki-den The ''Kojiki-den'' (古事記伝) is a 44-volume commentary on the ''Kojiki'' written by the ''kokugaku'' scholar Motoori Norinaga. Overview The ''Kojiki-den'' is a commentary on the ''Kojiki'', an eighth-century work of Shinto historiography an ...

'', Hoakari is written "穂赤熟", which means that the ears of rice ripen and become red. Like the other gods connected to the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

, Amenohoakari's name is also related to rice and is worshiped as the sun god and the god of agriculture.

Tomb

The tomb of Nigihayahi-no-mikoto is located on Mount Shiraniwa in Shiraniwadai, Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture.

Shrines to worship

* Iwafune Shrine - The shrine's deity is a huge rock called "Ame-no-Iwafune" (Heavenly Rock). * Amateru Tamamikoto Shrine ( Kyoto Prefecture Fukuchiyama City, Imaan) * Ishikiri Kenjya Shrine (

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Higashi Osaka City Higashi Ishikiri-cho) * Fujihaku Shrine (

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

Kainan City) * Hirose Taisha (

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

Kitakatsuragi County Kawai Town) * Yada-za Kushiyamahiko Shrine (Yada-cho, Yamatokoriyama City, Nara Prefecture) * Flying Shrine - Founded in the Taisho era as a god of airplanes. Reihayakuninushi-no-mikoto is regarded as the ancestor god of aviation based on the old saying, "Riding on a celestial ship, flying through the sky," and is also worshipped as the god of the sky.See {{Interlanguage link, Hiko Shrine, ja, 飛行神社 * Izeki-san Shrine - Amateru Shrine was founded in

Emperor Sujin , also known as in the ''Kojiki'', and or in the '' Nihon Shoki'' was the tenth Emperor of Japan. While Sujin is the first emperor whose existence historians widely accept, he is still referred to as a "legendary emperor" due to a lack of info ...

2 (BC 96), enshrining a huge rocky platform as the sacred body of Amateru Kuniteruhiko Himyo Kushitama Reihatsu-no-mikoto. * Kunitsuhikonomikoto Shrine (

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

Matsuyama City, Hachitanchi) * Monobe Shrine (

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...

Ota City, Kawai-cho) * Karamatsusan Tenjingu Shrine (

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

Daisen City Kyowa) * In September of the 7th year of the reign of Emperor Sujin, the deity Amaterasu Kuniteruhikohikamyo Kushitama Neihatsuhikonomikoto was given the posthumous title of Amaterasu Omikami. Later, Emperor Keiko gave him the posthumous title of Amaterasu. Masumida Shrine *

Masumida Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Masumida neighborhood of the city of Ichinomiya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Owari Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on April 3. Enshrined ''kami'' The ''kam ...

- One shrine in Owari Province. (The deity Amahimyo-no-mikoto is also called Amateru Kuniteruhiko Amahimyo-no-mikoto in the shrine tradition. * Kago Shrine - The first shrine in Moto-Ise. (The deity Hikohimyo-no-mikoto is also known as Amateru Kuniteru Hikohimyo-no-mikoto, or Hotohotemikoto, according to the shrine tradition.

Notes

References

Japanese gods Shinto kami Agricultural gods Solar gods