, also known as , is a figure 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 ...

, the third and youngest son of and the blossom princess . He is one of the ancestors of the

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

as the grandfather of Emperor Jimmu. He is also known as .

Mythology

Hoori's legend is told in both 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 ...

'' and the '' Nihon Shoki''. Hoori was a hunter, and he had an argument with his brother

Hoderi , in Japanese mythology and folklore, was a deity of the bounty of the sea and enchanted fisherman. He is called in the ''Kojiki'', and or in the '' Nihon Shoki''. In Japanese mythology, he appears with his younger brother Yamasachi-hiko (Hoor ...

, a fisherman, over a fish-hook that Hoori had forced his elder brother to lend him and had lost. Hoderi claimed that Hoori should give back the fish-hook, for he refused to accept another one (due to the belief that each tool is animated and hence unique). Hoori then descended to the bottom of the sea to search, but was unable to find it. Instead, he found

Toyotama-hime or Luxuriant-Jewel-Princess is a goddess in Japanese mythology in the episode of the "Luck of the Sea and the Luck of the Mountain" in the ''Kojiki'' as well as '' Nihon Shoki''. She is the daughter of the sea deity, Watatsumi. Toyotama marries t ...

, the daughter of the sea god, Ryūjin. The sea god helped Hoori find Hoderi's lost hook, and Hoori later married Toyotama-hime. Hoori lived with his wife in a palace under the sea for three years, but after that Hoori became home-sick and wished to return to his own country. His brother forgave him after he returned the hook, and Toyotama-hime gave birth to a son named Ugayafukiaezu. During the time when Toyotama-hime was giving birth to her child, she had Hoori swear not to attempt to see her real figure. But he broke his promise and discovered her true form was a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

(specifically a ''

wani Wani may refer to: *Vani (custom), a child marriage custom in tribal areas of Pakistan *Wani (dragon), a Japanese dragon translated as "sea monster", "crocodile", or "shark" *Wani (scholar), a legendary scholar, sent from Korea to Japan during the ...

''). She was ashamed and returned to her father, never to return. Ugayafukiaezu married Toyotama-hime's sister, Tamayori-hime, who brought him up, and she gave birth to Emperor Jimmu, who was the first

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 ...

. Hoori reigned in

Takachiho is a town in Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2019, the town has an estimated population of 11,959 and a density of 50.3 persons per km². The total area is 237.54 km². Geography Takachiho is in the northe ...

, Hyūga Province for 560 years. Hoori is often associated with both his parents and his wife. He is worshiped mainly as a god of

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

s or

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

. In Japanese mythology, it was said that the part of his name meant fire, but etymologically, it is a different character pronounced , which refers to crops, particularly rice. indicates a crop that is so rich, it bends under its own weight. Another name for him, Hohodemi, means ''many harvests''.

Genealogy

Hoori is part of the

three generations of Hyuga 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

, a period between

Tenson kōrin In Japanese mythology, the is the descent of Amaterasu's grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto from Heaven (Takamagahara) to Ashihara no Nakatsukuni; according to legend, the direct place of descent is at Takachiho-gawara in Japan. Following the ''tenson k� ...

and Jimmu's Eastern Expedition.

References

External links

* *''Hoderi and Hoori'' from ''Myths and Legends of Japan'' by F. Hadland Davis. {{Authority control Japanese gods Shinto kami Agricultural gods Food deities