Kunitsukami (国つ神, 国津神) are the

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 ...

of the land that live in tsuchi. They were contrasted from the

Amatsukami is a category of kami in Japanese mythology. Generally speaking, it refers to kami born in, or residing in, Takamagahara. ''Amatsukami'' is one of the three categories of kami, along with their earthly counterpart , and . Modern Shinto no long ...

, although modern

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

no longer makes the distinction between Amatsukami and Kunitsukami. According to

Yijiang Zhong Yijiang District () is an urban district of the city of Wuhu, Anhui Province Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest ...

the distinction was made by the writers of the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki to formulate a political discourse. Kunitsukami were often presented as

tutelary deities A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety an ...

. They were also associated with geographical areas along with their inhabitants. Non-royal families also viewed them as their ancestors. They also were considered personifications of the land. According to

Ernest Mason Satow Sir Ernest Mason Satow, (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist. Satow is better known in Japan than in Britain or the other countries in which he served, where he was known as . He was a key fig ...

and , kunitsukami might have been deified chiefs who migrated to

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 ...

Mythology

Many myths in the Nihon Shoki and 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 ...

are about the conflict between the Kunitsukami and the

List of kunitsukami

* Okuninushi * Ashinazuchi * Tenazuchi *

Ōyamatsumi Ōyama-tsumi or Ohoyama-tsumi (Kojiki: 大山津見神 or Nihon Shoki: 大山祇神, 大山積神, 大山罪神; Ōyama-tsumi-mi'oya-no-mikoto 大山祇御祖命) is a god of mountains, sea, and war in Japanese mythology. He is an elder brother of ...

* Sarutahiko

References

{{More categories, date=November 2021 Shinto kami