is a Japanese legendary figure of the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

, also worshipped as the god of

sweets Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called '' sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...

. His name is written in

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

as 多遅麻毛理 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 ...

'', and as 田道間守 in the '' Nihon Shoki''.

Legendary narrative

Tajimamori's ancestry is described differently in the ''Kojiki'' and ''Nihon Shoki''. The ''Kojiki'' lists him as the son of and elder brother of , while the ''Nihon Shoki'' records him as the son of 's son .

Emperor Suinin , also known as was the 11th legendary Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Less is known about ''Suinin'' than his father, and likewise he is also considered to be a "legendary emperor". Both the ''Kojiki'', and t ...

commanded Tajimamori to go and get him a magical fruit called . To this end Tajimamori crossed to the magical land of , and after ten years he returned with some branches with leaves and some with fruit. However, by this time Emperor Suinin was already dead. Tajimamori gave half of his branches to Suinin's widow and offered the other half at the deceased emperor's tomb, then died himself, wailing with sadness.

Worship

The fruit Tajimamori brought back is supposed in the records to be a

tachibana The term has at least two different meanings, and has been used in several contexts. People * – a clan of ''kuge'' (court nobles) prominent in the Nara and Heian periods (710–1185) * – a clan of ''daimyō'' (feudal lords) prominent in the Mu ...

. Tajimamori's role as god of sweets also originates in this story: the last character in the name of the fruit simply meant "fruit" at the time, but now refers to "sweets". Tajimamori is enshrined as the god of sweets in in

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

, and through ''

bunrei is a Shinto technical term that indicates both the process of dividing a Shinto ''kami'' to be re-enshrined somewhere else (such as a house's ''kamidana''), and the spirit itself produced by the division. For details, see the article about the si ...

'' at various other shrines throughout the nation. He is worshiped primarily by those involved in the confectionery industry. Imari City in

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...

is traditionally considered the place where Tajimamori landed back in Japan, and also worships him. The original site of {{Interlanguage link multi, Kitsumoto Shrine, ja, 3=橘本神社 in Kainan City,

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 ...

is said to be the spot where the branches Tajimamori brought back were first transplanted. People of Kofun-period Japan Japanese deities Food deities Deified Japanese people Deified Japanese people in the Kiki