Toyouke-Ōmikami is the

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

of agriculture and industry in the Shinto religion. Originally enshrined in the Tanba region 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 ...

, she was called to reside at Gekū, Ise Shrine, about 1,500 years ago at the age of Emperor Yūryaku to offer sacred food to Amaterasu Ōmikami, the Sun Goddess. Creation myths of Japan 4-eng

While popular as Toyouke-Ōhmikami presently, her name has been transcribed using Chinese characters in several manners including 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 ...

", while there is no entry about her in " Nihon Shoki". Literally, her name means kami of "Luxuriant-food Princess". Several alternative transcription and names are attributed to this goddess including , , , , and . God and goddess thought to be identical to Toyouke-Ōhmikami are a god and a goddess . There is a separate shrine dedicated to Toyouke's Ara-mitama, or called (Takamiya) inside Gekū.

Mythology

, Toyouke-Ōmikami is described as the granddaughter to Izanami via her father Wakumusubi, and Toyouke was said to settle to Gekū, Ise Shrine at after Tenson kōrin when the heavenly deities came down to the earth. In her name Toyouke, "uke" means food, or being the goddess of food and grain, which is said to be the basis that other kami were equated and merged into Toyouke as the deity of foodstuff:

Uke Mochi , commonly known as , the daughter of the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami, is a goddess of food in the Shinto religion of Japan. In some differing interpretations, Ukemochi is referred to as both male and female. When shown in other forms, U ...

(Ōgetsu-hime),

Inari Ōkami , also called , is the Japanese ''kami'' of foxes, fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success, and one of the principal kami of Shinto. In earlier Japan, Inari was also the patron of swor ...

, and Ukanomitama. The head priest of Toyouke Daijingū submitted "", or the record of the Ise Grand Shrine to the government in 804, in which it is told that goddess Toyouke originally had come from Tamba. It records that Emperor Yūryaku was told by

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 ...

in his dream that she alone was not able to supply enough food, so that Yūryaku needed to bring , or the goddess of divine meals, from Hijino Manai in ancient Tanba Province. Stories among various Fudoki indicate the origin of Toyouke: In that of Tango, or "", had been bathing with other seven deities at Manai spring on the hilltop of Hiji in Tamba province, when an old couple hid Toyouke's heavenly robe so that she was not able to return to the heavenly world. Toyouke tended over ten years to that old couple and brew sake which cured any ailment, but was expelled from the household and wandered to reach and settle at Nagu village as a local deity. The anecdote in the Fudoki of Settsu Province "Settsu-no-kuni fudoki" mentions that had lived in Tango.

Faith and rituals

The original location

In Mineyama Town, Kyōtango, Kyoto prefecture, there is a well and a story of the now lost half-moon-shaped rice paddy . They are believed to be the site where Toyouke had soaked rice seeds to encourage germination and planted the first rice. The is mentioned in Engishiki dating back to Heian period, as literally meaning ''the Garden of Rice Paddies''. That ancient place name is thought to have changed over time to Taba (location of rice paddies), then to . On the slope of the Kuji Pass, there is a shrine dedicated to Ōkami, as well as ''Hoi no dan'', the ruin of a sacred well ''Ame no manai'' of Takamagahara: That well was entered both in ''Kojiki'' and '' Nihonshoki'', and was also the highest title given to water bodies. The shrine's auspicious spirit is said to be in the , which has been worshiped as . There is a shrine named Moto-Ise in Ōemachi, Fukuchiyama City to the south of Naiku of Moto-Ise uphill the Funaokayama. Its name literally means ''former Ise'', where the priesthood has been inherited by Kawada clan, the further relative of the Fujiwara clan.

Amaterasu and Toyouke

Emperor Sujin appointed imperial daughter as a

Saiō A , was an unmarried female member of the Imperial House of Japan, Japanese Imperial Family, sent to Ise, Mie, Ise to serve at Ise Grand Shrine from the late 7th century until the 14th century. The Saiō's residence, , was about 10 km north ...

to serve "as a cane for Amaterasu" to find a new location to reside, and dispatched Toyosuki-iri to travel from present day Nara to neighboring areas. It is said that on the route, several locations hosted the spirit of Amaterasu by building her shrines, while Tango had the first of such shrines among the list of sites. Those shrines honor Amaterasu as their main kami are: *Geku, Ise Jingu ( Ise, Mie Prefecture), *Nagusha (Kyōtango, Kyoto prefecture), *Okumiya Ama no manai Shrine,

Kono jinja is a Shinto shrine in the Ōgaki neighborhood of the city of Miyazu, Kyoto, Miyazu in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Tango Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on April 24.The shrine is also cal ...

(

Miyazu, Kyoto 270px, Miyazu City Hall is a city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 16,988 in 8348 households and a population density of 98 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Miyazu is loca ...

prefecture), and * (Kyōtango). In addition, Toyouke-Ōmikami is worshiped at many branches of Ise shrines called Shimmei shrines, along with Amaterasu, and separate shrines are often built on the property of regular shrines for Toyouke-Ōmikami. There are also Inari shrines where they build alters for Toyouke as well. According to the discipline of Ise Shintō (Watarai Shintō) originated by a priest at Geku named , Toyouke-Ōmikami is recognized as the first divine being which appeared in this world. In their idea, Toyouke is also identical to Ame no minakanushi and Kuni no tokotachi. In this sect of Shinto, Geku, or the shrine of Toyouke-Ōmikami, is treated as ranked higher than Naiku, or the shrine of Amaterasu.

Mythology

Faith and rituals

The original location

Amaterasu and Toyouke

See also

Sources

Footnotes

Notes

References

Further reading