Toyouke-Ōmikami is the goddess of agriculture and industry in the
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 ...
religion. Originally enshrined in the Tanba region of Japan, she was called to reside at Gekū, Ise Shrine, about 1,500 years ago at the age of
Emperor Yūryaku
(418 - 8 September 479) was the 21st legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 雄略天皇 (21) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. He is remembered as a patron of sericulture.Nippon ...
to offer sacred food to
Amaterasu Ōmikami
Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the Solar deity, goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major Kami, deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary ...
, the Sun Goddess.
While popular as Toyouke-Ōhmikami presently, her name has been transcribed using Chinese characters in several manners including in " Kojiki", 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
In Kojiki, Toyouke-Ōmikami is described as the granddaughter to
Izanami
, formally known as , is the creator deity
A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God ...
via her father
Wakumusubi
Wakumusubi (和久産巣日神) is a kami of agriculture. In many versions, he was born from the urine of Izanami when she died. Another version of the Nihon Shoki states he was a child of Kagutsuchi and Haniyasu-hime.
He is enshrined at Aiki ...
, and Toyouke was said to settle to Gekū, Ise Shrine at after
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 kō ...
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
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 ...
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 ...
Ukanomitama
Ukanomitama (宇迦之御魂神 – Mighty Soul of Sustenance - ''Kojiki'') (倉稲魂命 - '' Nihongi'') is a ''kami'' in classical Japanese mythology, associated with food and agriculture, often identified with Inari, the deity of rice.
Name ...
.
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 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
was a province of Japan in the area of central Kyoto and east-central Hyōgo Prefectures. Tanba bordered on Harima, Ōmi, Settsu, Tajima, Wakasa, and Yamashiro Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō sys ...
.
Stories among various
Fudoki
are ancient reports on provincial culture, geography, and oral tradition presented to the reigning monarchs of Japan, also known as local gazetteers. They contain agricultural, geographical, and historical records as well as mythology and ...
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
was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or .
Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Setts ...
"Settsu-no-kuni fudoki" mentions that had lived in Tango.
Faith and rituals
The original location
In Mineyama Town,
Kyōtango
is a city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 52,683 in 22,886 households and a population density of 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is .
Geography
Kyōtango is located on the coast o ...
, 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
The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178.
History
In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of th ...
dating back to
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...
, 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
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 locat ...
: 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
was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until ...
.
Amaterasu and Toyouke
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 ...
appointed imperial daughter as a Saiō to serve "as a cane for Amaterasu" to find a new location to reside, and dispatched Toyosuki-iri to travel from present day
Nara
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
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 Ise may refer to:
Places
* Ise, Mie, a city in Japan
**Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie
* Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria
*Ise, Norway, a village in Norway
*Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan
* River Ise, a tributary of th ...
,
Mie Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefectur ...
),
*Nagusha (Kyōtango, Kyoto prefecture),
*Okumiya Ama no manai Shrine, Kono jinja ( Miyazu, Kyoto 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
Inari may refer to:
Shinto
* Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit
** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari
** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari
* Inari-zushi, a type of sushi
Places
* 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.
See also
*
List of Japanese deities
This is a list of divinities native to Japanese beliefs and religious traditions. Many of these are from Shinto, while others were imported via Buddhism or Taoism and were "integrated" into Japanese mythology and folklore.
Major kami
* Amateras ...
*
Honji suijaku
The term in Japanese religious terminology refers to a theory widely accepted until the Meiji period according to which Indian Buddhist deities choose to appear in Japan as native ''kami'' to more easily convert and save the Japanese.Breen and Te ...
Sources
* Originally published in 1954.
*
*
*
*
Footnotes
Notes
References
Further reading
* Anzu, Motohiko. "" . pp. 1–18, '. (79).
Taisha, Shimane
is a town located in Hikawa District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan.
As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 15,733 and a density of 376.39 persons per km2. The total area was 41.80 km2.
On March 22, 2005, Taisha, along with th ...
: Shinto gakkai (ed.), November 1973, , .
* "Inner shrine, Ise, early 1st cent. (rebuilt 1993)".
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
:
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Picken, Stuart D. B. "Faith-Based Schools in Japan: Paradoxes and Pointers". Chapman, Judith D.; ''International Handbook of Learning, Teaching and Leading in Faith-Based Schools''; 515–531; Springer Netherlands : Dordrecht. , , .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toyouke-Omikami
Japanese goddessesAgricultural goddessesFood deitiesHarvest goddesses