Ukanomitama (宇迦之御魂神 – Mighty Soul of Sustenance - ''

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 ...

'') (倉稲魂命 - '' Nihongi'') is a ''

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 ...

'' in classical

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 ...

, associated with food and agriculture, often identified with

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, ...

, the deity of rice.

Name and mythology

The ''Kojiki'' identifies Ukanomitama (宇迦之御魂神 ''Ukanomitama-no-Kami'') as the child of

Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (; historical orthography: , ) is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory chara ...

by his second wife Kamu-Ōichihime (神大市比売), a daughter of

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 ...

(大山津見神), the god of mountains. This text portrays Ukanomitama as the younger sibling of the harvest deity Ōtoshi-no-Kami.Chamberlain (1882)
Section XX.—The August Ancestors of the Deity-Master-Of-The-Great Land.
/ref> A variant account recorded in the ''Nihon Shoki'' meanwhile portrays Ukanomitama (here referred to as 倉稲魂命 ''Ukanomitama-no-Mikoto'') as an offspring of

Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally known as , is the creator deity (''kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can b ...

and

Izanami , formally known as , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifest ...

who were born when the two became hungry. The deity's name is understood as being derived from ''uka no mitama'', "august spirit (''mitama'') of food (''uka'')". While the above texts are silent regarding the deity's gender, Ukanomitama has long been interpreted to be female, perhaps due to association with other agricultural deities such as Toyouke or

Ukemochi , 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 ...

References

Bibliography

* * *Philippi, Donald L. (2015). ''Kojiki''. Princeton University Press. .

Name and mythology

References

Bibliography

See also