, commonly known as , the daughter of the Shinto deities

Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally referred to with a divine honorific as , is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the ...

and

Izanami , formally referred to with the honorific , 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 ...

, is a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

in the

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In some differing interpretations, Ukemochi is referred to as both male and female. When shown in other forms, Ukemochi takes the shape of a fox. Ōgetsu-hime is married to Hayamato (羽山戸神, Hayamato-no-kami), who is the son of

Toshigami , also known as , is a Japanese kami and a part of the Shinto pantheon. Etymology The 年 (nen) kanji originally meant "harvest", which became "year" over time as harvest happened once each year. ''Toshigami'' was therefore the god of abundant ...

through his wife Amechikarumizu-hime (天知迦流美豆比売) 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 ...

,'' making Hayamato her great-grandnephew through her brother

Ōyamatsumi __FORCETOC__ Ōyama-tsumi or Ohoyama-tsumi (Kojiki: or Nihon Shoki: , , ), also Ōyama-tsumi-mi'oya-no-mikoto (), is a god of mountains, sea, and war in Japanese mythology. He is an elder brother of Amaterasu and Susanoo. His other names are Wat ...

. In some legends, Ukemochi is also married to Inari and in others, she is Inari. According to the ''

,'' after

Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (, ; historical orthography: , ), often referred to by the honorific title Susanoo-no-Mikoto (), is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese im ...

was banished from heaven, he asked Ōgetsu-hime to give him food, and she did so by producing various food items from her nose, mouth and rectum. Thinking that she had poisoned the food by doing this, Susanoo killed her. After she died,

silkworms ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...

grew from her head, rice seeds grew from her eyes,

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

grew from her ear, red beans grew from her nose,

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

grew from her genitals, and

soy beans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

grew from her rectum. After her death,

Kamimusubi Kamimusubi (神産巣日, lit. "Spirit Generative Force"), also known as Kamimusuhi among other variants, is a ''kami'' and god of creation in Japanese mythology. They are a '' hitorigami,'' and the third of the first three ''kami'' to come into ...

took seeds from her body and planted them in the ground. Another version of the myth features Ōgetsu-hime by her more common name, Ukemochi, and in this version, the moon god

Tsukuyomi , or simply or , is the moon kami in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the Old Japanese words and . The ''Nihon Shoki'' mentions this name spelled as , but this ''yumi'' is likely a variation ...

visits her on behalf of his sister-wife, the sun goddess

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

. Ukemochi sought to entertain him and prepared a feast. First, she faced the land and opened her mouth, and boiled rice came out. Next, she faced the

ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

and spit out fish and seaweed, then she faced the

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

and bountiful game spewed out of her mouth. She prepared the food and served it to

, but he was so disgusted by how she had produced the food and thought she had disrespected him and made the food impure. Feeling offended by the slight from the lesser deity, he killed her and returned to heaven. Her dead body produced both food and animals: cows and horses came from her head, silkworms came from her eyebrows, millet came from her forehead and a rice plant sprouted from her stomach. While different sources mention similar items that came from Ukemochi's body, from which part of her body these items came from is less agreed upon. It is believed that this version of Ukemochi's death explained why the sun and the moon are not seen together as the sun goddess,

, who heard of Ukemochi's passing, never wanted to meet her killer, the moon god,

, again, or that Tsukuyomi hid during the day out of fear of Amaterasu's wrath. In addition, in a legend passed down in Iwami district (石見地方) in

Shimane Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a ge ...

(島根県), her daughter and deity Otogosa-hime (乙子狭姫) rode on a red goose and descended to transmit the seeds of the crops to the ground. Otogosa-hime was able to get food from anywhere on her body. Ukemochi, Inari, and Toyouke are all said to be connected to each other. For example, Ukemochi is also called Wakaukanome and thought to be somewhat connected to or identical with

Toyouke-hime Toyouke-hime is the goddess of agriculture, industry, food, clothing, and houses in the Shinto 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 Empe ...

. She is also thought to be linked to or identical with Inari.

References

External links

*Encyclopedia of Shinto - http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp *Ukemochi on th
Japanese History Database
{{Jmyth navbox long Food deities Food goddesses Japanese goddesses Origin myths Shinto kami Inari faith Kunitsukami

See also

References

External links