Ukanomitama

Ukanomitama (宇迦之御魂神 – Mighty Soul of Sustenance^[1] - 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.

Ukanomitama-no-Kami
Goddess of food and agriculture
Heian period statue of Ukanomitama at Ozu Shrine in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture
Other names	Ukanomitama-no-Mikoto (倉稲魂命) Mikura-no-Kami (御倉神) Miketsukami (御食津神, 三狐神)
Japanese	宇迦之御魂神
Major cult center	Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kasama Inari Shrine, Yūtoku Inari Shrine and others
Texts	Kojiki, Nihon Shoki and others
Genealogy
Parents	Susanoo-no-Mikoto and Kamuōichihime (Kojiki) Izanagi and Izanami (Nihon Shoki)
Siblings	Ōtoshi (Kojiki)

Name and mythology

The Kojiki identifies Ukanomitama (宇迦之御魂神 Ukanomitama-no-Kami) as the child of Susanoo by his second wife Kamu-Ōichihime (神大市比売), who was a daughter of Ōyamatsumi (大山津見神), the god of mountains. This text portrays Ukanomitama as the younger sibling of the harvest deity Ōtoshi-no-Kami.^[2][3]

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 and Izanami who was born when the two became hungry.^[4]

The deity's name is understood as being derived from uka no mitama, "august spirit (mitama) of food (uka)".^[2][5] 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.

Family tree

• v
• t
• e

Ōyamatsumi[6][7][8]

Susanoo[9][10][11]: 277

Kamuo Ichihime[7][8][12][13]

Konohanachiru-hime[14][11]: 277

Ashinazuchi[15][16]

Tenazuchi[16]

Toshigami[13][12]

Ukanomitama[7][8] (Inari)[17]

Oyamakui[18]

Kushinadahime[16][19][11]: 277

Yashimajinumi[14][11]: 277

Kagutsuchi[20]

Kuraokami[21]

Hikawahime [ja][22][11]: 278

Fuha-no-Mojikunusunu [ja][11]: 278

Fukabuchi-no-Mizuyarehana [ja][11]: 278

Ame-no-Tsudoechine [ja][11]: 278

Funozuno [ja][11]: 278

Sashikuni Okami [ja][11]: 278

Omizunu[11]: 278

Futemimi [ja][11]: 278

Sashikuni Wakahime [ja][11]: 278

Ame-no-Fuyukinu[23][24][11]: 278

Takamimusubi[25][26]

Futodama[25][26]

Nunakawahime[27]

Ōkuninushi[28][11]: 278  (Ōnamuchi)[29]

Kamotaketsunumi no Mikoto[30]

Kotoshironushi[31][32]

Tamakushi-hime[30]

Takeminakata[33][34]

Susa Clan[35]

JAPANESE EMPERORS

711–585 BC Jimmu[36] 660–585 BC(1)

Himetataraisuzu-hime[36]

Kamo no Okimi[31][37]

Mirahime [ja]

632–549 BC Suizei[38][39][40] 581–549 BC(2)

Isuzuyori-hime[37][41]

Hikoyai[38][39][40]

Kamuyaimimi[38][39][40] d.577 BC

Miwa clan and Kamo clan

Nunasokonakatsu-hime[42][31]

Imperial House of Japan

Ō clan[43][44] and Aso clan[45]

• Pink is female.
• Blue is male.
• Grey means other or unknown.
• Clans, families, people groups are in green.

References

1. "Ukanomitama • A History of Japan - 日本歴史". A History of Japan - 日本歴史. Archived from the original on 2021-09-11. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
2. Chamberlain (1882). Section XX.—The August Ancestors of the Deity-Master-Of-The-Great Land. Archived 2020-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
3. Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. p. 92.
4. Aston, William George (1896). "Book I" . Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. p. 22  – via Wikisource.
5. Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. p. 621.
6. Kaoru, Nakayama (7 May 2005). "Ōyamatsumi". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
7. Chamberlain (1882). Section XIX.—The Palace of Suga.
8. Chamberlain (1882). Section XX.—The August Ancestors of the Deity-Master-of-the-Great-Land.
9. Atsushi, Kadoya (10 May 2005). "Susanoo". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
10. "Susanoo | Description & Mythology". Encyclopedia Britannica.
11. Herbert, J. (2010). Shinto: At the Fountainhead of Japan. Routledge Library Editions: Japan. Taylor & Francis. p. 402. ISBN 978-1-136-90376-2. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
12. 大年神 [Ōtoshi-no-kami] (in Japanese). Kotobank. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
13. 大年神 [Ōtoshi-no-kami] (in Japanese). Kokugakuin University. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
14. Mori, Mizue. "Yashimajinumi". Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of Shinto.
15. Frédéric, L.; Louis-Frédéric; Roth, K. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press reference library. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
16. "My Shinto: Personal Descriptions of Japanese Religion and Culture". www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
17. “‘My Own Inari’: Personalization of the Deity in Inari Worship.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 23, no. 1/2 (1996): 87-88
18. "Ōtoshi | 國學院大學デジタルミュージアム". 2022-08-17. Archived from the original on 2022-08-17. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
19. "Encyclopedia of Shinto - Home : Kami in Classic Texts : Kushinadahime". eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp.
20. "Kagutsuchi". World History Encyclopedia.
21. Ashkenazi, M. (2003). Handbook of Japanese Mythology. Handbooks of world mythology. ABC-CLIO. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-57607-467-1. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
22. Chamberlain, B.H. (2012). Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters. Tuttle Classics. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4629-0511-9. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
23. Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. p. 92.
24. Chamberlain (1882). Section XX.—The August Ancestors of the Deity-Master-Of-The-Great Land.
25. Ponsonby-Fane, R. A. B. (2014-06-03). Studies In Shinto & Shrines. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-89294-3.
26. "Encyclopedia of Shinto - Home : Kami in Classic Texts : Futodama". eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
27. Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. pp. 104–112.
28. Atsushi, Kadoya; Tatsuya, Yumiyama (20 October 2005). "Ōkuninushi". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
29. Atsushi, Kadoya (21 April 2005). "Ōnamuchi". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
30. The Emperor's Clans: The Way of the Descendants, Aogaki Publishing, 2018.
31. Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. Columbia University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780231049405.
32. Atsushi, Kadoya (28 April 2005). "Kotoshironushi". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
33. Sendai Kuji Hongi, Book 4 (先代舊事本紀 巻第四), in Keizai Zasshisha, ed. (1898). Kokushi-taikei, vol. 7 (国史大系 第7巻). Keizai Zasshisha. pp. 243–244.
34. Chamberlain (1882). Section XXIV.—The Wooing of the Deity-of-Eight-Thousand-Spears.
35. Tanigawa Ken'ichi [de] 『日本の神々 神社と聖地 7 山陰』（新装復刊） 2000年 白水社 ISBN 978-4-560-02507-9
36. Kazuhiko, Nishioka (26 April 2005). "Isukeyorihime". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
37. 『神話の中のヒメたち　もうひとつの古事記』p94-97「初代皇后は「神の御子」」
38. 日本人名大辞典+Plus, デジタル版. "日子八井命とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-06-01.
39. ANDASSOVA, Maral (2019). "Emperor Jinmu in the Kojiki". Japan Review (32): 5–16. ISSN 0915-0986. JSTOR 26652947.
40. "Visit Kusakabeyoshimi Shrine on your trip to Takamori-machi or Japan". trips.klarna.com. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
41. 『図説　歴代天皇紀』p42-43「綏靖天皇」
42. Anston, p. 143 (Vol. 1)
43. Grapard, Allan G. (2023-04-28). The Protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Kasuga Cult in Japanese History. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-91036-2.
44. Tenri Journal of Religion. Tenri University Press. 1968.
45. Takano, Tomoaki; Uchimura, Hiroaki (2006). History and Festivals of the Aso Shrine. Aso Shrine, Ichinomiya, Aso City.: Aso Shrine.

Bibliography

• Aston, William George, tr. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Chamberlain, Basil, tr. (1882). A Translation of the "Ko-Ji-Ki," or "Records of Ancient Matters". Yokohama: Lane, Crawford & Co.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1400878000.

See also

• Toyouke-Ōmikami
• Ukemochi