Toyouke-hime
Goddess of food and grain in the Shinto religion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toyouke-hime (豊宇気毘売, Toyouke-bime; lit. "Luxuriant Food Princess")[1] is the deity (kami) of food and grain in Japan.[2] Originally enshrined in the Tanba Province[a], it is said she was called to reside at the Outer Shrine (外宮, Gekū) of Ise Shrine in the 5th century, during the reign of Emperor Yūryaku, to offer sacred food to Amaterasu, the ruling kami and sun goddess.[3] She is worshipped as a secondary kami at Chōkaisan Ōmonoimi Shrine.
Toyouke Daijingu
- Wakumusubi (father)
| Toyouke-hime | |
|---|---|
Goddess of food and grain | |
| Other names | Luxuriant food princess |
| Major cult centre | Chōkaisan Ōmonoimi Shrine Toyouke Daijingu |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents |
|
While now popular as Toyouke-Ōhmikami,[3] her name has been transcribed using Chinese characters in several manners including Toyouke bime no kami (豊宇気毘売神) in the Kojiki,[3][4] while there is no entry about her in the Nihon Shoki.
Several alternative transcription and names are attributed to this goddess including Toyouke-Okami, Toyouke-Ōmikami, Toyoukebime no kami (豊受気媛神),[5] Toyuuke no kami (登由宇気神),[3][6] Toyouka no Menokami (止与宇可乃売神),[b] Toyuke no Ōkami (等由気太神),[3][7] and Toyohirume (とよひるめ). A male and female pair thought to be identical to Toyouke-Ōhmikami: the god Ōmonoimi (ja:大物忌神), who is enshrined on Mount Chōkai in Yamagata Prefecture, the northernmost post of the Yamato Kingship, and the goddess Toyooka-hime (豊岡姫).[3][c]
There is a separate shrine dedicated to Toyouke-Ōmikami no ara-mitama (豊受大御神荒魂) called the Taka-no-miya (多賀宮) inside the Gekū.
Mythology
In the Kojiki, Toyouke-hime is noted as the daughter of Wakumusubi and granddaughter of Izanami. After the tenson kōrin, she became enshrined in the “outer shrine in Watarai”.[3] The uke (受) in her name refers to food, making her the kami of food and grains.[3] This is why she has come to be conflated with Inari Ōkami and Ukanomitama in the same way as other food-related kami such as Ōgetsu-hime (Ukemochi).[5]
The head priest of Toyouke Daijingu submitted Toyukegū Gishikichō (止由気宮儀式帳; Protocols of the Toyuke Shrine) to the Department of Divinities in 804,[7] in which it is told that Toyouke-hime had originally been in Tanba Province.[5] It records that Amaterasu came to Emperor Yūryaku in a dream and told him she alone was not able to supply enough food and needed him to bring Toyuke-no-Ōkami (等由気大神), the kami of divine food, from Manai Pond in Hiji Village, Tanba Province.[3]
In the lost fudoki Tango no Kuni Fudoki (丹後国風土記) is a story explaining the origin of Nagu Shrine (奈具神社, Nagu Jinja) in which eight heavenly women were bathing in Manai Pond atop the hill Hijiyama in Hiji Village, Tanba Province. An elderly couple then hides one of the women's clothes, preventing her from returning to the heavenly realm.[3] The woman lives in the elderly couple’s home for a while making sake that cures all ills, but she is chased from the house after about ten years. After wandering for some time, she settles in Nagu Village.[8] This woman is Toyoukanome-no-Mikoto (豊宇賀能売命), another name for Toyouke-hime.[3]
Another lost fudoki, Settsu no Kuni Fudoki (摂津国風土記), tells that Toyouka no Menokami (止与宇可乃売神) was on the mountain of Inakuradake in Settsu Province for a short time.[3][d]
Faith and rituals
The original location
In Mineyama Town, Kyōtango, Kyoto prefecture, there is a well Seisuido (清水戸) and a story of the now lost half-moon-shaped rice paddy Tsukinowa den (月の輪田). They are believed to be the site where Toyouke had soaked rice seeds to encourage germination and planted the first rice.[9] The Hinumanai Shrine (比沼麻奈為神社) is mentioned in Engishiki dating back to Heian period, as Taniwa (田庭) 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 Tamba/Tanba (丹波).
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 cuboid (盤座, Iwakura), which has been worshiped as Ōmiae-ishi (大饗石).
There is a shrine named Moto-Ise Toyouke Daijingu in Ōemachi, Fukuchiyama City[3] 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 Princess Toyosuki-iri (豊鍬入姫命, Toyosuki-iri hime) 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 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 relocation sites. Those shrines honor Amaterasu as their main kami are:
- Geku, Ise Jingu (Ise, Mie Prefecture),[3]
- Nagusha (Kyōtango, Kyoto prefecture),[3]
- Okumiya Ama no manai Shrine, Kono jinja (Miyazu, Kyoto prefecture),[3] and
- Hinumanai Shrine (Kyōtango).
In addition, Toyouke-Ōmikami is worshiped at many branches of Ise shrines called Shinmei shrines, along with Amaterasu,[5] and separate shrines are often built on the property of regular shrines for Toyouke-Ōmikami. There are also Inari shrines where they build altars for Toyouke as well.[5]
According to the discipline of Ise Shintō (Watarai Shintō) originated by a priest at Geku named Watarai Ieyuki (度会家行), 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.[10]
Omonoimi
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Omonoimi no Kami is the God of Chōkaisan Ōmonoimi Shrine and Mount Chokai.[11][12] There are shrines that enshrine Omonoiminokami in various other places in the Tohoku region, including Chōkai gassan ryōsho-gu.
Omonoimi no kami is considered possibly identical to Toyouke-hime[e][3]
He is associated with industrial growth.[13]
Every time Mount Chōkai erupted his rank increased.[14][12]
See also
Footnotes
Notes
- This included the Tango region before it separated from the Tanba Province during the Nara period, where Kono Shrine is located.
- Dispute exists on whether Toyooka-hime is identical to Yafune Toyouke-hime-no-mikoto (屋船豊宇気姫命).
- Ōmonoimi-no-kami is believed to be the god of Mount Chōkai in Yamagata prefecture, or the northernmost post of the land of Yamato.