Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
God name "Ajisukitakahikone" | Islands | A god of thunder. He is the brother of Takemikazuchi and of Kaminari (Raijin). In infancy, his crying and screaming were so loud that he had to be placed in a boat and sailed around the islands of Japan until he was calm. In adulthood, he was the father of Takitsuhiko, a Rain god. |
Goddess name "Inar (rice-grower)" | Shinto / Japan | God (Goddess) of foodstuffs. The popular name of a god(dess) worshiped under the generic title Miketsu-No-Kami in the Shi-Den sanctuary of the imperial palace, but rarely elsewhere. The deity displays gender changes, develops many personalities and is revered extensively in Japan. Inari is often depicted as a bearded man riding a white fox but, in pictures sold at temple offices, (s)he is generally shown as a woman with long flowing hair, carrying sheafs of rice and sometimes, again, riding the white fox. Inari sanctuaries are painted bright red, unlike most other Shinto temples. They are further characterized by rows of wooden portals which form tunnels leading to the sanctuary. Sculptures of foxes are prolific (an animal endowed, in Japanese tradition, with supernatural powers) and the shrines are decorated with a special device, the Hoju-No-Tama, in the shape of a pear surrounded by small flames. Often identified with the food goddess TOYO-UKE-BIME.... |
God name "Inari" | Japan / Shinto | God of fertility, rice, Agriculture, and foxes. Inari's foxes, or kitsune, are pure white and act as his messengers. Japan / Shinto |
Goddess name "Toyo-Uke-Bime" | Shinto / Japan | Goddess of foodstuffs. An ambiguous deity often identified with Inari, she is said in the Kojiki to be a daughter of WakuMusubi-No-Kami and a great granddaughter of IZANAGI and IZANAMI. Her main sanctuary is the Geku in Ise, whither she was allegedly removed from Tamba after the emperor had received a dream-message from the Sun goddess AMATERASU in AD 478.... |