Ukanomitama

Ukanomitama 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 namesUkanomitama-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 centerFushimi Inari Taisha, Kasama Inari Shrine, Yūtoku Inari Shrine and others
TextsKojiki, Nihon Shoki and others
Personal information
ParentsSusanoo and Kamu-Ōichihime (Kojiki)
Izanagi and Izanami (Nihon Shoki)
SiblingsŌtoshi (Kojiki)

Name and mythology

The Kojiki identifes 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), 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.[1][2]

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 were born when the two became hungry.[3]

The deity's name is understood as being derived from uka no mitama, "august spirit (mitama) of food (uka)".[1][4] 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.

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References
  1. Chamberlain (1882). Section XX.—The August Ancestors of the Deity-Master-Of-The-Great Land.
  2. Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. p. 92.
  3. 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.
  4. Philippi, Donald L. (2015). Kojiki. Princeton University Press. p. 621.

Bibliography

See also


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