Set in the late 1800s, this dark YA fantasy moves from London to Japan as our protagonist, soul collector Ren flees an untenable situation and tries desperately to find somewhere to belong. Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren’s status in the hierarchy of London Reapers is precarious at best. Attacked by three (bratty) High Reapers who delight in torturing her but are untouchable because of their rank and connections, Ren’s suppressed Shinigami powers break free to defend herself. Left with no choice but to flee, accompanied by her half brother Neven, Ren makes her way to Japan and seeks an audience with the Death Goddess, hoping to be accepted in her mother’s homeland. Assigned apparently impossible tasks, Ren has to use all her skills and cunning to accomplish them, helped by local fisher spirit Hiro.

Wow. I’m still a bit stunned a full day after putting this book down; the worldbuilding is absolutely spectacular, with a ton of Japanese mythology incorporated into the story as we learn about it through Ren’s eyes. There are also some amazing twists and turns I really didn’t see coming, including something of a cliffhanger at the end (this is apparently part 1 of a duology).

Be aware: it is dark. Ren is sometimes hard to feel sympathetic for, and there are moments when she’s actively cruel. There’s a lot of death (including an awful animal death early on) and at least one major character death which came as quite a shock to me. Go in understanding that this delves into the darker side of death mythology and Japanese legends, and I think you’ll be absolutely fascinated, and hanging out for book 2, just as I am! Five stars for an amazing read.

The Keeper of Night is available now. Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.

Fox Spirit from Eastern Mythology - Aluminum Foil Sculpture

In Higashiyoshino Village [東吉野村] (Yoshino Dist. [吉野郡], Nara Prefecture) there is a shrine called Mid-Niukawakami Shrine [丹生川上神社中社] (above), but the locals also calls it Aridōshi Shrine [蟻通神社] for Aridōshi-myōjin [蟻通明神] is enshrined as one of the deity.

Long time ago (presumably during 9th century AC), an elderly couple were exiled from the city by the Japanese Emperor for being too old to sustain themselves. An Imperial lieutenant general, however, took pity on them and secretly provided refuge to the couples. After a while, a Tàng Dynasty Emperor decided to conquer Japan, but first wanted to test the Japanese Emperor's intelligence. Alas, one of the challenges that the Chinese Emperor poised to the Japanese Emperor was: attach a string on an ant and make it come out from a different ant hole with the string still intact. Unable to solve this challenge himself, the Japanese Emperor tasked the lieutenant general to find a solution who then asked the same elderly couple for an answer. The couple suggested the lieutenant general to place syrups on an ant hole. Taking this solution, the lieutenant general then released the ant tied with a string and as the ant smelled the sweet scent from the syrup, successfully came out from one hole to another carrying the string. After noticing that the Japanese Emperor overcame the challenge, the Chinese Emperor abandoned all plans to invade Japan and as the lieutenant general later confessed that such pending war was only avoided thanks to the wisdom provided by the elderly couple, the Japanese Emperor allowed them to return to the city as well as abolishing the law of exiling old people. The lieutenant general, on the other hand, was deified as Aridōshi-myōjin after his death and was enshrined at Mid-Niukawakami Shrine. ①

This story from Nara Prefecture, however, isn't the only version telling the origin of Aridōshi-myōjin for there's another shrine by the name of Aritōshi Shrine [蟻通神社] (below) in Izumisano City [泉佐野市] (Ōsaka) as well. According to "Otogi-zōshi" [御伽草子] established from Kamakura to Edo Period, the Tàng Chinese Emperor challenged the Japanese government to make an ant tied with strings of 5 different colors to come out from the mouth of a trumpet shell via the opposite end instead and failure to do so resulted in the Tàng Chinese invasion of Japan. In this legend, the same lieutenant general took up the challenge by himself. After the success, the lieutenant general this time revealed his true identity by declaring to be Aridōshi-myōjin of Aritōshi Shrine before vanishing into thin air. ②

Furthermore, Aridōshi-myōjin also made an appearance in the famous Nō play titled "Aridōshi" [蟻通] written by Zeami [世阿弥] (1363-1443). In this play, a Heian Period noble and poet Ki-no-Tsurayuki [紀 貫之] (866?-945?) was in a hurry travelling through Kumano Highway [熊野街道] to visit both Grand Sumiyoshi Shrine [住吉大社] (Ōsaka City [大阪市], Ōsaka) and Tamatsushima Shrine [玉津島神社] (Wakayama City [和歌山市], Wakayama Prefecture), but was bogged down by heavy rain which forced him and his party to seek shelter in Aridōshi Shrine for the night. Though suddenly, Tsurayuki's horse collapsed and died. While contemplating what was happening, the shrine's keeper immerged from the darkness weeping out of utter loneliness and explained that his horse died as a punishment of Aridōshi-myōjin for Tsurayuki, not knowing that he was at Aritōshi Shrine due to the absence of lamp lights, didn't dismantle from the horse when he entered the shrine. In order to appease the deity and restore his favor, the elderly shrine keeper proposed to Tsurayuki in creating a poetic verse as an apology. For Tsurayuki's poem was composed of good, sincere heart, Aridōshi-myōjin resurrected his horse. Alas, Tsurayuki's pilgrimage recommenced after giving thanks to Aridōshi-myōjin.

The old shrine keeper from "Aridōshi".

Sources:

1. "Nara-no-mukashibanashi (10)" [奈良のむかしばなし (10)] via Nara Prefecture's official webpage.

2. "Aridōshi-myōjin-no-engi" [蟻通明神の縁起] via Kokugaku-in University's repository

Japanese Mythology & Deities

The world of the Divine Spirit, the Gods in our lives

The Ox-Headed Heavenly King (Gozu Tenno)

The Gion Festival at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto originates from the Gion Goryo-e, a festival held in the Heian period (794-1185) to prevent evil spirits and plague gods from entering the capital. The deity enshrined at this ceremony was Gozu Tenno.

Gozu Tenno was originally regarded as the guardian deity of the Gion Seisha in India, the birthplace of the Buddha. In the Onmyōdō (“Yin and Yang”) sect, he was equated with the Tendoshin (“God of Heaven”). In the days of the Shinto-Buddhist syncretism, he was equated with Susanoo-no-Mikoto (Ref).

In any case, as the Gion Matsuri and Tenno Matsuri spread throughout the country, the custom of worshipping Gozu Tenno as a deity to ward off epidemics and disasters spread throughout the country. 

His true identity is that of Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaiṣajyaguru), but he manifested himself as the only son of Mutō Tennō ("the Heavenly King”) of the Fertility Country in the middle of Mt.Syumisen, having issued twelve great petitions.

[to be continued]

日本神話と神様たち

神霊の世界・暮らしの中の神々

牛頭天王（ごずてんのう）

京都・八坂神社の祇園祭は、平安時代、都に悪霊や疫神が侵入するのを防ぐために行われた祇園御霊会（ごりょうえ）に由来する。この御霊会の祭神が牛頭天王（ごずてんのう）である。

牛頭天王（ごずてんのう）は、もとは釈迦の生誕地に因むインドの祇園精舎（しょうじゃ）の守護神とされた。また陰陽道では天道神と同一視され、神仏習合（しんぶつしゅうごう）の時代には、須佐之男命（すさのお：参照）と同一視された。

いずれにしろ、祇園祭や天王祭が各地に伝播（でんば）していくにつれ、牛頭天王（ごずてんのう）を疫病、災厄除けの神として祀る風習が各地に普及した。

彼の本地仏（＝正体）は薬師如来（やくしにょらい）であるが、彼は12の大願を発し、須彌山（しゅみせん）中腹にある豊饒国（ぶにゅうこく）の武答天王（むとうてんのう）の一人息子として垂迹し、姿をあらわした。

Suzuhiko hime - 鈴彦姫

The Suzuhiko hime is one of the many tsukumogami (household items that were possessed by spirits resulting in sentient objects) that are present in the world of Yokai. They look like young girls dressed either as a princess or shrine maiden, covered in bells, with a large bell for a head. The Suzuhiko hime are bells that were originally used for ritual dances, specifically the kagura dance. The bells were neglected eventually resulting in the Suzuhiko hime after being possessed. The Suzuhiko hime doesn't harm people. Rather they dance around in ritualistic movements similar to the dances they were once used as holy instruments for.

If you would like to see a kagura dance this is a video where you can watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RwqWhMS688

Art found here: https://starsoulart.artstation.com/projects/PoqK4r

Japanese Mythology & Deities

Major Gods in the Chronicles (41)

Sukunabikona-no-kami ~ A drawf god riding on a rough potato pod & clad in moth skin

When the god Okuninushi was pondering the creation of a nation at the cape of Miho in Izumo, a little god who stripped the skin of moths for clothing appeared from the far side of the sea in a boat made of the rough potato pod, the guest deity. This was the god Sukunabikona.

The Okuninushi asked the little god his name, but he had no answer, and his attendants did not know it either. Then the toad Tanigugu appeared and said, “Kuebiko would know this one.

Tanigiku is a god who appears in Japanese mythology. The toad was thought to be "a being who knows every inch of the land” or “a ruler who crawls on the earth”, because he lived everywhere on earth.

Kuebiko is the scarecrow of Yamada. This deity is said to be unable to walk on his feet, but he knows everything there is to know about the world.

Later, the dwarf god Sukunabikona became the right-hand man of Okuninushi, and played an active role in the founding of Izumo.

He is said to have worked with Okuninushi to determine how to eliminate disease and remove damage from insects, birds and animals. He is also said to have cured the ailing Okuninushi by bathing him in Hayami-no-yu, a hot spring with medicinal properties, in Oita.

For this reason, he is also known as the god of hot springs. And he is known as the god of sake making, as sake has been considered a medicine since ancient times and Sukunabikona spread the art of sake making.

Sukunabikona later climbed up a stalk of millet and was flung by it into the Land of Everlasting Life.

It should be noted that Sukunabikona-no-kami is also thought to be the prototype for the “little children” who appear in Japanese fairytales and folklore, such as “One-Dimensional Boy” and “Princess Kaguya”.

日本神話と神様たち

記紀に登場する主な神々(41)

少名毘古那神（すくなびこなのかみ）~ガガイモの鞘に乗り、蛾の皮を纏って現れた小人神

大国主神（おおくにぬしのかみ）が、出雲の美保岬（みほのみさき）で、国づくりについて頭を悩ませていたとき、蛾の皮を丸剥ぎにして衣服とする小さな神が、海の彼方から天の羅摩船（あめのかがみのふね＝ガガイモの鞘でできた舟）に乗って現れた客人神（まろうどがみ）がいた。それが少名毘古那神（すくなびこなのかみ）である。

大国主神はその小さな神に名を尋ねたが、答えがなく、従者もその名を知らなかった。そこにヒキガエルの多邇具久（たにぐく）が現れて、「これは久延毘古（くえびこ）なら知っているでしょう」と言った。

多邇具久（たにぐく）とは、日本神話に現れる神である。谷蟆（ヒキガエル）は、地上のどこにでも生息しているため、「国土の隅々まで知り尽くした存在」であるとか「地上を這い回る支配者」と考えられていた。

久延毘古（くえびこ）とは、山田の案山子のことである。この神は、足は歩くことはできないが、天下のことはことごとく知っているということである。

こののち、小人神の少名毘古那神（すくなびこ）は、大国主神の右腕となり、出雲建国のために活躍する。

大国主神とともに病を除く方法や、虫害・鳥獣の害を除去する方法を定めたとされている。また、病に苦しむ大国主神を大分の速水湯（はやみのゆ、薬効のある温泉）で湯浴みさせ、治したという。このことから、温泉の神としても知られている。また酒は古来薬の一つとされ、スクナビコナが酒造りの技術を広めたことから、酒造りの神としても知られる。

少名毘古那神（すくなびこなのかみ）はのちに、粟の茎をよじ登り、それにはじかれて常世国（とこよのくに）へ渡って行った。

なお、少名毘古那神（すくなびこなのかみ）は、日本のおとぎ話や伝承に登場する「一寸法師」や「かぐや姫」などの「小な子」の原型とも考えられている。

Japanese Mythology & Deities

Major Gods in the Chronicles (30)

Princess Ichikishimahime ~ Sarasvati, Benzaiten, the second of the three Munakata goddesses

Ichikishimahime is one of the three Munakata goddesses who were born at the scene of the oath between Amaterasu and Susanoo.

These three goddesses are incarnated from the mist that arose when Amaterasu broke Susanoo’s Totsuka (ten-fisted) sword into three sections and sprinkled water from the Manai of Heaven over it before biting into her mouth and blowing it out.

They have long been worshipped as guardians of maritime traffic by people living in the Genkai Sea. The Genkai Sea (Genkai-nada) is a body of water that comprises the southwestern tip of the Sea of Japan and borders the northern coasts of Fukuoka and Saga prefectures.

Of the three deities, Ichikishimahime is the most important. In the Middle Ages, this deity was worshipped in conjunction with Sarasivati, a water deity of Indian origin, due to the spread of the Honjisuijaku ideology. In the Edo period (1603-1868), the goddess became Benzaiten, one of the seven gods of good fortune and she was often invoked as a guardian deity.

日本神話と神様たち

記紀に登場する主な神々(30)

市寸島比売命（いちきしまひめ）~ 宗像三女神の次女、弁財天・サラスヴァティー

市寸島比売命（いちきしまひめ）または市杵島姫（いちきしまひめ）は、天照大御神(あまてらす)と須佐之男命（すさのお）との誓約（うけい）の場面で誕生した宗像三女神（むなかたさんじょしん）の一人である。

この三女神は、天照大御神(あまてらす)が須佐之男命（すさのお）の十拳剣を三段に折って、天の真名井（まない）の水を振りそそいでから口に噛んで吹き出したときの霧から化生する。

そして、玄界灘（げんかいなだ）にくらす人々によって古くから海上交通の守護神として信仰されている。玄界灘（げんかいなだ）は、日本海の南西端を構成する水域で、福岡県と佐賀県の北岸に接している。

三神のうち特に重要なのは、この市寸島比売命（いちきしまひめ）である。この神は、中世には本地垂迹（ほんじすいじゃく）思想の流布により、インド起源の水神・サラスヴァティーと習合、崇拝されるようになる。また七福神の一神、弁財天（弁才天）となり、江戸時代には財産の神、技芸の神として大いに流行し、寺院や地域の鎮守神としてしばしば勧請された。

Shinigami

Day 31. Tsukiyomi - 月詠命 -

@modernmythsnet | Event Thirty-Two | Horror | Natural ↳ tengu

Sun Shower

In Japanese, sun shower is sometimes referred to as “Kitsune-no-yomeiri” [狐の嫁入り] meaning “Fox’s Wedding” when translated directly to English. 

The history behind this unique term’s creation, according to “Hokusai-yōkai-hyakkei” [北斎妖怪百景] (2004) by Natsuhiko Kyōgoku [京極 夏彦] (1963 - present), can be traced back to Edo Period when artist Hokusai Katsushika [葛飾 北斎] (1760 ? - 1849) illustrated a Ukie scenery titled: “Kitsune-no-yomeiri-zu” [狐の嫁入り図] where a group of foxes heading to their wedding ceremony accompanying the gloom and the spouse during a sun shower. 

This idea of “fox’s wedding + sun shower” later caught on and was popularized even further as famous Japanese poets during both Edo Period and Meiji Era such as Issa Kobayashi [小林 一茶] (1763 - 1828) and Shiki Masaoka [正岡 子規] (1867 - 1902) implemented Katsushika’s concept into their poetry works. Subsequently, the reference “Fox’s Wedding” (Kitsune-no-yomeiri) became a word to indicate “sun shower”. 

AMATERASU OMIKAMI

Amaterasu is the Shinto sun goddess and the mythical ancestor of the Japanese imperial family. Her name means “Shining in the Heaven,” and her epithet is Omikami, “Great and Exalted Divinity.” As the sun goddess, she is the greatest of the Japanese gods, ruler of the Plain of Heaven.

Izanami (Izanami-no-Mikoto or Izanami-no-kami) is a goddess of creation and death in Japanese mythology. Alongside her brother, Izanagi, she was summoned into the world by the first gods and charged with the creating the first land. From the union between Izanagi and Izanami were born the oyashima, or “the great eight islands.” Later came six more island, and many deities. Izanami died giving birth to Kagu-suchi, the incarnation of fire. Izanagi, her brother and husband, journeyed to Yomi (”the shadow of the land”) to retrieve her, but she had eaten of the food of the underworld and was now one with the land of the dead. 

Izanami’s appearance had been hidden due to the shadows, but when Izanagi cast light upon her, he saw that her form had become horrid and rotten. He fled, and she chased him to the entrance to the Yomi, swearing that if he left her she would destroy 1000 residents of the living every day, to which Izanagi furiously replied he would give life to 1500.