SMTIVF Eighth Topic: Sukunahikona and the Mythology of the Powers in Ancient Japan

A topic that’s short but full of information today, fit for the tiny and knowledgeable deity Sukunahikona. Featuring a lot of dubious genealogy talk and power struggles in ancient Japan.

First topic –  Monotheism and Polytheism

Second topic – Dagda and Celtic Mythology

Third topic – Krishna and the Mythology of India

Fourth topic – Mysticism and Satan

Fifth topic – Medusa and Greek Mythology

Sixth topic – Miroku and the Concept of Salvation in Buddhism

Seventh topic – Odin and Germanic Deities

EIGHTH TOPIC – SUKUNAHIKONA AND THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE POWERS IN ANCIENT JAPAN

• Sukunahikona makes his first appearance in mythology as Ookuninushi’s friend together with whom he participated in a process named ‘forming of the land’ (kunitsukuri) through the development of rice crops and the introduction of hot spring treatment
• Sukunahikona held vast amounts of knowledge in an extremely small body, making him the prototype of tiny spirits
• kunitsukuri is not explained in detail in Kojiki and Nihonshoki but their journey is described in thefuudoki of various regions: the origin of these two gods, for example, is treated as fact by Izunokuni Fuudoki and Iyonokuni Fuudoki of Hakone and Dougo Onsen
• every place mentions their great friendship and happy journey, Ookuninushi becoming one withDaikokuten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, while Sukunahikona (sometimes identified withHiruko, the deformed first child of Izanami and Izanagi) became one with Ebisu
• before finishing kunitsukuri, Sukunahikona disappeared unexpectedly; Kojiki has it as a sudden disappearance and does not offer any particular reason, making it look like he simply returned toTokoyo no kuni
• Nihonshoki and Houkinokuni Fuudoki, on the other hand, recount that when the seeds of foxtail millet Sukunahikona had sown ripened, he jumped on an ear and crossed over to Tokoyo with great speed
• Sukunahikona’s size varied in the various legends and images transmitted over the years: in his introduction in Nihonshoki his name of old is Kagami and he sails in a boat made from the skin of a rough potato (kagaimo); later he is called Sasagi and covers himself with a cloth made ofEurasian wren (misosasagi) feathers; moreover, Ookuninushi is pictured picking him up and putting him in the palm of his hand
• his departure fills Ookuninushi with sadness, but the latter’s nigi mitama, Oomononushi, appears and is enshrined on Mount Miwa, completing thus kunitsukuri
• Oomononushi’s presence on Mount Miwa can be explained thus: the legend of Ookuninushi and Sukunahikona was combined with the legends of each region, which naturally bore different names, leading to the merging with the indigenous gods
• there is also a theory according to which Ookuninushi and Sukunahikona were actually the same being; initially, Ookuninushi was also involved in tsumadoi* stories where he travelled all over Japan and got involved with women, leaving them pregnant, so the two of them travelling together would have made it a bit inconvenient
• disregarding the legends, it is believed that the custom of tsumadoi and kunitsukuri were contemporary events
• Sukunahikona belongs to the amatsukami; in Kojiki and Nihonshoki, he is called the child ofKamimusubi or Takamimusubi, who had existed before Izanami and Izanagi; he can be identified at the same time as Hiruko, the child of Izanami and Izanagi, a kunitsukami, although is still considered to belong to the kami residing in Takamagahara
• however, according to Kojiki, which names him the child of Kamimusubi, Sukunahikona was born when Kamimusubi picked up foxtail millet that appeared when Susanoo, banished from Takamagahara killed Oogetsuhime after asking her for food; since his birth didn’t happen in Takamagahara, that would make him a kunitsukami
• according to Kojiki, Oogetsuhime was also born of Izanami and Izanagi while the two were creating Japan and her characteristic as an earth goddess is strong, especially due to her ability of producing grain, so it is believed that the legends of Japan initially integrated legends from Southeast Asia
• also, it is believed that Hiruko does not belong to Takamagahara because he was born deformed when Izanami and Izanagi were creating the country and did not know the proper way of having children, so he was put in a reed boat and sent away
• following this train of thought, Sukunahikona would be an anti-Takamagahara type, classified as a kunitsukami since before the descent to earth of Amaterasu’s grandson, Ninigi no mikoto; we can say the same thing about Ookuninushi who is Susanoo’s son in Nihonshoki, his father having been banished from Takamagahara to Ashihara no nakatsukuni
• afterwards, Ninigi’s arrival led to the ‘transfer of the land’ (kuniyuzuri) and Japan came under the control of the Yamato imperial court created by descended amatsukami
• the kunitsukami controlling each region of Japan had to choose between following Ookuninushi’s example and swearing allegiance or resisting and being called ‘those who do not follow’
• the rebels were defeated during the eastern campaign of Jinmu and that of Yamatotakeru
• after the consolidation of the Yamato imperial court, a History was compiled by the order of the Emperor*; since history is written by the winners, both Kojiki and Nihonshoki present the imperial court in a favourable light, although sometimes we are able to glimpse something different in thefuudoki not influenced by the two main chronicles

---

* as an extra, Ookuninushi did not abandon his children because in tsumadoikon they were raised by the maternal side of the family anyway

* trivia time! Amatsukami is written in kanji as 天津神, where  天 (ama) means ‘heavens’, the same asten ( 天) from ‘emperor’ (天皇 tennou) and, of course, Amaterasu ( 天照) and Takamagahara ( 高天原)

* the writer also mentioned some of his favourite manga about Japanese mythology that have inspired him to study the field in-depth: Tezuka Osamu’s Hi no tori, Morohoshi Daijiro’s Ankoku shinwa, Hoshino Yukinobu’s Yamato no hi (and its remake Yamataika) and the most important –  Yasuhiko Yoshikazu’s Namuji.

Source.