Encyclopedia of Shinto

Main Menu:   
Links:   

詳細表示 (Complete Article)

カテゴリー1： 7. Concepts and Doctrines
カテゴリー2： Basic Terms
Title
Mikotomochi
Text
Literally, "bearer of the honorable word." A mikotomochi was a court official dispatched to a provincial post by imperial order. Book XI of Shaku nihongi states: "According to my personal records, my mentor explained that a mikotomochi is a person who receives and bears the 'honorable word' (mikoto) of the emperor and thus assumes the name of 'bearer of the honorable word'." The idea that the emperor's authority as a sovereign is vested in his being the recipient of mikoto sent from above by the "kami of heaven" (Amatsukami) — and that, therefore, even the emperor himself serves as a mikotomochi — has existed since ancient times. By extension, mikotomochi refers to any person who travels on behalf of the emperor in order to communicate the "honorable words" of the Amatsukami.
See also: Mikoto
— Nishioka Kazuhiko

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

No movie/映像なし