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カテゴリー1： 2. Kami (Deities)
カテゴリー2： Kami in Classic Texts
Title
Sahimochi
Text [Sahimochi no kami] (Kojiki)
In Kojiki, identified as the "One-Fathom wani" (literally, "crocodile," but now believed to refer to a shark) which delivered Hoori no mikoto (Hohodemi) from the undersea palace of the sea kami Watatsumi to the "upper land." Watatsumi gathered the fishes from within the sea and asked for a volunteer to accompany Hoori to the land, whereupon the wani "One-Fathom" said that he could deliver him and return in a single day. Watatsumi ordered the wani to deliver Hoori safely, whereupon it set Hoori on its head and carried him to the upper land. When the wani was about to return to the sea, Hoori tied his own short sword around the animal's neck, thus giving it the name Sahimochi ("blade-holder").

The story of the wani "One-Fathom" that delivered Hoori from the sea palace to the land in a single day is also recounted in Nihongi, but no connection is made to Sahimochi, who is identified instead with the older brother of Jinmu, Inahi no mikoto. According to Nihongi, on one occasion Inahi was buffeted by wind and rain, and called out, "I am the offspring of heavenly kami and my mother was a kami of the sea; why am I tormented thus?" With these words he pulled out his short sword and jumped into the sea, taking on the name Sahimochi no kami ("sword-holder").

The kami found in both Kojiki and Nihongi are thought to be names associated with the animal called wani.

-Mori Mizue

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

No movie/映像なし