Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 2. Kami (Deities)
カテゴリー2： Kami in Classic Texts
Title
Michinonagachiha
Text [Michi no nagachiha no kami] (Kojiki)
A kami produced from the belt discarded by Izanagi in preparation for performing ablutions. According to Kojiki, Izanagi cast away the belt as he fled from the polluted underworld of Yomi and arrived at "Awakihara by the Strait of Tachibana in Hyūga of Tsukushi." Nihongi states that he cast away his belt at Yomotsuhirasaka (the "Even Pass of Yomi") as he uttered words of divorce and fled from his dead wife Izanami.

The nagachi of the name means "long road," an association with the belt forming the "seed substance" (monozane) from which the kami was generated; ha is interpreted variously as referring to sacred rocks (iwa), or merely a suffix. In short, the kami represents a border tutelary (sae no kami) guarding the border between the underworld and this world.

-Mori Mizue

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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