Encyclopedia of Shinto

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詳細表示 (Complete Article)

カテゴリー1： 2. Kami (Deities)
カテゴリー2： Kami in Classic Texts
Title
Kawanokami
Text [Kawa no kami] (Kojiki)
Other names: Kahaku(Nihongi)



A generic name for kami of rivers and streams. The lineage of this kami is not described in the classics. Nihongi's record of Emperor Nintoku's reign contains an anecdote regarding the offering of human sacrifices (hitobashira) to the river deity called "Lord of the River" (Jp. kahaku; Ch. Hebo) at the occasion of constructing a riverbank, and Nihongi's record of Empress Kōgyoku likewise notes that during a great drought, prayers were offered without effect to the "Lord of the River." The Man'yōshū includes poems indicating that the river kami serves the emperor, and numerous records from the Nara period reflect the offering of prayers to the kami of famous mountains and great rivers.

-Nakayama Kaoru

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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