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
Iwasaku, Nesaku
Text [Iwatsutsunoo no kami.Iwatsutsunome no mikoto] (Kojiki)
Two kami produced as Izanagi killed the fire kami Kagutsuchi. When Izanami gave birth to Kagutsuchi, she suffered mortal burns. Enraged, her consort Izanagi drew his sword and beheaded Kagutsuchi. The blood that dripped from the point of his sword splashed onto many rocks (Kojiki states "masses of rocks," while the sixth "alternate writing" quoted in Nihongi version of the story states literally, "the five-hundred crags"), transforming them into three kami, two of whom were Iwasaku and Nesaku (see also Iwatsusunoo).

Some scholars believe that the image of the blood splashing on the rocks was a metaphoric association with sparks produced during the forging of steel, while others theorize that the "five-hundred crags" were produced by the spraying drops of blood. The names of the two kami are thought to relate to the tremendous force of swords or the power of the kami of lightning (raishin), both of which have the power to "rend" (saku) rocks (iwa) and tree roots (ne). Others believe that the two kami may have originated in a single name, iwanesaku, referring to the rugged outline (saku) of rocky crags (iwane). No other information is provided about the activities of these two kami.

-Kobori Keiko

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

No movie/映像なし