Encyclopedia of Shinto

Main Menu:   
Links:   

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
Hoshinokamikakaseo
Text [Hoshi no kami kakaseo] (Nihongi)
Other names: Amatsumikahoshi, Ame no kakaseo (Nihongi)



An astral kami appearing in Nihongi. Ordered by the heavenly kami to pacify the Central Land of Reed Plains, the two kami Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi descended to the Central Land and subdued the noxious indigenous kami together with the kami of grass, trees and rocks. The only rebel that remained was an evil kami named Kakaseo, who resisted the imperial forces until brought under subjection by the kami Takehazuchi. This completed the pacification of the Central Land, and the two earlier kami thus returned to the Plain of High Heaven.

According to an "alternate writing" transmitted by Nihongi, however, Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi requested that the "evil kami of heaven" Amatsumikahoshi (Kakaseo) be put to death before they descended to pacify the land. This passage thus portrays Kakaseo as a heavenly kami in contrast to the previous episode's description of him as autochthonic in origin.

These are virtually the only two passages in Japanese myth dealing with a deity of the stars, and are unique in that the kami portrayed is not in subjection to the order of the heavenly kami.

-Mori Mizue

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

No movie/映像なし