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
Yatakarasu
Text (Kojiki)(Nihongi)
Other names: Yata no karasu(Kojiki, Nihongi)



A great crow sent from heaven by Takagi no kami (according to Kojiki) or by Amaterasu (Nihongi) as a guide to assist Emperor Jinmu on his eastern campaign. Kogo shūi states that Jinmu was guided on his progress by Yatagarasu, the remote ancestor of the local chieftain of Kamo. In its section on the shinbetsu tenjin district chieftains (agatanushi) of Kamo in Yamashiro Province, the Shinsen shōjiroku notes that Kamo no Taketsunomi no mikoto transformed himself into a huge crow and acted as guide to Emperor Jinmu. Taketsunomi was grandson of Kamimusuhi no mikoto, who in turn was ancestor to the district chieftains of Kamo. Shinsen shōjiroku claims that the name Yatanokarasu originated with this event.

The third section of Shoku Nihongi states that a Yatanokarasu Shrine was dedicated in Uda District of Yamato Province in the ninth month of 705, an account which agrees with the entry in the Engishiki's Jinmyōchō for Yatanokarasu Jinja in that district.

-Nishioka Kazuhiko

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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