Encyclopedia of Shinto

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
Umisachi
Text [Umisachi hiko] (Kojiki)(Nihongi)
Other names: Hoderi no mikoto (Kojiki), Hoakari no mikoto, Hosusori no mikoto, Ho no suseri no mikoto, Ho no susor no mikoto, Hosuseri no mikoto, Ho no susumi no mikoto (Nihongi).



An offspring of Ninigi and Konohana Sakuyahime. Accounts differ in the description of the process of his birth and origin of his name, but most are in agreement that Umisachi ("sea-treasure") was the elder brother to Yamasachi ("mountain-treasure"; otherwise known as Hohodemi), and that Umisachi's mother set fire to her parturition hut, whereupon Umisachi was born as the flames reached their peak. Umisachi means to receive the bounty of the sea; he later became subject to his younger brother Hohodemi (Yamasachi) and became known as the ancestor of the clan Ata no Hayato.

Kojiki states that Umisachi's proper name was Hoderi no mikoto, the first of the three children produced by Konohana Sakuyahime. Most of the variant accounts recorded by Nihongi, however, state that the kami Umisachi was Hosuseri-the second child born to Sakuyahime in the Kojiki account. Shinsen shōjiroku likewise describes the ancestor of the Hayato as Honosusari no mikoto. Further, Nihongi quotes an "alternate writing" that identifies Umisachi with Honoakari no mikoto.

The kami's various names have been interpreted to mean "bright shining fire" or "ripening rice ears." The account describing how Umisachi became ancestor of the Hayato is similar in both Kojiki and Nihongi accounts. Upon the suggestion of the younger brother Yamasachi, the two kami agreed to exchange the tools of their livelihoods-Yamasachi's bow and Umisachi's fishhook-but neither was able to successfully capture game using the other's implement. Umisachi asked Yamasachi to return his fishhook, but Yamasachi lost the hook, leading to recriminations from his brother. Finally, Yamasachi obtained Watatsumi's help in recovering the lost fishhook, and returned it to his brother Umisachi, but Umisachi was cursed and fell into poverty. Enraged, Umisachi planned to fight Yamasachi, but he was prevented by the magic "tide flowing jewel" and "tide restraining jewel" that Yamasachi had received from Watatsumi, with the final result that he pledged to become Hohodemi's protector and vassal. As a result, his descendants were said to have guarded the palace precincts "like dogs" (i.e., in place of barking dogs), or that they became jesters who painted their faces and hands, and mimed Yamasachi's drowning scene.

-Mori Mizue

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

No movie/映像なし