Tag Archives: Japanese gods

TOP DEITIES IN AINU MYTHS

Ainu mapThe Ainu people of Japan suffered oppression at the hands of the Japanese which was similar to that suffered by various conquered peoples around the world at the hands of the Western World, Russia, China and the Muslim World.

The Ainu migrated south to the Japanese islands from the northern lands of the Inuit. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will recognize the similarities between the Ainu and Inuit belief systems and methods of worship. In addition certain linguistic similarities will be noted between the Ainu and the Japanese. The Shinto “kami” becomes the Ainu “kamui”, to cite the most prominent example. 

As with the Inuit, exact names and aspects of the following deities can vary, with the most pronounced differences being in Saghalien.

  • NOTE: I am still working out my entry on the Ainu bear god. If you know the Ainu then you know that that entry alone may double the size of this article. And as always, anyone curious about my source books can just ask.

RUKORO – The Ainu god of the male privy. No, I’m not kidding. The powerful stench from his domain serves the useful purpose of  fending off evil spirits. Because of his association with evacuation and expulsion of things unclean he is regarded as a powerful exorcist. There is no corresponding goddess of the female privy, owing to primitive taboos about menstruation.

CHUP – The sun god of the Ainu. His wife is Tombe, the moon goddess. Ainu homes orient their sacred window toward the east to greet the rising sun. Until recent decades it was customary to salute the sun upon exposure to its rays, similar to the practice of genuflecting to the center of an altar, but done without kneeling.

It was considered disrespectful to bodily cross the rays of sunlight striking the hearth through the sacred window. It was better to wait until the position of the sun changed. An inau, one of the idols or totems of the Ainu people, would be set up to honor the sun. That inau bears an incised outline of the orb of the sun and during rituals libations and praise are offered up to Chup.    Continue reading

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THE NINJA GOD EN NO OZUNU

En No OzunuRegular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that I consider all religions to be mythology, which people are usually fine with unless it’s their own personal religion I’m examining. At any rate En No Ozunu is revered as the founder and most active mythical figure in the belief system called Shugendo, and in some offshoot cults of Shugendo as a virtual patron deity of ninja practices and ancient weather forecasting.

Practitioners of the Shugendo faith are called Yamabushi and their belief system fuses elements of Shinto, Ainu, Buddhism and Taoism along with features of shamanism and the ancient Japanese reverence for mountains, all of which are considered sacred ground in Shugendo.

The ninja connection is very big in popular culture but actually the Ainu are more technically the originators of many ninjutsu practices. For an even bigger pop culture tie-in there are versions of the En No Ozunu myth in which he is the father of Sadako (Neil Sadako?), the female figure in the Ringu novel plus its Japanese and American film adaptations. 

En No Ozunu supposedly began his existence on Earth when he was born to a mortal woman who was Continue reading

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AINU THUNDER GOD: KANNA

Ainu mapKANNA – The thunder/ storm god of the Ainu people. His children are all of the lesser storm deities and often live – or at least ride around – on individual clouds.

Kanna and his offspring are often depicted in flying dragon form and so, since dragons are serpents he is conflated in some myths with Kinashut, the chief serpent deity.   Continue reading

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AINU GODDESS IRURA

Ainu WomanIRURA – This goddess was the psychopomp of the Ainu pantheon.

She and her dog would guide a dead spirit from their gravepost in this world to whichever afterlife the fire goddess Fuchi had decreed the soul should be sent to, either for reward or punishment. Continue reading

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AINU GODS: THE THREE BROTHERS

AinuMy recent item about Ainu deities has proven so successful here’s a quick take on three of the lesser deities from the Ainu pantheon, the three brothers named Seremak, Urespa and Usapki.

SEREMAK – The patron god of vigor, vitality and general physical fitness. He had a flattened belly (“Six-Pack abs of the Gods!”), nine pairs of wings and wielded a sword and a spear made of mugwort. Continue reading

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THE TOP GODS IN AINU MYTHOLOGY

Ainu mapThe Ainu people of Japan suffered oppression at the hands of the Japanese which was similar to that suffered by various conquered peoples around the world at the hands of the Western World, Russia, China and the Muslim World.

The Ainu migrated south to the Japanese islands from the northern lands of the Inuit. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will recognize the similarities between the Ainu and Inuit belief systems and methods of worship. In addition certain linguistic similarities will be noted between the Ainu and the Japanese. The Shinto “kami” becomes the Ainu “kamui”, to cite the most prominent example. 

As with the Inuit, exact names and aspects of the following deities can vary, with the most pronounced differences being in Saghalien. 

  • NOTE: I am still working out my entry on the Ainu bear god. If you know the Ainu then you know that that entry alone may double the size of this article. And as always, anyone curious about my source books can just ask.

RUKORO – The Ainu god of the male privy. No, I’m not kidding. The powerful stench from his domain serves the useful purpose of  fending off evil spirits. Because of his association with evacuation and expulsion of things unclean he is regarded as a powerful exorcist. There is no corresponding goddess of the female privy, owing to primitive taboos about menstruation.

CHUP – The sun god of the Ainu. His wife is Tombe, the moon goddess. Ainu homes orient their sacred window toward the east to greet the rising sun. Until recent decades it was customary to salute the sun upon exposure to its rays, similar to the practice of genuflecting to the center of an altar, but done without kneeling.

It was considered disrespectful to bodily cross the rays of sunlight striking the hearth through the sacred window. It was better to wait until the position of the sun changed. An inau, one of the idols or totems of the Ainu people, would be set up to honor the sun. That inau bears an incised outline of the orb of the sun and during rituals libations and praise are offered up to Chup.    Continue reading

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SHINTO GODDESS: FUNADAMA

https://i0.wp.com/worthopedia.s3.amazonaws.com/images/thumbnails2/1/0407/07/1_3d71197c9bcf483443cc3c8804f217b3.jpgFUNADAMA – Shinto goddess of ships and boats. Like Toyota she was a daughter of the sea god Watatsumi. (Remember, I mostly go by the Kojiki and the Nihongi, the earliest written accounts of Shinto myths. Those two books refer to the humanoid Watatsumi as the god of the sea. Ryujin the dragon god of the sea came from later traditions. )

Sailors, fishermen and all travelers by sea, river or lake would pray to her Funadama for protection and there is still a Continue reading

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SHINTO MYTHS: HACHIMAN, THE GOD OF WAR

HACHIMAN – The Shinto god of war. As Emperor Ojin he was born to the Empress Jingo, who was said to be carrying the child within her womb for three years while she finished successfully conducting her late husband’s war against the three kingdoms of Korea. (This is an interesting parallel to the birth of the Vietnamese god Thach Sanh, who was also said to be gestating for three years) The Korean invasion referred to when Jingo’s husband the Emperor Chuai died would be the one of approximately 200 C.E.  

Hachiman was seen not just as a god of proactive, offensive war but also as the protector of children and as the deity of the general prosperity that was thought to come from military strength. He might also be said to embody the concept known as “peace through strength”. Oddly to us in the West, white doves are a symbol of this god of war and are often his messengers in Shinto myths. Hachiman was also Continue reading

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SHINTO DEITY: KONOHANA

KONOHANA – Also called Sengen-Sama, Konohana was the goddess of flowers and cherry blossoms and is the wife of the god Ninigi.That god had come to Earth from Takamagahara, the High Heavenly Plain, at the command of his grandmother, the sun goddess Amaterasu.

Konohana’s father, the mountain god Ohoyama, offered Ninigi a choice between Konohana and his other daughter, Ihanaga, the goddess of stone which endures for ages.

If Ninigi had Continue reading

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THE SHINTO MOON GOD TSUKUYOMI

 TSUKUYOMI – Also spelled Tsukiyomi. The moon god and ruler of the night. In the Nihongi he is the son of both Izanami and Izanagi. In the Kojiki he is said to have been born from Izanagi’s right eye and in a third tradition supposedly sprang from a mirror in Izanagi’s right hand.

 A prominent myth about him says that once he was being entertained by Ukemochi the goddess of Continue reading

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