Ajisukitakahikone

Ajisukitakahikone (also Ajishikitakahikone or Ajisukitakahiko) is a kami in Japanese mythology. He is one of the sons of Ōkuninushi and the tutelary deity of Kamo.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

Name

The god is referred to both as 'Ajisukitakahikone-no-Kami' (阿遅鉏高日子根神; Old Japanese: Adisuki₁takapi₁ko₁ne-no₂-Kami₂) and 'Ajishikitakahikone-no-Kami' (阿遅志貴高日子根神; Man'yōgana: 阿治志貴多迦比古泥能迦微; O.J.: Adisiki₂takapi₁ko₁ne<ref name="Philippi">Template:Cite book</ref>) in the Kojiki,<ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref> while the Nihon Shoki consistently calls him 'Ajisukitakahikone-no-Kami' (味耜高彥根神).<ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref> Renditions of the name found in other texts include 'Ajisukitakahiko-no-Mikoto' (阿遅須枳高日子命; Izumo Fudoki), 'Ajisukitakahikone-no-Mikoto-no-Kami' (阿遅須伎高日古尼命神; Harima Fudoki) and 'Ajisukitakahikone-no-Mikoto' (阿遅須伎高孫根乃命; Izumo-no-Kuni-no-Miyatsuko no Kan'yogoto).<ref name="Ajisuki-Kokugakuin">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Aji (O.J. adi) may mean either "excellent" (cf. aji "taste, flavor") or "flock, mass, many", while shiki (O.J. siki₂) is variously interpreted either as a corruption of suki (O.J. suki₁, "spade" or "plough"), a derivation from the Baekje word suki "village", a word meaning "blade", or a place name in Yamato Province. (One factor that complicates a proper interpretation of the name is that ki₁ and ki₂ are thought to be different syllables in Old Japanese.)<ref name="Philippi"/><ref name="Ajisuki-Kokugakuin"/>

Basil Hall Chamberlain, in his 1882 translation of the Kojiki, left the name untranslated (noting that "[t]he meaning of the first two members of this compound name is altogether obscure");<ref name="Chamberlain">Chamberlain (1882). Section XXVI.—The Deities the August Descendants of the Deity Master-of-the-Great-Land.</ref> likewise, William George Aston (1896) merely commented that there is "no satisfactory explanation of this name."<ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref> Donald Philippi (1968) proposed two possible interpretations of the name: "Massed-Ploughs High-Princeling Deity" or "Excellent Shiki High-Princeling Deity" (with 'Shiki' being understood here to be a toponym).<ref name="Philippi"/> Gustav Heldt's translation of the Kojiki (2014) meanwhile renders the name as "Lofty Little Lad of Fine Plows".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Mythology

Parentage

The Kojiki describes Ajisukitakahikone as one of the two children of the god Ōkuninushi by Takiribime, one of the three Munakata goddesses, the other being Template:Ill (also known as Takahime).<ref name="Chamberlain"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

He is frequently portrayed as a baby who is unable to sleep.<ref name=":0" /> His mother carried him up and down a ladder in an attempt to make him sleep, this is what causes the sound of growing thunder.<ref name=":0" /> In infancy, his crying and screaming were so loud that he had to be placed in a boat and sailed around the islands of Japan until he was calm.

In adulthood, he was the father of Takitsuhiko, a rain god.

Ajisukitakahikone and Ame-no-Wakahiko

Template:See also When the sun goddess Amaterasu and the primordial god Takamimusubi, the rulers of the heavenly realm of Takamagahara, decreed that the earth below (Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni) should be ruled over by Amaterasu's progeny, they dispatched a series of messengers to its ruler, Ōkuninushi, to command him to cede supremacy over the land. One of these, Ame-no-Wakahiko, ended up marrying Template:Ill, one of Ōkuninushi's daughters, and even plotted to gain the land for himself. After eight years had passed, a pheasant sent by the heavenly gods arrived and remonstrated with Ame-no-Wakahiko, who killed it with his bow and arrow. The arrow flew up to Takamagahara, but was then promptly thrown back to earth; it struck Ame-no-Wakahiko in the chest while he was asleep, killing him instantly.

During Ame-no-Wakahiko's funeral, Template:Ill's brother Ajisukitakahikone, a close friend of Ame-no-Wakahiko, arrived to pay his condolences. As he closely resembled Ame-no-Wakahiko in appearance, the family of the deceased mistook him for Ame-no-Wakahiko come back to life. Offended at being mistaken for his friend (as corpses were regarded as unclean, to be compared with or mistaken for a dead person was seen as an insult), Ajisukitakahikone in anger drew his ten-span sword, hacked to pieces the funeral hut (喪屋 moya) where Ame-no-Wakahiko's corpse was laid and the funeral held, and then kicked it away. The ruined hut landed in the land of Mino and became a mountain called Moyama (喪山, lit. 'mourning mountain').Template:Efn

Ajishikitakahikone, still fuming, then flew off, the radiance that exuded from him being such that it illuminated the space of two hills and two valleys. Template:Ill, wishing to reveal to the mourners her brother's identity, then composed the following song in his honor:<ref name="Philippi123128">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref>

Man'yōgana (Kojiki)		Japanese		Old Japanese		Modern Japanese (Rōmaji)		Translated by Donald Philippi<ref name="Philippi123128"/>
阿米那流夜 淤登多那婆多能 宇那賀世流 多麻能美須麻流 美須麻流能 阿那陀麻波夜 美多邇 布多和多良須 阿治志貴 多迦比古泥 能迦微曾<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>		Template:Lang		Ame2 naru ya Oto2-tanabata no2 unagaseru tama no2 misumaru misumaru ni anadama pa ya mi1tani puta watarasu Adisiki2 Takapi1ko1ne no2 Kami2 so2<ref>Based on Template:Cite book The transcription system used to distinguish type A/B vowels in the original text had been changed to indexed notation.</ref>		Ame naru ya Oto-tanabata no unagaseru tama no misumaru misumaru ni anadama ha ya mitani futa watarasu Ajishiki Takahikone no Kami zo		Ah, the large jewelTemplate:Efn Strung on the cord of beads Worn around the neck Of the heavenly Young weaving maiden! Like this is he Who crosses Two valleys at once, The god Ajishiki- Takahikone!

See also

• Ōkuninushi
• Takemikazuchi
• Ame-no-wakahiko