Kunado-no-Kami
Kunado-no-Kami (Template:Langx), alternately Kunato-no-Kami, Funado-no-Kami, Funato-no-Kami, or Chimata-no-Kami, are Japanese local gods connected chiefly with protection against disaster and malicious spirits.<ref name="tokushima">近藤直也, 徳島県下における岐神信仰に関する言説 (Remarks on the Worship of Kunado-no-Kami in Tokushima Prefecture). Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2013. [1] Template:Webarchive</ref>
The term "Kunado-no-Kami" and its variants are derived ultimately from Template:Langx ku-na-do, meaning a place that is not to be entered, a taboo or sacred space.<ref name=nihonjinmei>日本人名大辞典+Plus『来名戸之祖神』。</ref> These kami are regarded as protecting the boundaries of a village and forestalling entry by malicious or harmful spirits and influences, thereby preventing disasters. A common origin myth connects them with the fundoshi cast aside by Izanagi upon his return from the underworld as recorded in the Kojiki.<ref name=daijisen>大辞泉『道祖神』。</ref>
In some cases the protection of these kami extends to roads and paths, in which capacity the variant name Chimata-no-Kami is particularly likely to be applied.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>