Amenohoakari

Amenohoakari
Amenohoakari
Genealogy
Parents	Ame-no-oshihomimi (father); Takuhadachiji-hime (mother);
Children	Ame-no-Kaguyama-no-Mikoto [ja]

Amenohoakari (天火明) is a kami of sun and agriculture in Japanese mythology. The Shinsen Shōjiroku marks his descendents as descendents of kami (天孫族, tensonzoku) .^[1]

Name

Other names for Amenohoakari are listed below.

Amaterukuniteruhikoamenohoakarikushitamanigihayahi-no-mikoto (天照国照彦天火明櫛玉饒速日尊) in the Kujiki
Amaterukuniteruhikoamenohoakari-no-mikoto (天照國照彦天火明尊)
Nigihayahi-no-mikoto (饒速日命)
Amaterukuniteruhikohoakari-no-mikoto (天照国照彦火明命) in the Nihon Shoki
Amenohoakari-no-mikoto (天火明命) in the Kojiki
Hoakari-no-mikoto (火明命) in the Nihon Shoki
Ikishiniho-no-mikoto (膽杵磯丹杵穂命)
Amateru Mitama-no-kami (天照御魂神) in Jinja Shiryō

Genealogy

According to the Kojiki and volumes six and eight of the Nihon Shoki, Amenohoakari was born to Ame-no-oshihomimi and Takamimusubi's daughter, Takuhatachijihime and lists Ninigi-no-Mikoto is his younger brother. However, in volumes two, three, five, and seven of the Nihon Shoki, Ninigi-no-Mikoto is said to be his father.

The Kujiki treats Amenohoakari as an alternate name for Nigihayahi, the ancestral kami of the Hozumi and Mononobe clans, though this interpetation raises many questions in terms of geneology and domain.

The Harima no Kuni Fudoki notes Amenohoakari as the child of Ōkuninushi and Notsuhime.^[2]

Descendants

The Shinsen Shōjiroku list the descendents of Amenohoakari, in addition to the descendants of Amatsuhikone, Ame-no-hohi, and Amanomichine-no-Mikoto [ja], as descendents of kami (天孫族, tensonzoku). The tensonzoku descended from the heavenly realm of Takamagahara to former Japanese provinces of Owari and Tanba, and are considered to be the divine ancestors of several clans including the Owari, Tsumori [ja], Amabe, and Tanba [ja] clans.^[1] The Geneology of the Amabe Clan (海部氏系図, Amabeshi Keizu) also notes Amenohoakari as the clan's ancestor.

Amenohoakari is also said to be the same kami as Nigihayahi, the ancester of the Hozumi clan and Mononobe clan.^[3] However, there has been research which rejects conflating the two kami and insists it is a fabrication and absurd claim made only to link the two kami when it is said that Nigihayahi is Nigini-no-Mikoto's older brother.^[4] Additionally, the Shinsen Shōjiroku lists the descendents of Amenohoakari as descendents of kami (天孫族, tensonzoku) whil Nigihayahi's descendents are kami of the heavens (天神, tenshin).

Name meaning

As Amenohoakari's name suggests, he is the deification of sunlight and heat. Also, in the Kojiki-den, his alternative name of Hoakari is written differently (穂赤熟, ears of grain + red + ripen), meaning he warms grain so that it may ripen. Like other kami connected to the emperor, this name is connected to rice, leading to worship of him as a kami of the sun and agriculture.^[5]

While his name contains two characters in common with Amaterasu (天照), they are not the same kami. At Kono Shrine, the primary kami is Amenohoakari, while Amaterasu, while enshrined in the same location, is considered another kami.^[6]

Notable Shrines

Kono Shrine - Enshrined as Hikohoakari-no-mikoto. A member of the Kaifu clan, said to be a descendent of Amenohoakari, has long inherited the position of head priest.
Masumida Shrine
Osada Nimasu Amateru Mitami Shrine - Sakurai, Nara Prefecture
Sumiyoshi-taisha - Descendents of the Owari clan, said to be descendents of Amenohoakari, historically inherited the positin of head priest.
Owaribe Shrine - Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture
Tanabata Shrine
Various Amateru Mitama Shrines across Japan

Notes

References

^ ^a ^b Hanawa, Hokiichi (1983). Shinsen Shōjiroku (新撰姓氏錄). Japan: Onkogakkai. OCLC 959773242.
^ Okimori, Takuya (2005). Harima-no-kuni Fudoki. Japan: Yamakawa Shuppansha. ISBN 4634593912.
^ Sendai Kuji Hongi.
^ Toya, Manabu. ニギハヤヒ : 『先代旧事本紀』から探る物部氏の祖神 [Nigihayahi: Finding the ancestral god of the Monobe clan in the Kujiki] (in Japanese). 河出書房新社. ISBN 9784309225562.
^ Motoori, Norinaga (2011). Kojiki-den. Nabu Press. ISBN 978-1178814958.
^ "御祭神・御由緒｜丹後一宮元伊勢籠神社(このじんじゃ) 奥宮真名井神社（まないじんじゃ）". 丹後一宮元伊勢籠神社(このじんじゃ) 　奥宮　真名井神社（まないじんじゃ） (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-01-28.

[:0-1] Hanawa, Hokiichi (1983). Shinsen Shōjiroku (新撰姓氏錄). Japan: Onkogakkai. OCLC 959773242.

[2] Okimori, Takuya (2005). Harima-no-kuni Fudoki. Japan: Yamakawa Shuppansha. ISBN 4634593912.

[3] Sendai Kuji Hongi.

[4] Toya, Manabu. ニギハヤヒ : 『先代旧事本紀』から探る物部氏の祖神 [Nigihayahi: Finding the ancestral god of the Monobe clan in the Kujiki] (in Japanese). 河出書房新社. ISBN 9784309225562.

[5] Motoori, Norinaga (2011). Kojiki-den. Nabu Press. ISBN 978-1178814958.

[6] "御祭神・御由緒｜丹後一宮元伊勢籠神社(このじんじゃ) 奥宮真名井神社（まないじんじゃ）". 丹後一宮元伊勢籠神社(このじんじゃ) 　奥宮　真名井神社（まないじんじゃ） (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-01-28.

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