Worshipping Amaterasu’s grandson Ninigi

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Victimage in the Kojiki of Japan

by Barbara Mikolajewska in cooperation with F.E.J. Linton

Part I

In the place of pure beginning

Chapter 4

Worshipping Amaterasu’s grandson Ninigi

The Sun Goddess Ama-terasu is inextricably linked with Takachiho because the cave Amano-Iwato, in which she hid from her “evil” brother and from which she was successfully lured out at last, has its physical location so near. Similarly linked with Takachiho is Ama-terasu’s grandson Ninigi, great-grandfather of Jimmu, for the Kojiki tells that when, at Ama-terasu’s command, he descended to earth to take up the reins of earthly rule from the hands of Opo-kuni-nusi, it was on the peak of a Takachiho mountain that he first made landfall on earth at the end of his descent, peak that Takachiho residents confidently identify as one of the twin peaks of the nearby mountain Futa-gami-yama just northwest of the town of Takachiho proper. Ninigi’s importance, of course, stems not only from the fact that he bore with him the sacred mirror, to be worshipped as Ama-terasu herself, but also from the illustrious line of descendants he would leave in his wake, from his sons Po-wori and Po-deri, through his legendary great-grandson Jimmu, first Yamatö emperor of Japan, and on through all the successive generations of subsequent emperors.

So it comes as no surprise that the shrine Kushifuru Jinja (Plate 1), just on the edge of the park Takama-ga-hara on the outskirts of Takachiho, is dedicated to Ninigi and his sons. Ninigi is enshrined, as well, in the Takachiho Jinja (Plate 2), though it is actually another great-grandson of Ninigi’s, Jimmu’s eldest brother, in whose castle in Takachiho the Kojiki reports Jimmu resided for a time, who is the principal kami enshrined here: Ninigi himself is but one of numerous other figures from the Kojiki also revered here. Many of these are in the blood-line from Ninigi to Jimmu. Two others, however, took part in the descent itself: these are Saruta-biko, an earthly deity who appeared in the heavenly crossroads just as Ninigi was about to begin his descent, offering to serve Ninigi as guide both during the descent and, after, on the earth – and Ame-nö-uzume, the intrepid dancer, who, at Ama-terasu’s command, confronted Saruta-biko in the heavenly crossroads to learn whether he be friend or foe and then, satisfied that his intentions were amicable, encouraged the rest of the descent party to welcome his services. Upon the successful completion of the descent and the transfer to Ninigi of earthly rule, Saruta-biko meant to return to his homeland, and Ninigi, in gratitude, bid Ame-nö-uzume not only accompany him thither but even assume his name; it is for this reason, probably, that at Takachiho Jinja these two are fondly venerated as a couple.

Still in the general environs of the town of Takachiho, though rather far to the northwest of the town, there is the volcanic Mt. Aso, at the foot of which lies the Aso Jinja shrine where a son of Jimmu is enshrined, along with the grandsons he sired – and even, collectively somehow, all the eight-hundred myriad deities themselves. Moving rather farther afield, south of Takachiho, two thirds of the way to the prefectural capital Miyazaki, the burial mounds of Saito Baru are thought to include the burial mound of Ninigi.

Unlike that of Ninigi, the burial mound of the emperor Jimmu is not on Kyushu at all, of course, but on Honshu, near Nara, at Kashihara, and the Kashihara Jinja was erected near there, towards the end of the nineteen century, expressly to enshrine him in the vicinity of his burial place. At the same time, Jimmu is also enshrined in the Miyazaki Jinja, in the Kyushu prefectural capital Miyazaki itself.

But wait: if all the eastern slopes of Kyushu already seem freighted with the residue of that prehistorical time of pure beginning, it only gets worse. For there is another Takachiho. This one is a mountain, not a town. And it is located somewhat west-northwest of Miyazaki (itself already a good eighty kilometers south of Nobeoka), just on the border with the adjacent prefecture of Kagoshima. Local residents are as confident that it is this Mount Takachiho on whose peak Ninigi’s descent ended as are the inhabitants of Takachiho town that it is rather their Mt. Futa-gami. And so it is at the nearby Mt. Kirishima, just north of Mt. Takachiho, that stands the imposing Kirishima Jinja (Plate 3), where Ninigi’s spirit is thought to dwell. And the spirit of Ninigi’s youngest son Po-wori-nö-mikötö is thought still to dwell here, too, in a palace of his own somewhere in these Kirishima/Takachiho mountains.

The Takachiho Yokagura, in its full form, pays respect and homage to all these legendary heroes and more; just how will be the subject of the next chapter but one. The next chapter itself will step back a bit to provide some perspective, offering some words of explanation regarding the Kojiki, as well as some general remarks about Japanese kami, and about their shrines and the nature of worship undertaken in them.

Plate 1. Manifestations of worship in Takamaga-hara Park