Amenokoyane no Mikoto (天児屋命)

Amenokoyane no Mikoto (written in kanji as 天児屋命) is a god (Shinto) that appeared in Japanese mythology. It is also written as 天児屋根命 when it refers to an enshrined deity in a shrine. It is also called Kasuga Gongen.

His wife was Amenomitsutamateruhime no Mikoto.

A child of 居々登魂命. During Iwato-gakure (the hiding of Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess, in the heavenly rock cave), he sang norito (Shinto prayer) in front of the rock cave. When Amaterasu Omikami slightly opened the cave, he and Futodama showed her a mirror. He accompanied Ninigi during tensonkorin (the descent to earth of Ninigi, the grandson of the sun goddess), and became the patriarch of Nakatomi clan.

A part of his name 'koyane' means 'a small roof (of a building)', therefore it is thought to be the location of a deity who gives an oracle.

Because he was a soshin (ancestor honored as god) of Nakatomi no muraji, he was believed to be a private deity of the Fujiwara clan whose patriarch was FUJIWARA no Kamatari. He was also a god of norito and career success. He was enshrined in Nakatomi-jinja Shrine (Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City), Hiraoka-jinja Shrine (Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture), Kasuga-taisha Shrine (Nara City, Nara Prefecture), and Yoshida-jinja Shrine (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City). A god called 'Otorinomuraji no Oyagami' that is enshrined in Otori-jinja Shrine throughout the country is sometimes considered to be identical to Amenokoyane no Mikoto.

According to a scholar of Japanese classical literature in late Edo period, Atsutane HIRATA, this god is identical to Omoikane (the god of wisdom and talent).

[Original Japanese]