Kukunochi (ククノチ)

"Kukunochi" (Kugunochi) is a god of trees (Shinto) appearing in Japanese Mythology. It is written 久久能智神 in Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), and 句句廼馳 in Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan).

It was a god born between Izanagi and Izanami during kamiumi (birth of the gods). In Kojiki, god of mountains, Oyamatsumi and god of fields, Kayano-hime, were born after this. In the main body of Nihonshoki, it was born as 'Kukunochi, the spirit of trees' after mountain, river, and sea, and after that, Kayano-hime, the spirit of grass and spirit of field was born. In the sixth "alternate writing," it is written 'gods of trees are called Kukunochi no kami,' and is considered the generic name for gods of trees.

Kuku' in the shinmei (name of god) is believed to be of the same root as kuki (stem), and is a word describing the way trees grow straight up, or trees (kiki, kigi) changed to kuku, kugu.
No' is the particle 'no,' and 'chi' is a suffix meaning divine spirit, as in Kagutsuchi, so 'Kukunochi' means 'god of stem,' 'god of trees.'

It is the shusaijin (main enshrined deity) of Kuchi-jinja Shrine (Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture), and Kukuhi-jinja Shrine (Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture) has the only shrine in the country known for the stork legend. There are multiple shrines called Kimusubi-jinja Shrine, enshrining the Kukunochi god. At Tarumaezan-jinja Shrine (Tomakomai City, Hokkaido), it is enshrined with Oyamatsumi-no-kami and Kayano-hime as the god of the wilds (a field) and the god of reclamation.

In the 'Norito' (Shinto prayer) of "the Engishiki" (an ancient book for codes and procedures on national rites and prayers), there is the name of Yafunekukunochi-no-mikoto, and is believed to be the same god as Kukunochi. Yafunekukunochi-no-mikoto is considered to be one of the enshrined deities of Jotoshiki (the roof-laying ceremony).

[Original Japanese]