Mikumari no kami (水分神)

Mikumari no kami is a Shinto deity (Shinto).

As its name suggests, this god is in charge of water distribution. The word 'kumari' used in its name means 'distribution,' so it is enshrined in the fountainhead or the watershed of a waterway.

In the story of Kamiumi (the birth of the kami) in the Japanese Mythology, Ameno mikumari no kami and Kunino mikumari no kami appear as children of two gods, Hayaakitsuhiko and Hayaakitsuhime.

Since it is the god associated with water, it becomes the central object in a rainmaking rite; this god is also linked to the god of rice fields and harvests, and the one enshrined in the fountainhead is combined with the mountain god. Later, the word 'Mikumari' is interpreted as 'Mikomori' (child nursing), so the god is worshiped as the guardian deity of children, or the god of pregnancy and smooth delivery.

[Original Japanese]