Taima no Kehaya (当麻蹴速)

TAIMA no Kehaya is a person that appears in Japanese myths. God of Sumo.

He is a person in the Emperor Suisin era, who is a descendent of Komata no O (ancestor of Taima no Magarinokimi) who was the member of Imperial family from the lineage of Emperor Kaika. He is said to be a master of kicks by his name.

He, who lived in Taima Villege of Yamato-no-kuni, was proud of his great physical strength and was seeking for fights saying "Measure my strength without questioning life entirely". However, it is said that he played sumo wrestling with NOMI no Sukune from Izumo Province by Emperor Suisin's order and that his back was broken by being trampled, after kicking each other in the match. TAIMA no Kehaya's land was confiscated and became that of the winner, NOMI no Sukune.

He is enshrined in the Sumo-jinja Shrine that is an auxiliary shrine of Anashinimasuhyozu-jinja Shrine (Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture), along with NOMI no Sukune.

[Original Japanese]