Ame-no-oshihi-no-mikoto

Japanese: 天忍日命 - あめのおしひのみこと

The legendary ancestor of the Otomo clan. Shinobu can also be written as oshi, meaning "mighty." According to the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, when the ancestor of the Imperial family descended from heaven, he armed himself and led the way together with Ame-no-tsukume-no-mikoto, the ancestor of the Kume clan. He is a god who symbolizes the role of the Otomo clan as a defensive barrier for the Imperial family, never leaving the Emperor's side and protecting him at the risk of his own life. Emperor Shomu praised the Otomo clan's traditions in an imperial edict (Shoku Nihongi, Volume 17), and Otomo no Yakamochi himself proudly sang about them in the Manyoshu. According to the Nihon Shoki, when Emperor Kotoku ascended to the throne (645), Otomo no Nagatoku, together with Inukami Takebe no Kimi, carried golden ropes and secured the left and right sides of the platform, which can be seen as a reappearance of Ame-no-Oshihi-no-mikoto in the myth.

(Mutsuko Mizoguchi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

大伴氏の伝説上の先祖神。忍は押とも書き「威力ある」の意。『古事記』『日本書紀』によると,天皇家の先祖神が天降りしたとき,久米氏の先祖神天津久米命と共に,武装して先導を務めたとされる。天皇のそばを片時も離れず,一身を賭して守り抜くという,皇室の藩屏としての大伴氏の役割を象徴する神である。このような大伴氏の伝統について,聖武天皇は詔勅(『続日本紀』巻17)で称え,大伴家持自身も『万葉集』で誇り高く歌っている。『日本書紀』によると,孝徳天皇の即位(645)の際,大伴長徳は犬上建部君と共に,金の靭を負って壇の左右を固めているが,これは神話における天忍日命の再現とみることができる。

(溝口睦子)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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