Toilet God

A god enshrined in a toilet. In some cases, a pair of paper dolls (kamibina) of a man and a woman are enshrined as deities, but in most cases, only green brushwood (ao-shiba) is offered at the New Year and O-bon festivals. In Onmyodo, there is a custom of placing a doll or a fan when filling holes dug in the ground for wells, toilets, etc., and the use of paper dolls as deities is a variation of this custom. In China, they are called Shiko-gami, in Urabe Shinto they are called Haniyama-hime-no-kami (god of earth) and Mizuha-no-me-no-kami (god of water), and in esoteric Buddhism and Zen they are called Uzusama-myo-o or Ushishama-myo-o. Since the early modern period, these popular beliefs and beliefs have been integrated and incorporated into the ancestral spirit belief system, and they are primarily understood as deities who protect childbirth. Many people believe that the custom of "baby visits to the toilet", which is widespread from Fukushima Prefecture to the Kanto region, is also a way of praying to the toilet god for good health.

[Shoji Inoguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

便所に祭る神。男女一対の紙雛(かみびな)を神体とする例もあるが、多くは正月と盆に青柴(あおしば)を上げる程度である。陰陽道(おんみょうどう)の俗信で、井戸、便所など土に掘った穴を埋めるとき人形や扇子を入れる作法があるが、神体とする紙雛はその変化であろう。中国では紫姑(しこ)神、卜部(うらべ)の神道ではハニヤマヒメノカミ（土の神）とミズハノメノカミ（水の神）であるといい、密教や禅家ではウズサマ明王(みょうおう)とかウシッシャマ明王という。近世以降はそれらの俗信や信仰を統合して祖霊信仰体系に組み入れ、主として出産を守護する神と理解されている。福島県から関東地方に分布する「赤子の便所まいり」の習俗なども、厠神に健康を祈願するためと考える人が多い。

［井之口章次］

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