Sukunahikona no Mikoto - Sukunahikona no Mikoto

Also known as Sukunabikone, Sukunamikami, and Sukunamikami, this god has a wide religious sphere and appears in many ancient documents. He is not particularly active in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki myths. He is sung as a god who appears on a stone from Tokoyo no Kuni, and is said to have been bounced off a millet stalk and traveled from Awashima to Tokoyo no Kuni. He is also said to have boarded a boat made of moss and wearing the skin of a moth or wren, and arrived at Mihozaki in Izumo on the sea, which shows that he was a young child who came and went from Tokoyo no Kuni. Furthermore, this god is often referred to alongside Oonamuchi-no-Kami (Okuninushi-no-Mikoto) as the god of nation-building, but in these cases it is related to seeds, and since agricultural techniques and labor are spoken of as the sole actions of Oonamuchi-no-Kami, his true nature should be considered to have been the spirit of grain that existed since millet farming. Said to be the son of Kamimusubi-no-Kami, the god of creation, the story of his name being revealed to the scarecrow of the rice field god (Kuebiko) is also related to his true nature. Oonamuchi-no-Kami combined with this spirit of grain from the eternal world and succeeded in nation-building. The Harima no Kuni Fudoki contains a folktale story of a test of endurance between Oonamuchi-no-Kami and this shows how well this god has penetrated the common people.

[Yoshii Iwao]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

スクナヒコネ、スクナヒコ、スクナミカミともいい、多くの古代文献にみえる広い信仰圏をもった神。記紀神話での活躍は少ない。常世国(とこよのくに)から石(いわ)に示現する神と歌われ、粟茎(あわがら)に弾(はじ)かれて淡島(あわしま)より常世国に至ったとも語られる。またガガイモの舟に乗り、蛾(が)あるいは鷦鷯(さざき)（ミソサザイ）の皮を着て海上を出雲(いずも)の美保(みほ)崎に寄り着いたと説かれるので、この神は常世国より去来する小さ子神であったことがわかる。さらにこの神は、多くの場合、国造りの神として大己貴神(おおなむちのかみ)（大国主命(おおくにぬしのみこと)）と並称されるが、その場合は種に関連し、農耕の技術や労働は大己貴神単独の行動として語られるため、その本質は粟作以来の穀霊であったと考えるべきであろう。生成神神産巣日神(かみむすびのかみ)の子とされ、田の神の案山子(かがし)（久延毘古(くえびこ)）に名を明らかにされる話もその本質と関係がある。大己貴神は、この常世の穀霊と合体して国造りに成功する。『播磨国風土記(はりまのくにふどき)』には、民話的な大己貴神とのがまん比べの話があり、この神の民衆への浸透が知られる。

［吉井　巖］

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