Ukemochi no Kami - God of Food

Japanese: 保食神 - うけもちのかみ

A grain god who appears in the Nihon Shoki. "Uke" means food, and "mochi" means "to hold." Tsukuyomi, who was angry at Tsukuyomi for treating Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, who came from Takamagahara, to a feast by spitting out various foods from his mouth, killed him, but various parts of his body were found to have produced cattle and horses, cocoons, and grains. This myth about the origin of agriculture also includes a story about the origin of the sun and moon, in which Amaterasu Omikami, who heard that Tsukuyomi had killed Ukemochi, became enraged and said she would never meet Tsukuyomi again, so Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, that is, the sun and the moon, appeared in the sky at different times, showing the close relationship between agriculture and the sun and the moon. In a similar story in the Kojiki, the gods corresponding to Tsukuyomi and Ukemochi are Susanoo and Ogituhime, and although the story is simple, it is probably older. <References> Takeo Matsumura, "Studies on Japanese Mythology," Vol. 3; Taryo Obayashi, "Myths of Rice Cultivation"

(Takashi Sasaki)

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

Japanese:

『日本書紀』に登場する穀物神。「うけ」は食べ物,「もち」は「持ち」の意。高天原からきた月夜見尊(ツクヨミノミコト)を,口から種々の食物を吐き出して饗応したので,汚いことをするといって怒ったツクヨミに切り殺されたが,その死体の各部分には牛馬,繭,五穀が生じていた,と伝えられる。農耕の起源を語るこの神話には,ツクヨミが保食神を殺したと聞いた天照大神(アマテラスオオミカミ)が激怒してもうツクヨミとは会わないといったために,アマテラスとツクヨミつまり太陽と月とは別のときに空に現れることになったという日月の起源を語る話も含まれており,農耕と日月との密接な関係を示す。『古事記』にみえる類話では,月夜見,保食神に当たる神が須佐之男,大宜津比売とされ,話の内容も単純だが,その方が古いだろう。<参考文献>松村武雄『日本神話の研究』3巻,大林太良『稲作の神話』

(佐佐木隆)

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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