Toyotama-hime

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Toyotama-hime ( 豊 玉 姫 ; Princess Toyotama ), also Toyotama-hime no mikoto ( 豊 玉 姫 命 ; deity Princess Toyotama ), is a kami of Japanese mythology . She is one of the two daughters of the Kami of the Seas, Watatsumi .

mythology

Japanese mythology describes Toyotama-hime as a sea goddess and princess. Her name is said to mean "lush gemstone". One day she is said to have met the great-grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu and fisherman Ho-ori at a fountain in the garden of the royal palace. Both immediately fell in love and Watatsumi recognized Ho-ori as of divine origin. Toyotama-hime and Ho-ori were immediately married. After a while, Ho-ori got homesick , returned home and faced his common brother Hoderi. Toyotama-hime accompanied Ho-ori on his journey and bore him a son on land. She forbade her husband to watch her give birth, but he did so anyway. Ho-ori was shocked to discover that Toyotama-hime had assumed her true form in the form of a large dragon (according to slightly different traditions, it was the form of a crocodile ) during birth . Ashamed, Toyotama-hime fled, leaving her husband and child. Her younger sister Tamayori-hime now took care of the baby. She regretted all her life that Toyotama-hime was later not allowed to see her son.

Background and adoration

The legend of Toyotama-hime is one of the well-known stories about the origins of the Japanese imperial family in Japanese tradition . It has its origins in the saga collection of the imperial chronicles Kojiki (originated around 712 AD) and Nihonshoki ( originated around 730 AD). Toyotama-hime several more are Shinto - shrines devoted, including the Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka , in Tamahime -Schrein in Tamano ( Okayama Prefecture ), in Kaizuka -Schrein of Katori ( Chiba Prefecture ) and Toyotama shrine to Chiran ( Nagano Prefecture ). Another, smaller shrine ( Senoumi -Schrein) is hidden in the Dragon Palace cave in Aokigahara -Forest.

literature

  • Michael Ashkenazi: Handbook of Japanese Mythology . ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara 2003, ISBN 1576074676 , p. 167 and 168.
  • Inez de Beauclair: Gods and Myths of East Asia, Volume 1 (= Dictionary of Mythology: Ancient Cultivated Peoples, 6th Volume ). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3129098607 , p. 67.
  • Genchi Katu: A Study of Shinto: The Religion of the Japanese Nation . Routledge, London / New York 2010, ISBN 1136903704 , pp. 27-33.

Web links