Ame-no-Wakahiko

Ame-no-Wakahiko is a heavenly deity recorded in Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE). In Kojiki, upper volume, kuni-yuzuri (transfer of the land) section, after the first envoy Ame-no-Hohi-no-Kami failed to report, Ame-no-Wakahiko, son of Amatsu-Kunitama-no-Kami, was sent as the second envoy with the heavenly bow Ame-no-Makako-yumi and Ame-no-Hashi-yumi. Wed to Okuninushi's daughter Shitateru-hime, he sought to make the central reed-plain land his own and made no report for eight years. The pheasant Nakime, dispatched to question him, was shot dead by his arrow; the arrow flew up to Takamagahara, and Takagi-no-Kami (Takamimusubi) hurled it back, declaring 'if there is malice, let it strike Wakahiko,' killing him. His father is Amatsu-Kunitama-no-Kami; his wife Shitateru-hime. No children are recorded, but the parallel description of Wakahiko's mortuary hut and his brother-in-law Ajisukitakahikone-no-Kami's visit, in which Ajisukitakahikone is mistaken for Wakahiko due to their resemblance, appears in the Kojiki account. He is associated with Moyama Tenjin Shrine in Tarui, Gifu, where the hut is said to have fallen and a tumulus-like hill is venerated. Wakahiko traditions are distributed across the Mino district of Gifu, and they connect to the lineage of Takakamo Shrine in Gose, Nara, dedicated to Ajisukitakahikone.