Inahi-no-Mikoto

Inahi-no-Mikoto is a deity recorded in Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE). He is a son of Ugayafukiaezu-no-Mikoto and Tamayori-bime-no-Mikoto and an elder brother of Kamuyamato-Iwarebiko-no-Mikoto (Emperor Jinmu). Kojiki, middle volume, Jinmu chronicle, opening, records: 'Hiko-Nagisatake-Ugayafukiaezu-no-Mikoto wed his aunt Tamayori-bime-no-Mikoto, and they bore Itsuse-no-Mikoto, next Inahi-no-Mikoto, next Mikenu-no-Mikoto, next Wakamikenu-no-Mikoto, also called Toyomikenu-no-Mikoto, also called Kamuyamato-Iwarebiko-no-Mikoto,' followed by the brief note: 'Inahi-no-Mikoto entered the sea-plain as the homeland of his deceased mother.' He left for the sea-realm of his mother Tamayori-bime's lineage. His father is Ugayafukiaezu; his mother Tamayori-bime. His elder brother is Itsuse-no-Mikoto; his younger brothers are Mikenu-no-Mikoto and Kamuyamato-Iwarebiko. Through his mother's lineage he descends from Watatsumi-no-Kami, so his return to the sea is understood as a return along the maternal line. Nihon Shoki (Jindai-ge) writes his name as Inahi-no-Mikoto and gives an alternate account in which he encounters a storm in Kumano-nada during the eastern campaign, draws his sword, and enters the sea to become Sahimochi-no-Kami. Few shrines venerate him as principal deity, but as a brother of Emperor Jinmu he is recognized in imperial-lineage tradition; medieval traditions in some sources cast him as the progenitor of the kings of Silla. He is referenced alongside Itsuse-no-Mikoto at Kamayama Shrine in Wakayama (Engishiki shikinaisha of Kii Province) as one of Jinmu's brothers.