Kibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto

Kibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto (吉備津彦命) is an imperial-line deity recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE). The son of Emperor Korei (the seventh emperor), he served as one of the four-way generals (shido-shogun) dispatched to the San-yo Road, where he pacified Kibi Province. He is the chief deity of Kibitsu Shrine and the model for the Momotaro legend. According to the Kojiki middle scroll on Emperor Korei, the princes Okibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto and Wakahiko-Takekibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto were sent to pacify Kibi. The Nihon Shoki Sujin scroll year 10 records the dispatch of the four-way generals. The Kibitsugu-engi narrates his subjugation of the Kibi demon Ura, the model for Momotaro. Father is Emperor Korei; mother is Yamato-Kunikahime. The Engishiki (927 CE) lists Kibitsu Shrine in Bicchu Province as Kibi Province ichinomiya. The honden and haiden, rebuilt in 1425, are designated National Treasures.