Kotoshironushi-no-Kami

Kotoshironushi-no-Kami is a kunitsukami (earthly kami) documented in the *Kojiki* (Records of Ancient Matters, 712 CE) and *Nihon Shoki* (Chronicles of Japan, 720 CE). As the son of Okuninushi, he is positioned in classical narrative as the first deity to consent to the land transfer (*kuni yuzuri*) when the heavenly emissary Takemikazuchi-no-Kami pressed the matter at Inasa Beach. He possessed the character of both an oracle deity and a sea deity, and in later centuries came to merge with Ebisu.

In the *Kojiki* account of the pacification of Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, the central land of reed plains, Okuninushi declared that he would defer to the words of his son, the eight-layered Kotoshironushi. Messengers were sent to find Kotoshironushi fishing at Cape Miho, where he responded, "This is awe-inspiring. I shall offer this land to the child of the heavenly deities"—and then concealed himself behind a fence of green wood. The *Nihon Shoki* preserves a corresponding account, and Kotoshironushi also appears in the *Nintoku* era records under the name Kamo-no-Okami.

His father was Okuninushi and his mother was Kamuyatate-Hime-no-Mikoto. Among his siblings was Takeminakata-no-Kami, who famously opposed the land transfer and fled to Suwa, forming a counterpoint in the narrative. Kotoshironushi's own child was Himetataraisuzuhime-no-Mikoto, who became consort to the Emperor Jinmu and marked a junction point in the imperial line.

Miho Shrine in Miho Seki, Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, is his principal seat and considered the head shrine of all Kotoshironushi shrines nationwide, where he is the principal enshrined kami (shusaijin). He has been venerated from antiquity at Kamo-Tsuhawa Shrine in Gojo, Nara Prefecture (in Yamato), where his character as an oracle deity endures. From the early modern period onward, his association with fishing legends led to a merger with the Ebisu deity, and he became widely worshipped for prosperity in commerce and maritime safety.