Kushinadahime-no-Mikoto

Kushinadahime-no-Mikoto is a kunitsukami (earthly kami) recorded in the *Kojiki* (*Records of Ancient Matters*, 712 CE) and the *Nihon Shoki* (*Chronicles of Japan*, 720 CE). She was the daughter of Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi, deities of the Yamatsumi lineage. According to the *Kojiki*, the deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto, expelled from Takamagahara (the plain of high heaven), descended to Torikami mountain in Izumo, where he encountered an elderly couple and their weeping daughter. Learning that the eight-headed serpent (*Yamata no Orochi*) threatened to devour her, Susanoo transformed her into a comb, which he secured in his hair. He then intoxicated the serpent with sake and slew it, after which he took Kushinadahime as his wife.

The *Nihon Shoki* names her as Kushiinada-Hime and emphasises her character as the spirit-essence of cultivated rice fields. She is also known by the alternate name Inadahime-no-Kami, reflecting her aspect as an agricultural and grain deity.

Kushinadahime-no-Mikoto bore Yashimajinumi-no-Kami, whose descendants include Ōkuninushi, the principal deity of Izumo. Thus she stands at the genealogical origin of the Izumo divine lineage. She is enshrined alongside Susanoo-no-Mikoto and Ōkuninushi at Hikawa Shrine in Ōmiya, Saitama Prefecture (the primary shrine of Musashi Province), where her cult expanded throughout the region. Yaegaki Shrine in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, honours both deities as a site of their legendary marriage and is known for devotion to ties of connection (*en-musubi*). She is also widely venerated at subsidiary shrines dedicated to Susanoo throughout Izumo Province.