Niutsuhime-no-Mikoto

Niutsuhime-no-Mikoto is the principal deity of Niutsuhime Jinja in Katsuragi-cho, Ito District, Wakayama Prefecture. The shrine is the ichi-no-miya of Kii Province and the head shrine of approximately 180 Niu shrines across Japan.

She does not appear in the Kojiki or the Nihon Shoki. The Engishiki Jinmyocho (compiled 927 CE) records her shrine under Ito District, Kii Province, as "Nitsuhime Jinja, Myojin Taisha." A lost fragment of the Harima Fudoki refers to her under the name Nihotsuhime-no-Mikoto.

The shrine's own engi describes her as the younger sister of Amaterasu-Omikami. Some traditions identify her with Wakahirume-no-Mikoto, though sources do not all agree on this point.

She is enshrined at Niutsuhime Jinja, designated a historic site, with the honden complex and romon designated Important Cultural Properties. The shrine is closely linked to the founding of Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya by Kūkai in 819 CE through later Shinto-Buddhist syncretism.

She is also called 丹生明神 (Niu Myojin), and is identified with Nihotsuhime-no-Mikoto in the Harima Fudoki fragment.