Onotehime

Onotehime (大野手比売) is a goddess recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE). The element "nude" or "nute" in the name is interpreted as referring to the bronze bell (dotaku), suggesting an ancient connection with the bronze-vessel ritual culture of the Seto Inland Sea. The deity is recorded as the alternate name and deification of Shodoshima, born during the land-creation mythology. According to the Kojiki upper scroll on land-creation, after Izanagi and Izanami produced the eight-island country, they continued by producing the smaller eight islands; among these, Shodoshima (Adzukishima) bore the deified name Onotehime. No independent narrative scene survives, but the lineage embodies the ancient view of islands as deities. She is venerated at Aduki-shima Shrine and Onotehime Shrine in Shodoshima, where a bronze bell was excavated from the western side of the Sangoro Pond, providing an archaeological link to her name.