Otonobe-no-Kami

Otonobe-no-Kami (大斗乃弁神) is the fifth-generation female deity of the Seven Generations of the Age of the Gods, recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE). Paired with her consort Otonoji-no-Kami, the deity represents the primordial state of the solidified earth. The name element "Oto" has been variously interpreted as great earth, great gate, or as a symbol of the human form, and scholars present multiple readings. According to the Kojiki upper scroll on cosmic beginnings, she appears as the fifth generation alongside Otonoji-no-Kami. From the third generation onward in the Seven Generations, the form of paired male-female deities appears, and this deity is positioned in the lineage as one that establishes the paired arrangement. She is venerated at Kumano Hayatama Taisha in Wakayama and Futarasan Shrine in Tochigi.