Sakuikazuchi

Sakuikazuchi (析雷) is a thunder deity recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE), also written as Sakikazuchi-no-Kami. The name "Sakuikazuchi" means the thunder force that splits open, deifying the lightning that splits trees and rocks. He is one of the eight thunder deities (yakusa-no-ikazuchi). According to the Kojiki upper scroll on the Land of Yomi, when Izanagi viewed Izanami's body in Yomi, maggots had gathered and eight thunder deities had formed on her body; Sakuikazuchi is recorded as one. Commentaries interpret him as the deity born from her genitals. The eight thunder deities are arranged in the order Oikazuchi, Hoikazuchi, Kuroikazuchi, Sakuikazuchi, Wakaikazuchi, Tsuchiikazuchi, Narukazuchi, and Fushiikazuchi. Together with the broader thunder-deity tradition, this deity belongs to the lineage of agricultural rainfall and protection from lightning.