Sarutahiko-no-Kami

Sarutahiko-no-Kami (猿田彦神) is an earthly deity recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE). At the heavenly descent, he appeared at the eight-fold crossroads of heaven and guided the procession of Ninigi-no-Mikoto. He carries the character of a crossroad deity and a wayside deity, and in later eras became fused with the wayside deity (dosojin) and Koshin folk traditions. According to the Kojiki upper scroll on the heavenly descent, he appears on the path of descent as a strange-formed deity, "his nose seven hand-spans long, his height seven feet, eyes like the eight-fold mirror, glowing red like a winter-cherry". To Ame-no-Uzume's question he answers, "I am an earthly deity, named Saruta-Biko-no-Kami. I came to await the descending august child of the heavenly deity in his path". After the descent, he returned to Isuzu River in Ise. Principal shrine: Tsubaki Okami Yashiro in Suzuka, Mie.