Takemikazuchi-no-Kami

Takemikazuchi-no-Kami is a heavenly kami (*amatsukami*) described in the *Kojiki* (Records of Ancient Matters, 712 CE) and the *Nihon Shoki* (Chronicles of Japan, 720 CE). According to these texts, he was dispatched to Izumo to confront Ōkuninushi-no-Kami during the pacification of Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, the central land of reed plains—an event known as the transfer of the land. He embodies the characteristics of both a sword deity and a thunder deity, and came to be venerated as the principal clan deity of the Fujiwara clan at Kasuga Grand Shrine.

In the *Kojiki*, the narrative records that by the counsel of Amaterasu-no-Omikami and Takamimusushi-no-Kami, he descended to the beach of Inasa in Izumo alongside Ametori-no-Kami. There he demanded that Ōkuninushi-no-Kami surrender his lands. A characteristic act—reversing his sword and sitting upon its point while addressing Ōkuninushi-no-Kami—symbolizes his nature as a sword deity. He subsequently challenged Takeminakata-no-Kami to a test of strength, crushed his opponent's hand, and drove him toward Suwa. The *Nihon Shoki* records him under the name Takemikazuchi-no-Kami (*武甕槌神*) in the section on the age of kami; he appears as a dispatched deity alongside経津主-no-Kami (Futsunushi-no-Kami).

According to the *Kojiki*, Takemikazuchi-no-Kami was born when blood scattered from the sword with which Izanagi-no-Mikoto severed the fire deity Kagu-Tsuchi-no-Kami. He forms a complementary pair with Futsunushi-no-Kami, and in later centuries both were revered as the principal clan deities of the Nakatomi and Fujiwara families.

Takemikazuchi-no-Kami is principally enshrined at Kashima Grand Shrine (Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, formerly Hitachi Province), which ranks among the core sacred sites of eastern Japan alongside Katori Grand Shrine (Katori, Chiba Prefecture, where Futsunushi-no-Kami is enshrined). According to the *Kasuga Gongen Kenki*, he was transferred to Kasuga Grand Shrine in Nara in 768 CE, where he was established as the foremost of the four principal clan deities of the Fujiwara. From the early modern period onward, he was widely venerated among the warrior class as a deity of skill in swordsmanship and martial arts.