Toyokumono-no-Kami

Toyokumono-no-Kami is recorded at the opening of Kojiki (712 CE) Upper Volume as the second of the seven generations of Kamiyonanayo. The text reads, "Next there came the deities named Kuninotokotachi-no-Kami and Toyokumono-no-Kami. These two deities likewise were solitary and hid themselves." After the five separate heavenly deities the lineage begins with Kuninotokotachi-no-Kami, followed by Toyokumono-no-Kami as a single-bodied deity. He is read as a generator of clouds and rain associated with the unfolding of the early earthly world. Nihon Shoki (720 CE) Jindai chapter one variant gives the corresponding form Toyokumununo-Mikoto. As a single-bodied deity he has no consort. He follows Kuninotokotachi in the genealogy and precedes the paired deities Uhijini and Suhijini, opening the chain that reaches Izanagi and Izanami. Premodern kokugaku, notably Motoori Norinaga's Kojiki-den, treats him as a generative principle for the land.