Ugayafukiaezu-no-Mikoto

Ugayafukiaezu-no-Mikoto is a heavenly kami (amatsukami) recorded in the *Kojiki* (Records of Ancient Matters, 712 CE) and *Nihon Shoki* (Chronicles of Japan, 720 CE). He is the son of Hikonagisatake-no-Mikoto and Toyotamabime-no-Mikoto, and is the father of Emperor Jinmu. His name is said to derive from the circumstance of his birth: Toyotamabime constructed a birthing hut with a roof of cormorant feathers on the seashore, but delivered him before the feathers could be properly laid.

In the final section of the *Kojiki*'s upper scroll, the pregnant Toyotamabime-no-Mikoto arrives at the residence of her husband, Hikonagisatake-no-Mikoto, and a birthing hut roofed with cormorant plumes is erected on the beach. Toyotamabime instructs him not to peek inside, saying "when people of other lands give birth, they assume their native form." However, Hikonagisatake glimpses her true form—that of a great crocodile—and shame-stricken, Toyotamabime flees into the sea. She entrusts the infant to her younger sister, Tamayoribime-no-Mikoto, for care and upbringing. A parallel account appears in the *Nihon Shoki*'s section on the divine age (神代下, the eleventh variant account).

As paternal lineage: his father is Hikonagisatake-no-Mikoto and his mother is Toyotamabime-no-Mikoto. His adoptive mother and wife is Tamayoribime-no-Mikoto, Toyotamabime's younger sister. His four children are Itosetsumi-no-Mikoto, Inahi-no-Mikoto, Mikenutsuno-Mikoto, and Wakamikenutsuno-Mikoto (also called Kamuyamatoiwarebiko-no-Mikoto, Emperor Jinmu). He is positioned as the direct grandfather deity of the imperial lineage.

The principal shrine of Ugayafukiaezu-no-Mikoto is Udo Grand Shrine (Udojingu, Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture), which enshrines him in a coastal rock cavern serving as the main hall, thereby preserving the tradition of his birthplace. He is also venerated at Kagoshima Grand Shrine (Kagoshima, Kirishima City) and Miyazaki Grand Shrine (Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture). As a central kami of the Hyūga mythology cycle, his cult has developed along the coastal regions of southern Kyushu.