Uwatsutsu-no-O-no-Mikoto

Uwatsutsu-no-O-no-Mikoto is a heavenly deity recorded in the misogi (purification) section of Kojiki (712 CE), one of the three Sumiyoshi deities. He is also written as Uwatsutsu-no-O-no-Mikoto in alternate orthography. Kojiki, upper volume, misogi section, records: 'When [Izanagi] rinsed at the surface of the water, there came into being Uwatsu-Watatsumi-no-Kami, and next Uwatsutsu-no-O-no-Mikoto.' When Izanagi returned from Yomi-no-Kuni and performed purification at the Awakihara of Tachibana-no-Odo in Hyuga, Tsukushi, the three Watatsumi and three Sumiyoshi deities arose paired at the bottom, middle, and surface layers; Uwatsutsu stands at the surface layer. Nihon Shoki, Jindai-jo, fifth-segment alternate texts, gives a similar account. His father is Izanagi (as generative deity by misogi); alongside him arose Sokotsutsu-no-O-no-Mikoto and Nakatsutsu-no-O-no-Mikoto, the three Sumiyoshi deities venerated as a unit. The paired three Watatsumi deities of the sea-bottom, middle, and upper share the protection of sea and navigation. He is principally venerated at Sumiyoshi Taisha in Sumiyoshi, Osaka (ichinomiya of Settsu Province), where the four main halls house the three Sumiyoshi deities and Empress Jingu; Uwatsutsu is enshrined as the principal deity of the Third Hall, in contrast to Sokotsutsu enshrined at the First Hall. He is also venerated as the three Sumiyoshi deities at Sumiyoshi Shrine in Hakata, Fukuoka (one tradition of ichinomiya of Chikuzen Province) and Sumiyoshi Shrine in Shimonoseki (ichinomiya of Nagato Province). He has long been revered as a guardian of maritime traffic across the Seto Inland and Genkainada seas.