Wakatoshi-no-Kami

Wakatoshi-no-Kami is an earthly deity (kunitsukami) recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE), upper scroll, in the long genealogy of Otoshi-no-Kami (the Great Year Deity). The text places the deity as a child of Hayamato-no-Kami and Ogetsuhime-no-Kami, alongside the sibling group of young grain and harvest deities including Wakayamakui-no-Kami and Wakasaname-no-Kami. The name signifies the young year-grain, that is, the fresh young rice of the new agricultural year. As a third-generation descendant from Susanoo-no-Mikoto through Otoshi-no-Kami and Hayamato-no-Kami, the deity stands within the Izumo-affiliated agricultural cult lineage. Dedicated main shrines are limited, but the deity is co-enshrined among the offspring of Otoshi-no-Kami at year-deity shrines (Toshigami-jinja, Otoshi-jinja) nationwide; the New Year toshigami visitation persists in folk practice.