Kifune Ryujin Legend

The Kifune dragon-deity tradition is a water-deity and dragon-deity tradition centered on Takaokami-no-Kami and Kuraokami-no-Kami enshrined at Kifune Shrine, sitting at the headwaters of the Kifune River north of Kyoto. Takaokami-no-Kami is set as the dragon deity of summit and mountaintop and Kuraokami-no-Kami as that of valley and ravine, and both stand as ruling deities of water. By tradition, Tamayori-hime-no-Mikoto, mother of Emperor Jimmu, rode the yellow boat (kifune) from Osaka Bay up the Yodo, Kamo, and Kifune rivers to the headwater of Kifune and there built a shrine; this is recorded as the founding. From ancient times Kifune was held in honor by the court as the god of rain prayer and rain stopping and was broadly worshiped as guardian of agriculture and water. The story has three central scenes: Tamayori-hime-no-Mikoto's ascent on the yellow boat and the founding of the shrine at the headwater, the central position in court rain prayer, and the rise of the "ox-hour ritual" tradition and the continuing folk-belief usage to the present. From the medieval period the tradition links with Hashihime, whose seclusion at Kifune turned her into a living demoness, the visit of Izumi Shikibu, and the Noh play Kanawa, accumulating literary intersection. The center is Kifune Shrine in Kuramakifune-cho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto. Its three-shrine structure of main shrine, middle shrine (yui-no-yashiro), and oku-no-miya carries the tradition with the inner shrine holding the funagata-ishi (boat-shaped stone) of Tamayori-hime-no-Mikoto. With Kurama Temple in Kuramahonmachi, Sakyo Ward, and the Kamigamo Shrine in Kita Ward, Kifune shares the mythic sphere of the northern outskirts of Kyoto, and is linked in literature with the Hashihime tradition of the Uji River in Uji. The Engishiki Jinmyocho "Yamashiro Province, Otagi District, Kifune Shrine, Myojin Dai" notes the ancient rank. The Nihon Kiryaku and Fuso Ryakki preserve rain-prayer entries by the court. The medieval Kifune Daimyojin Engi and the Noh play Kanawa (attributed to Kanze Kojiro Nobumitsu, Muromachi period) carry the literary line. The tradition of Kifune Shrine, Kyoto City and Kyoto Prefecture cultural property materials, and commentary on the Izumi Shikibu Shu are the basic references.