# Ukanomitama

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ukanomitama
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ukanomitama.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukanomitama
> Source revision: 1344593260
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|Japanese deity of agriculture}}
{{Expand Japanese|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Japanese
| name = Ukanomitama-no-Kami
| image = Statue of Ukanomitama at Ozu-jinja.jpg
| caption = Heian period statue of Ukanomitama at [Ozu Shrine](/source/%3Aja%3A%E5%B0%8F%E6%B4%A5%E7%A5%9E%E7%A4%BE) in [Moriyama](/source/Moriyama%2C_Shiga), [Shiga Prefecture](/source/Shiga_Prefecture)
| god_of = Goddess of food and agriculture
| script_name = Japanese
| script = 宇迦之御魂神
| other_names = Ukanomitama-no-Mikoto (倉稲魂命)<br/>
Mikura-no-Kami (御倉神)<br/>
Miketsukami (御食津神, 三狐神)
| cult_center = [Fushimi Inari Taisha](/source/Fushimi_Inari_Taisha), [Kasama Inari Shrine](/source/Kasama_Inari_Shrine), [Yūtoku Inari Shrine](/source/Y%C5%ABtoku_Inari_Shrine) and others
| symbols = 
| consort = 
| parents = [Susanoo-no-Mikoto](/source/Susanoo-no-Mikoto) and [Kamuōichihime](/source/Kamu%C5%8Dichihime) (''[Kojiki](/source/Kojiki)'')<br/>[Izanagi](/source/Izanagi) and [Izanami](/source/Izanami) (''[Nihon Shoki](/source/Nihon_Shoki)'')
| siblings = [Ōtoshi](/source/Toshigami) (''Kojiki'')
| children = 
| texts = ''[Kojiki](/source/Kojiki)'', ''[Nihon Shoki](/source/Nihon_Shoki)'' and others
}}
'''Ukanomitama''' (宇迦之御魂神 – Mighty Soul of Sustenance<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ukanomitama • A History of Japan - 日本歴史|url=https://historyofjapan.co.uk/wiki/ukanomitama/|access-date=2021-09-11|website=A History of Japan - 日本歴史|language=en-GB|archive-date=2021-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911120355/https://historyofjapan.co.uk/wiki/ukanomitama/|url-status=live}}</ref> - ''[Kojiki](/source/Kojiki)'') (倉稲魂命 - ''[Nihongi](/source/Nihon_Shoki)'') is a ''[kami](/source/kami)'' in classical [Japanese mythology](/source/Japanese_mythology), associated with food and agriculture, often identified with [Inari](/source/Inari_(mythology)), the deity of rice.

==Name and mythology==
The ''Kojiki'' identifies Ukanomitama (宇迦之御魂神 ''Ukanomitama-no-Kami'') as the child of [Susanoo](/source/Susanoo) by his second wife Kamu-Ōichihime (神大市比売), who was a daughter of [Ōyamatsumi](/source/Kamiumi) (大山津見神), the god of mountains. This text portrays Ukanomitama as the younger sibling of the harvest deity [Ōtoshi-no-Kami](/source/Toshigami).<ref name="chamberlain">Chamberlain (1882). [https://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj027.htm Section XX.—The August Ancestors of the Deity-Master-Of-The-Great Land.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729184045/https://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj027.htm |date=2020-07-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press|page=92}}</ref>

A variant account recorded in the ''Nihon Shoki'' meanwhile portrays Ukanomitama (here referred to as 倉稲魂命 ''Ukanomitama-no-Mikoto'') as an offspring of [Izanagi](/source/Izanagi) and [Izanami](/source/Izanami) who was born when the two became hungry.<ref name="Aston20">{{cite wikisource |author-first= William George |author-last= Aston |chapter= Book I |wslink= Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |plaintitle= Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |year= 1896 |publisher= Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.|wspage=22}}</ref>

The deity's name is understood as being derived from ''uka no mitama'', "august spirit (''mitama'') of food (''uka'')".<ref name="chamberlain"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press|page=621}}</ref> While the above texts are silent regarding the deity's gender, Ukanomitama has long been interpreted to be female, perhaps due to association with other agricultural deities such as [Toyouke](/source/Toyouke-%C5%8Cmikami) or [Ukemochi](/source/Ukemochi).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last1=Aston|first1=William George, tr.|title=Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697|date=1896|publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.|location=London|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Nihongi:_Chronicles_of_Japan_from_the_Earliest_Times_to_A.D._697}}
*{{cite book|last1=Chamberlain|first1=Basil, tr.|title=A Translation of the "Ko-Ji-Ki," or "Records of Ancient Matters"|date=1882|publisher=Lane, Crawford & Co.|location=Yokohama|url=http://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/index.htm}}
*Philippi, Donald L. (2015). ''Kojiki''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-1400878000}}.

==See also==
*[Toyouke-Ōmikami](/source/Toyouke-%C5%8Cmikami)
*[Ukemochi](/source/Ukemochi)

{{Inari Faith}}

Category:Shinto kami
Category:Food deities
Category:Agricultural gods
Category:Agricultural deities
Category:Inari faith
Category:Kunitsukami

{{Japan-myth-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ukanomitama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukanomitama) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukanomitama?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.