[edit]Toyotama-hime giving birth to Ugayafukiaezu by turning herself into a wani in an 1886 illustration
In the Kojiki, his name appears as Amatsuhiko Hiko Nagisatake Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto (天津日高日子波限建鵜葺草葺不合命),[1] and in the Nihon ShokiasHiko Nagisatake Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto (彦波瀲武鸕鶿草葺不合尊). Basil Hall Chamberlain glossed the Kojiki name as "His Augustness Heaven's-Sun-Height-Prince-Wave-limit-Brave-Cormorant-Thatch-Meeting-Incompletely". 'no Mikoto' here is an honorific, denoting divinity or royalty.
Although Toyotama-hime became pregnant at the undersea palace of Ryūgū-jō, she opted not to bear the child in the ocean and decided to head to shore.
On the shore, her parents attempted to build a house in which she could give birth, and attempted to construct the roof with feathers of the cormorant instead of saw grass. However, while they were finishing the roof, she went into labor.
And so just as she was about to give birth, she spoke to her husband, saying:
"When their time draws near, people of other lands all give birth in the form of their homeland. So I will now give birth in my original form. Please, I beg you, do not look at me!"
Now, thinking these words strange, he sneaked up and peered in at her just as she was about to give birth.
She had become an enormous sea beast many arm spans in length that was twisting and slithering around on its stomach.
In shock and fright at the sight of her, he immediately fled far away.[1]
In shame, Toyotama-hime fled, leaving behind her newborn, whom she called Ugayafukiaezu.[1] The roof of the birthing hut had not been completely thatched (fukiaezu) with cormorant feathers (ugaya) when his mother gave birth to him, which explains his name.
Mikeirinu traveled to Tokoyo no kuni, the "Everworld", and Inai went into the ocean to be with his mother. The eldest and youngest set forth to rule the land and while they did so together for a time, after Hikoitsuse died, their youngest became the first ruler.[1]
^ ab"鵜葺草葺不合命" [Ugayafukiaezu]. Kokushi Daijiten (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC683276033. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
^ abcdeNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by William George Aston. Book II, page 73. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. ISBN978-0-8048-3674-6
^ abcde"According to the 'Kojiki', the great 8th century A.D. compilation of Japanese mythology, Konohana Sakuya-hime married a god who grew suspicious of her when she became pregnant shortly after their wedding. To prove her fidelity to her husband, she entered a benign bower and miraculously gave birth to a son, unscathed by the surrounding flames. The fire ceremony at Fuji-Yyoshida recalls this story as a means of protecting the town from fire and promoting easy childbirth among women."
^ abcAkima, Toshio (1993). "The Origins of the Grand Shrine of Ise and the Cult of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami". Japan Review. 4 (4): 143. ISSN0915-0986. JSTOR25790929.
