Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Kami (Shinto deity)

Ōkuninushi no Ōkami

大国主大神おおくにぬしのおおかみ

An illustration of Ōkuninushi no Ōkami created for this site
An original illustration made for this site.

Izumo Ōyashiro introduces Ōkuninushi no Ōkami as a kami associated with developing the land and with the wisdom that supports people's lives. Divine virtues that support many areas of activity, such as farming, fishing, industry, and medicine, have been handed down.

This page introduces myths and the faith handed down at individual shrines, with their sources. Descriptions of divine virtues are explanations within religious faith and do not guarantee the outcome of any prayer. We do not set uniform rules for the traditions or customs of individual shrines and temples.

English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む

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The kami who takes on the making of the land

Izumo Ōyashiro introduces Ōkuninushi no Ōkami as a kami associated with developing the land and with the wisdom that supports people's lives. Divine virtues that support many areas of activity, such as farming, fishing, industry, and medicine, have been handed down.

Source: 出雲大社

Bonds that connect people and daily life

The en-musubi (forming of bonds) spoken of by Izumo Ōyashiro is not limited to bonds between men and women; it includes the ties that allow living beings to live richly together. Rather than narrowing him to a kami in charge of romance alone, we introduce this as faith concerning the many kinds of bonds in life.

Source: 出雲大社

The White Hare of Inaba and the ceding of the land

He is known for the story of the White Hare of Inaba, in which he helps an injured hare. The tradition of the ceding of the land (kuniyuzuri), in which he hands over the land he had built to the side of Amaterasu Ōmikami and himself takes charge of the unseen world, is also cherished and told at Izumo Ōyashiro.

Source: 出雲大社・出雲大社

Faith linked with Daikokuten

A Tendai school sermon on the Seven Lucky Gods explains that faith in Ōkuninushi and faith in Daikokuten became linked through the connection in sound between "大国" (as in Ōkuninushi) and "大黒" (as in Daikokuten). Ōkuninushi, who takes on the making of the land in myth, and Daikokuten, a guardian deity of Buddhism, each have their own origins, yet they have come to be overlaid on each other within Japanese faith in deities of good fortune.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・天台宗

An example of a chant (in Japanese)

祓え給い、清め給え、神（かむ）ながら守り給い、幸（さきわ）え給え

Related shrines and temples

Related kami and buddhas

Sources (in Japanese)