Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Kami (Shinto deity)

Ōtonoji no Kami

意富斗能地神おおとのじのかみ

An illustration of Ōtonoji no Kami created for this site
An original illustration made for this site.

In the Kojiki, Ōtonoji appears as a pair with Ōtonobe no Kami, and is placed in the fifth generation of the Kamiyo Nanayo (seven generations of the age of the kami). Ōtonoji is one of the paired kami who follow the two hitorigami (single kami), Kuni no Tokotachi no Kami and Toyokumono no Kami.

What is recorded in the Kojiki and scholarly views on the kami's name are introduced separately. The page introduces the relationships recorded in the Kojiki and explanations concerning the name.

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

Place in the Kojiki

In the Kojiki, Ōtonoji appears as a pair with Ōtonobe no Kami, and is placed in the fifth generation of the Kamiyo Nanayo (seven generations of the age of the kami). Ōtonoji is one of the paired kami who follow the two hitorigami (single kami), Kuni no Tokotachi no Kami and Toyokumono no Kami.

Source: 國學院大學

What the text records

The Kamiyo Nanayo count each of the first two kami as one generation, and each of the five pairs that follow as one generation. Seven generations does not mean seven kami; there are twelve kami in all. There is no tale in this section telling of Ōtonoji no Kami's individual actions or words.

Source: 國學院大學

How to receive the name

On the meaning of the name and of the paired two kami, there are theories that they relate to dwelling places or the formation of the land, theories that they relate to the formation of male and female bodies, and others. We receive the short listing in the text separately from the interpretations developed from it.

Source: 國學院大學

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 kami and buddhas

Sources (in Japanese)