Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Read, reflect, pray

Awashima kami Mi-machi purification

粟島神巳待祓あはしまじんみまちのはらひ

A text in the 1911 Shintō Ōharai Zenshū anthology. It is presented as a historical reading, not the current ritual of every shrine or temple.

English meaning, sound explanations and source text

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English meaning and sound explanations

About this English rendering

This site’s English rendering of the Japanese meaning guide, aligned with this edition. It is separate from the source words for recitation and is not an official liturgy. Sacred sounds are explained where possible, not given speculative literal translations. Historical beliefs, royal authority, illness and protection claims belong to the text; they are not present-day judgments, medical advice or guarantees of results.

Sound explanation

We address Sukunahikona, governor of human spirits. This passage links the day Tsuchinoto-mi with ‘the body,’ whose foundation is restraint, and interprets Mi-machi as widely worshiping humanity. Calling humans the chief of all things and the rite ‘jitsumadō,’ it wishes good destiny and long life and praises medicine as accordant with Awashima’s divine heart.

The source connects 己巳, 身待, and 実真道 through similar sounds. No established ordinary meaning has been invented for 実真道.

Respectfully we welcome you and bow again. Before the venerable presence of Sukunahikona no Mikoto, whose name we speak with awe, we offer these words.

The kami of Mi-machi is Sukunahikona, the youngest male child among Takamimusubi’s fifteen hundred children. Small in body, he came in a boat of millet to Nasa District in Kishū, and is worshiped as Awashima Daimyōjin: so this edition tells.

Working with Ōnamuchi, the great land kami, and united in purpose to heal the people’s illnesses, he became the ancestral kami who began the medical arts.

He guards life so it may endure long and peacefully, continuing through grandchildren’s grandchildren without ending. This text particularly likens father to heaven and mother to earth, tracing vital activity and lineage to the father-kami and flesh and bones to the mother-kami, and calls the human body ‘tsuchino no mi.’

People still pray to this kami concerning their illnesses, awaiting bodily health and blessing. Hence he is called the kami of Mi-machi, ‘awaiting the body.’

We deeply honor and trust the merit of great purification through divine wondrous power. Purify away illness and unexpected dangers; protect and bless us like unshakable rock so descendants may continue for ages. With reverence, we offer these words.

Source text and reading aid

Roman letters are provided for 3 of 7 lines. Readings not fully supplied in the source are left without Roman letters.

How to use the Roman letters

Roman letters follow the kana displayed in this site’s Japanese reader; some readings are editorial additions documented on the Japanese page. These are a reading aid, not restored Sanskrit or a recording of a temple’s chanting. Historical spellings (such as wo, wi, we and ha used as a particle) are kept. Double vowels and repeated vowels mark the written kana; rhythm and pronunciation can differ by tradition.

You can simply read the meaning or sit quietly. No recitation is required. For a temple or shrine’s own recitation, follow that tradition’s published guidance.

人津霊(ひとつみたま)少彦名(すくなのかん)夫(それ)己巳(つちのとみ)とは慎(つゝしみ)を本(もと)とする身(み)を云(い)ふ。身待(みまち)は普(あまね)く人(ひと)を祭(まつ)る事(こと)ぞ。人(ひと)は則(すなはち)万物(よろづもの)の長(をさ)なれば、是(これ)を祭(まつ)るを実真道(みまち)と云(い)ふ。然(しか)り運命良長(うんめいりやうちやう)として。薬力(やくりき)粟島(あはしま)の神慮(しんりよ)に叶(かな)ふ。

謹請再拝再拝(きんじやうさいはいさいはい)。掛麻久毛賢(かけまくもかしこ)く少彦名尊(すくなひこなのみこと)の宇津(うづ)の広前(ひろまへ)に、恐美恐美(おそれみおそれみ)申(まう)す。

kinjiyausaihaisaihai. kakemakumokashikoku sukunahikonanomikotono uzuno hiromaheni, osoremiosoremi mausu.

抑(そもそも)巳待(みまち)の神(かみ)と申奉(まうしたてまつ)るは高皇産霊(たかみむすび)の尊(みこと)の御子(みこ)にして、一千五百柱(いつせんごひやくはしら)の末男子(すゑのみこ)、少彦名命(すくなひこなのみこと)なり。御長小(みたけちいさく)作(つくり)御座(まします)。粟(あは)を御船(みふね)として、紀州灘佐(きしうなぐさ)の郡(こほり)に着給(つきたま)ふ故(ゆゑ)に、之(これ)を粟島大明神(あはしまだいみやうじん)と祭奉(まつりたてまつ)る。

somosomo mimachino kamito maushitatematsuruha takamimusubino mikotono mikonishite, itsusengohiyakuhashirano suwenomiko, sukunahikonanomikotonari. mitakechiisaku tsukuri mashimasu. ahawo mifunetoshite, kishiunagusano kohorini tsukitamafu yuweni, korewo ahashimadaimiyaujinto matsuritatematsuru.

于時(ときに)大国神(だいこくじん)大己貴命(おほなむちのみこと)と力(ちから)を合(あは)せ御心一(みこゝろひとつ)にして、天下(あめがした)の蒼生人(あおひとくさ)の病(やまひ)を療治(やし)給(たま)はんと医術(くすし)の道(みち)を始給(はじめたま)ふ元祖(ぐわんそ)なり。

其巳寿永安(そのみことぶきながくやすらか)にして、孫(まご)の孫(まご)八十続(やそつゞき)まで、不絶(たえざる)事(こと)を守(まもり)給(たま)ふ神(かみ)なり。殊(ことに)父(ちゝ)は天(あめ)なり母(はゝ)は地(つち)なり、気脈氏(きみやくうぢ)を父神(ちゝのかみ)より請(うけ)、骨肉(こつにく)は母神(はゝのかみ)より受(うくる)故(ゆゑ)に土野(つちの)の身(み)とは申奉(まうしたてまつ)るなり。

今(いま)に至(いた)るまで万民(ばんみん)己我己(おのがおのれ)の病(やまひ)を此神(このかみ)へ祈(いの)り、身健(みすこやか)に福(さひはひ)を奉待(たてまつりまつ)る故(ゆゑ)、身待(みまち)の神(かみ)とは申(まう)すなり。

imani itarumade banmin onogaonoreno yamahiwo konokamihe inori, misukoyakani sahihahiwo tatematsurimatsuru yuwe, mimachino kamitoha mausunari.

神力神妙(しんりきしんめう)の大祓(おほはらひ)なる功徳(くどく)を厚(あつ)く敬(うやま)ひ深(ふか)く信(しん)じて、病難奇難(びやうなんきなん)を祓除(はらひのぞ)き、子孫長久(しそんちやうきう)、常磐堅磐(ときはかきは)に守護福(まもりさいはひ)給(たま)へと、謹美(つゝしみ)恐美恐美(おそれみおそれみ)申(まう)す。

Connected kami and buddhas

These connections include figures addressed, mentioned, or associated by tradition. They do not assign a universal recitation practice.

Sources and edition (1)

English explanations on this page were prepared by Inori no Mori from the cited text and its Japanese explanations. They are not an official translation or a prescribed liturgy.

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