Amenofuyukinu

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Amenofuyukinu

Amenofuyukinu

Amenofuyukinu (天之冬衣神 – Padded Winter Robe of Heaven1) is a Shinto kami mentioned in both the Kojiki and Nihongi.

In the Kojiki he is said to have been the son of Futemimi and Yatsukamizu Omitsuno. He goes on to marry the kami Sashikuniwakahime and together they have the child Ōkuninushi. As a clothing kami the ‘fuyu’ in his name can refer to winter, or to thick robes worn by people in winter.1

The Nihongi mentions him in a different context, listing him only as a 5th generational descendant of Susano-o. It also states that after Susano-o discovered the sword Kusanagi in the body of Yamata no Orochi he instructs Amenofuyukinu to take the sword up to Heaven. (This is in an alternate version of the Nihongi).2

Footnotes

1. Yasumaro. O, translated by Gustav Heldt. (2014) “Kojiki. An Account of Ancient Matters”. New York: Columbia University Press.
2. Aston. W.G. (1896) “Nihongi Volume 1: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD697”. Tuttle Publishing.

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