Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...
''Shinto Encyclopedia Volume One'' piece 264 (original 455 pages) Kukurihimenomomikoto Kikurihime/ref>''Encyclopedia of the World Goddess'' pages 42-43 "Kukurihime Kikurihime" venerated as (also known as ) at
Shirayama Hime Shrine
is a Shinto shrine in the Sannomiyamachi neighborhood of the city of Hakusan in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Kaga Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on May 6. It is the head shrine of ap ...
Ishikawa Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...
.''Shirayama Hime Shrine history compilation committee edition'' "Hakusan Faith illustration" (Shirayama Hime Shrine, 2003)''Emperor Keishinkai Digital Collection'', National Diet Library "Kokuzai Chusha Hakusanjo Shrine" "National Famous Shrine Photographs," Imperial Keishinkai, December 1922 .''Morokami Divine Festival Deity Dictionary'' pp. 446-447 "Shirayama Hime Shrine" She is equated with the mountain in Ishikawa province at Hakusanhime shrine. She is mentioned in the ''
Nihongi
The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'' (''Nihon Shoki''), but not in the ''
Kojiki
The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...
''.''Tonerishin'nō-hen'', edited by the National Diet Library Digital Collection "Nippon Shoki Vol. 30 (1)".''Hakusan Festival Shinko Volume 9'' (Original page 8) She mediated between
Izanagi
Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally referred to with a divine honorific as
, is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the ...
and
Izanami
, formally referred to with the honorific , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial ...
after the former escaped from the land of the dead, Yomi no Kuni. She is also venerated at
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...
in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
and at
Yōrō Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in the town of Yōrō in Yōrō District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.
History
The actual year of construction is unknown, but it is thought that it was built during the Yōrō era of the Nara period. The shrine's existenc ...
in
Gifu Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...
. Kukuri appears very briefly during the myth of
Yomi
is the Japanese language, Japanese word for the underworld, land of the dead (World of Darkness). According to Shinto mythology as related in ''Kojiki'', this is where the dead go in the afterlife. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is ...
, after
Izanagi
Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally referred to with a divine honorific as
, is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the ...
used the great god Michikaeshi Ōkami to block the entry to Yomi no kuni. Her words are praised by Izanagi,Taro Sakamoto, Saburo Ienaga, Mitsusada Inoue, Shin Ono School Note "''Nihon Shoki'' (1)" Iwanami Shoten , September 1994. . but what she said to him was not recorded (or erased),''Apocalypse of the gods'', pages 75-77, "Genealogy of the erased Hakusan dynasty" despite Kukurihime's popularity as demonstrated by her worship at 3,000
shrines
A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daemon, or similar figure of respect, wh ...
across Japan.Brian Bocking, ''A Popular Dictionary of Shinto'' (Routledge, 2005).Stuart D. B. Picken, ''Historical Dictionary of Shinto'' (Scarecrow Press, 2010) p. 102. She was later merged with
Kannon Bosatsu
Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...
following
Shinbutsu-shūgō
''Shinbutsu-shūgō'' (, "syncretism of kami and buddhas"), also called ''Shinbutsu-konkō'' (, "jumbling up" or "contamination of kami and buddhas"), is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, Buddhism that was Japan's main organized rel ...