Kunado-no-Kami (), alternately Kunato-no-Kami, Funado-no-Kami, Funato-no-Kami, or Chimata-no-Kami, are

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese local gods connected chiefly with protection against disaster and malicious spirits.近藤直也, 徳島県下における岐神信仰に関する言説 (Remarks on the Worship of Kunado-no-Kami in Tokushima Prefecture). Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2013

The term "Kunado-no-Kami" and its variants are derived ultimately from ''ku-na-do'', meaning a place that is not to be entered, a

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

or sacred space.日本人名大辞典+Plus『来名戸之祖神』。 These kami are regarded as protecting the boundaries of a village and forestalling entry by malicious or harmful spirits and influences, thereby preventing disasters. A common origin myth connects them with the

fundoshi is a traditional Japanese undergarment for men and women, made from a length of cotton. Before World War II, the fundoshi was the main form of underwear for Japanese men and women. However, it fell out of use quickly after the war with the int ...

cast aside by

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 ...

upon his return from the underworld as recorded 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 ...

.大辞泉『道祖神』。 In some cases the protection of these kami extends to roads and paths, in which capacity the variant name Chimata-no-Kami is particularly likely to be applied.

References

Japanese gods Shinto kami {{Shinto-stub

See also

References