Kōjin, also known as , is the

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 ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' (''god'') of

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

, the

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, partial ...

and the

kitchen A kitchen is a room (architecture), room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a Kitchen stove, stove, a sink ...

. He is sometimes called

Kamado A is a traditional Japanese wood- or charcoal-fueled cook stove. Etymology and history The precursor of the Kamado was introduced to Japan by Yayoi immigrants from the Korean peninsula during the Kofun period.Farrispp. 83–87./ref> The ...

-gami ( 竃神), literally ''the god of the

stove A stove or range is a device that generates heat inside or on top of the device, for - local heating or cooking. Stoves can be powered with many fuels, such as natural gas, electricity, gasoline, wood, and coal. Due to concerns about air pollu ...

''. He represents violent forces that are turned toward the betterment of humankind.

Mythology

The name ''Sambō-Kōjin'' means ''three-way rough deity'', and he is considered a deity of uncertain temper.Ashkenazy, Michael. ''Handbook of Japanese Mythology''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. 244 Fire, which he represents, is a destructive force, as shown in the myth of Kagu-tsuchi, the original fire deity, whose birth caused his mother's death. However, Kōjin embodies fire controlled and turned toward a good purpose. He is said to destroy all impurity. He is also responsible for watching over the household and reporting any misdeeds to the ''kami'' of the village or city. These reports are discussed, and the according rewards or punishments assigned, by an assembly of gods in

Izumo province was an Old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku region. History During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this reg ...

in the tenth month of the traditional

lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are br ...

.Ashkenazy 186–187 Kōjin is sometimes identified as an incarnation of Fudō Myō-Ō, who is likewise depicted as surrounded by flames and tasked with dealing with misdeeds. As Kamado-gami, he is sometimes depicted as female.

Worship

Traditionally, a representation of Kōjin is placed near the hearth. This representation might be a simple '' fuda'' (''memorial tablet'') in many homes, or it might be as elaborate as a statue, as is common in

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temples. In his statues, Kōjin is depicted with flaming hair, fangs, and a contorted face, and he often wields a bow and arrows. He has two pairs of hands. Some representations of Kōjin present him as possessing three heads. The '' Kōjiki'' mentions an imperial script detailing instructions for worshipping Kōjin, in the form of Kamado-gami. Kōjin is believed to have come from '' Shugendō'' worshippers from the late

Heian The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to: * Heian period, an era of Japanese history * Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto * Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms) * ...

or early

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

period.

Notes

References

*Ashkenazy, Michael. ''Handbook of Japanese Mythology''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. *Philippi, Donald, trans., ed. ''Kōjiki''. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press, 1968.

External links

JAANUS / Koujin 荒神
- Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System {{DEFAULTSORT:Kojin Buddhist gods Japanese gods Fire gods Shinto kami Buddhism in the Edo period Domestic and hearth deities

Mythology

Worship

See also

Notes

References

External links