Tamanooya-no-Mikoto (玉祖命), also known as Tamanoya, is a

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 ...

from

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

Mythology

Tamanooya is believed to be the creator of

Yasakani no Magatama are curved, comma-shaped beads that appeared in prehistoric Japan from the Jōmon period, Final Jōmon period through the Kofun period, approximately 1000 BCE to the 6th century CE. The beads, also described as jewels, were made of stone and e ...

, one of the three

imperial regalia of Japan The are the imperial regalia of Japan and consist of the sword , the mirror , and the jewel . They represent the three primary virtues: valour (the sword), wisdom (the mirror), and benevolence (the jewel).

- commonly referred to as the “Jewel” (along with the sword and the mirror). He was one of the principle gods involved in the plan to lure

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

from the cave that she hid herself in. The jewel was hung outside to lure her outside. Tama-no-iwaya is believed to be the grave for the kami, and he is venerated at Tamanooya-jinja in Yamaguchi but is not venerated at any kampeisha.

Family

The

Nihon Shoki 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 ...

states that he was the son of

Ninigi is a deity in Japanese mythology. (-no-Mikoto here is an honorific title applied to the names of Japanese gods; Ninigi is the specific god's name.) Grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, Ninigi is regarded according to Japanese mythology as the ...

, while the

Shinsen Shōjiroku is an imperially commissioned Japanese genealogical record. It was first conceived during Emperor Kanmu's reign in 799 to properly track the clans' then ambiguous lineages, but was not completed before his death in 806. The project was later car ...

says he was the grandson of

Takamimusubi Takamimusubi (高御産巣日, lit. "High Generative Force") is a Creator deity, creation deity in Japanese mythology, who was the second of the Kotoamatsukami, first beings to come into existence. It is speculated that Takamimusubi was origin ...

. He is also viewed as the ancestral

of the Shinabe clan.

Names

A list of names he goes by: * Amenoakarutama * Ama no akarutama * Haakaru tama * Kushiakarutama no kami * Tama no oya * Tamanoya no mikoto * Toyotama

References

Japanese gods Japanese mythology Amatsukami {{Japan-myth-stub