- Source: Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi
Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi are a pair of Japanese deities. They are the parents of Kushinadahime, the wife of Susanoo-no-Mikoto. The serpent killed their other 7 daughters.
Their names mean foot stroking elder and hand stroking elder respectively. They are considered Kunitsukami. They are the only two deities of the Kojiki explicitly stated as elders.
Ashinazuchi brought alcohol to Susanoo in order to kill Yamata no Orochi alongside Tensazuchi. Susanoo got the serpent drunk with the alcohol and killed it for them.
In the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, the god Susanoo, after his banishment from the heavenly realm Takamagahara, came down to earth, to the land of Izumo, where he encountered an elderly couple named Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi, both children of the mountain god Ōyamatsumi. They told him of a monstrous creature from the nearby land of Koshi known as the Yamata no Orochi ("eight-forked serpent") that had devoured seven of their eight daughters. Upon hearing this, Susanoo agreed to kill the serpent on condition that they give him their sole surviving daughter, Kushinadahime, to be his wife. After he was successful they became grandparents of Yashimajinumi. They were granted the title of Inada palace master.
They are enshrined in Hikawa Shrine, Saitama representing love as a married couple alongside Kushinadahime and Susanoo.
Family tree
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Yamata-no-Orochi
- Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi
- Susanoo-no-Mikoto
- Ōyamatsumi
- Kunitsukami
- Kushinadahime
- List of legendary creatures from Japan
- Susa Shrine
- Inari Ōkami
- Kuraokami
- Kagu-tsuchi