第十一話：尻に大豆、ほと（女陰)に麦
“Soon after, Futodama no Mikoto strung across the Heavenly Grotto a Shimenawa ①, binding the Three Creator Kami of the Universe, The Five Primordial Kotoamatsukami, and the Seven Generations of Kami during the Age of the Kami, saying “With this, thou shan’t hide thyself ever again.”
① A bit of fancy wordplay is used in the book, the original word is written as しめ縄, with 七五三縄 written in parenthesis, the numbers representing each set of kami.
Vocabulary
瞬間 しゅんかん moment, instant
怪力 かいりき superhuman strength
謀 はかりごと scheme, plan
つつがない without incident
封じ込める ふ・こ to shut in, to contain
拝む おが to get into the posture of praying, to pay one’s respects
鎮まる しず to calm down, to subside
騒動 そうどう strife, turmoil
刑 けい punishments
物品 ぶっぴん goods
よだれ drool
垂れ流す た・なが to discharge
鼻くそ はな snot
ほじくり出す だ to pick out (of nose)
ぐつぐつ simmering gently
煮込む にこ to cook together
蚕 かいこ silkworms
粟 あわ millet
採る と to pick, to extract
堪忍袋 かんにんぶくろ one’s store of patience
The book goes on to say that in dark times one should celebrate and laugh loudly, which is where the phrase 「笑う角には福きたる」 came from, meaning that places that there is an abundance of laughter and positive atmosphere will have no trouble finding happiness. It also goes on to say that one of the reasons people hang shimenawa up during the New Year, is due to the originally holding the wish of preventing the sun from vanishing again. Basically a prayer for receiving blessings from Amaterasu Ōmikami for another year!
Places
高千穂 Takachiho is a town in Miyazaki Prefecture, and is believed to be the location of the Ama no Iwato cave where Amaterasu Ōmikami hid. It is marked by Ama no Iwato Jinja 天岩戸神社.
阿波の国 Awa no Kuni (modern day Tokushima Prefecture), is where Ōgetsuhime is the primary kami of Kamiichi no Miya Ōawa Jinja 上一宮大粟神社, in Kamiyamachō
出雲の肥の河 Hi-no-Kawa river in Izumo is where Susano’o no Mikoto ends up after being banished fully from Takamagahara
“They decided on two punishments. One was to offer forth a mountain of goods, the other was to cut off Susano’o no Mikoto’s beard and fingernails to purify him. Once he completed these tasks, the kami would release him.”
Kami
大宜都比売 Ōgetsuhime, a female kami who could produce cooking from various parts of her body, which disgusted Susano’o no Mikoto and he killed her for it
“First she took from her butt five colors of rice, and boiled it. Next, from her butt she pulled Japanese yams, chewed them up into a drool in her mouth and spat out a delicious looking broth. From her nose came adzuki and chestnuts rolled up like snot, picked out and boiled gently cooking together. While working hard to make something delicious, she hummed along to a song having fun.”
When Susano’o no Mikoto kills her, her body produces numerous agricultural items:
Head = silkworms
Eyes = the rice plant
Ears = millet
Nose = adzuki beans
Genitals = barley
Butt = soy beans
Kamumusuhi no Kami took the rice plants back up to Takamagahara.
