Okuninushi

Ōkuninushi is one of the most prominent deities in Japanese mythology, featuring centrally in both the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. He is regarded as the chief of the earthly gods and the original sovereign of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, the lush terrestrial realm, and is closely connected to the storm god Susanoo, counted among his ancestors or fathers.

In a pivotal mythological episode known as the kuni-yuzuri, the heavenly deities led by Amaterasu demanded that Ōkuninushi surrender his rulership of the land. He agreed and withdrew to govern the unseen realm, the kakuriyo, in exchange. This narrative is often interpreted as reflecting the historical absorption of Izumo Province — now Shimane Prefecture — into the Yamato state.

Ōkuninushi is enshrined across Japan, with Izumo-taisha in Shimane standing as his foremost sanctuary. He is venerated for matchmaking, healing, and nation-building, and he fathered numerous divine offspring including Kotoshironushi and Takeminakata. Before the Meiji era, he was also syncretized with the Buddhist deity Daikokuten under the shinbutsu-shūgō system of combining Buddhism and Shinto.