Ōmononushi

[1] A passage in the Fudoki of Harima Province (modern Hyōgo Prefecture) meanwhile refers to a deity worshiped at Misaka Shrine in the village of Shijimi in Minō District (modern Miki City) known both as 'Yatokakesu- / Yatokakasu-Mimoro-no-Mikoto' (八戸桂掛須御諸命) and 'Ōmononushi-Ashihara-no-Shiko(o)' (大物主葦原志許(乎); Ashihara-no-Shikoo 'Ugly Man / Young Warrior of the Reed Plains' is used in the Kojiki and the Shoki as another name for Ōkuninushi).

When Ōkuninushi (also known as Ōnamuchi), the descendant (so the Kojiki) or the son (Nihon Shoki) of the god Susanoo, took upon himself the monumental task of developing Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, a dwarf named Sukunabikona appeared from beyond the sea and became his partner.

[11] In the Izumo no Kuni no Miyatsuko no Kanʼyogoto, Ōnamochi (Ōkuninushi), after relinquishing his authority over the land, attaches his nigitama (和魂, 'gentle spirit') in an 'eight-hand mirror' (八咫鏡 yata no kagami), which he then enshrined in Miwa under the name 'Yamato-no-Ōmononushi-Kushimikatama-no-Mikoto' to serve as a patron of the imperial house along with his children, who he installed in various shrines in the Yamato area.

[1][12] The Kojiki relates that when Kamuyamato-Iwarebiko (also known as Emperor Jimmu), the great-grandson of Ninigi (Amaterasu's grandson who came down from heaven to govern Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni after it was surrendered by Ōkuninushi), was searching for a wife, he was told about a woman named Seyadatarahime (勢夜陀多良比売) who bore a daughter after she was impregnated by Ōmononushi, who took the form of a red arrow and struck her genitals while she was defecating in a ditch.

[7][13][14] While the main narrative of the first volume of the Nihon Shoki first describes this daughter, there named Himetatara-Isuzuhime (媛蹈鞴五十鈴媛), as the offspring of the god of Ōmiwa (i.e. Ōmononushi) in agreement with the Kojiki, it is then immediately followed by an alternative account which portrays her as the child of the god Kotoshironushi and the goddess Mizokuhihime (溝樴姫) - also known as Tamakushihime (玉櫛姫) - conceived after Kotoshironushi transformed himself into a gigantic wani and had intercourse with her.

[16][17] Both the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki relate that a series of devastating plagues affected the country during the reign of Emperor Sujin.

[18][19][20][21] The Shoki adds that Sujin appointed another individual named Ikuhi (活日) as the brewer of sake presented as offerings to Ōmononushi.

The following morning, the yarn was found passing through the keyhole of her chamber door, leading straight to Mount Miwa.

This legend explains the name 'Miwa' as deriving from the three (mi-) loops or twists (wa) of hemp thread that remained.

After her alarm caused the snake to flee in shame and anger to Mount Miwa, Yamato-Totohimomosohime in remorse stabs her genitals with a chopstick and dies.

Sugaru then went out and summoned the god to appear before the emperor, at which lightning struck near the temple of Toyura-dera (modern Kōgen-ji in the village of Asuka in Nara Prefecture).

[30] A late 13th century (Kamakura period) text, the Miwa Daimyōjin Engi (三輪大明神縁起), features retellings of two of the above myths concerning Ōmononushi reinterpreted within a Buddhist framework.

This temple was the first Buddhist facility constructed in the ninety-ninth year of the reign of Emperor Suinin, the eleventh human [sovereign].

[...] The dainagon retired from the world to his own mansion and converted his private residence into a Buddhist temple (garan 伽藍).