Ame-no-Tajikarao
Ame-no-tajikarao is a Japanese deity of physical strength who appears in Japanese mythology. Ame-no-tajikarao is written as 天手力男神 in Kojiki, and 天手力雄神 in Nihon Shoki. Tajikarao's name means sky-hand-power-male.
Another name is Oosugutama-no-mikoto or Takuzutama-no-mikoto, as Ama-no-Iwatowake-no-kami other names is Ookuzutama-no-mikoto and Tachikarao-mikoto.
Mythological description
At the event of Ama-no-Iwato, Ame-no-tajikarao waited at the cave's door to pull out Amaterasu from the cave, and thus return light to the world.During the Tenson kōrin, Amaterasu had Omoikane, Ame-no-tajikarao, and Ama-no-iwato-wake-no-kami accompany the Imperial Regalia of Japan when it went to the Ise province to be enshrined at Ise Grand Shrine.
In the genealogy of Mochizuki clan, he is the grandson of deity Kamimusubi and the ancestor of a clan of the ancient kingdom of Ki-no-kuni-miyatsuko, which is modern-day Wakayama Prefecture, which in the Shinsen Shōjiroku.
However, in another genealogical text, Ame-no-Tajikarao appears to be the child of Ame-Yagokoro-Omoikane-no-mikoto, which is the honored distant ancestor of the Achinohōri clan. Although in relation to this clan, inscribed in another text, the child of the deity Omoikane, Ame-no-Uwaharu-no-mikoto, the name of Ame-no-Tajikarao is nowhere to be seen in the genealogy tree.
His own Shinto priests think he was originally a protector of agriculture. Strangely, this god is often in association with Sugawara no Michizane, as the god Tenjin.
Explanation
The name Ame-no-tajikarao carries the connotation of a male god with extreme and surmounting physical brute strength. The Japanese company, Tachikara, which specializes in sports equipment, is named after the god, because he is "known historically as the 'god of power' in Japanese folklore."Shrines
Ame-no-tajikaro is believed to be a god of sports and physical power, and is enshrined at shrines associated:- Aiki Shrine - Iwama, Ibaraki
- Ama-no-iwatowake Yasukutama-nushi-amatsukami Shrine - Takaoka District, Kōchi Prefecture
- Ame-no-ta-nagao Shrine - Iki, Nagasaki Prefecture
- Haseyamaguchisuwa Shrine - Sakurai (city), Nara Prefecture
- Iwatowake Shrine - Ishikawa District, Fukushima Prefecture
- Ise Grand Shrine - Ise, Mie Prefecture
- Ōmatsuri-ame-no-iwatohiko Shrine - Hamada (city), Shimane Prefecture
- Oyama Shrine - Nakaniikawa District, Toyama Prefecture
- Sana Shrine - Taki District, Mie Prefecture
- Shirai Shrine - Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture
- Takuzudama Shrine - Tsushima (city), Nagasaki Prefecture
- Tejikarao Shrine - Gifu (city), Gifu Prefecture
- Tejikarao Shrine - Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture
- Toake Shrine - Kitakyushu (city), Fukuoka Prefecture
- Togakushi Shrine - Nagano city, Nagano Prefecture