Konohanasakuya-hime

Konohanasakuya-hime is the goddess of Mount Fuji and all volcanoes in Japanese mythology, she is also the blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life.[1][2]She is often considered an avatar of Japanese life, especially since her symbol is the sakura (cherry blossom).

Konohanasakuya-hime
Nature deity
Konohanasakuya-hime
Other names	Konohananosakuya-hime Sakuya-hime Sengen
Japanese	木花咲耶姫 木花開耶姫
Affiliation	Blossoms, life, Mount Fuji, volcanoes
Major cult center	Asama shrines
Abodes	Mount Fuji
Symbol	Sakura cherry blossom
Texts	Kojiki, Nihon Shoki
Gender	Female
Region	Japan
Personal information
Parents	Ōyamatsumi
Siblings	Iwanaga-hime
Consort	Ninigi
Offspring	Hoderi, Hosuseri, Hoori

Shinto shrines have been built on Mount Fuji for Sakuya-hime. It is believed that she will keep Mount Fuji from erupting,[3] but shrines to her at Kirishima have been repeatedly destroyed by volcanic eruptions. She is also known for having torn up the Yatsugatake Mountains, because it was higher than Fuji-san.

Name and Etymology

Konohanasakuya-hime or Konohananosakuya-hime (木花咲耶姫 or 木花開耶姫; lit. "[cherry] tree blossom blooming princess" (princess, or lady of high birth explains hime; her name also appears in a shorter form as "Sakuya-hime",[4] and she is also called Sengen[5]))

Myths

Ninigi and Sakuya-hime

Sakuya-hime met Ninigi on the seashore and they fell in love; Ninigi asked Ohoyamatsumi, the father of Sakuya-hime for her hand in marriage. Oho-Yama proposed his older daughter, Iwa-Naga-hime, instead, but Ninigi had his heart set on Sakuya-hime. Oho-Yama reluctantly agreed and Ninigi and Ko-no-hana married. Because Ninigi refused Iwa-Naga, the rock-princess, human lives are said to be short and fleeting, like the sakura blossoms, instead of enduring and long lasting, like stones.

Sakuya-hime became pregnant in just one night, causing suspicion in Ninigi. He wondered if this was the child of another kami. Sakuya-hime was enraged at Ninigi's accusation and entered a doorless hut, which she then set fire to, declaring that the child would not be hurt if it were truly the offspring of Ninigi. Inside the hut, Ko-no-hana had three sons, Hoderi, Hosuseri and Hoori.[6][7]

Yosoji's Camellia Tree

According to legend around the 11th century, a small village in Suruga Province named Kamiide, was struck by smallpox epidemic. In the village there lived a young boy named Yosoji, his mother was also infected by the disease. To save his mother Yosoji went to a fortune teller. The fortune teller told him to give his mother water from a small stream near Mount Fuji.

The next day Yosoji decided to go to the river but, then stumbled upon three paths, not knowing which one to take a young girl in white came towards him from the forest. The girl then guided Yosoji to the stream.

Yousoji scooped up water from the stream and gave it to his mother to drink. Days later we went back to the section where the three paths meet where he saw the girl in white again.

She told him to come back in three days, she will meet him. And it will take five trips to treat the villagers. Five trips later Yosoji’s mother was healed and so where many other villagers. The villagers thanked him but, he knew that he owned it all to the girl in white. So he went back to the stream to give thanks to the women in white. However, he found that the stream was completely dried up and the girl was nowhere to be seen so Yosoji prayed that the girl would reveal herself, and thank her for her actions.

The girl appeared before him and Yosoji said that he wished to tell her how deeply grateful he was to her and he wished to know who she was so he could tell the villagers who to thank.

The women said who she was is not important and said farewell to Yosoji. The women in white then swung a branch of camellia over her head and a cloud from Mount Fuji came down and picked the woman up.

That is when Yosoji realized the woman was none other than the Goddess of Mount Fuji.[8]

References

1. Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by William George Aston. Book I, page 71. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. ISBN 978-0-8048-3674-6
2. Coulter, Charles Russell; Turner, Patricia (2013-07-04). Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-96390-3.
3. "In A.D. 806 a local official built a shrine near the foot of the volcano to keep it from erupting. The priests assigned the task of pacifying the mountain apparently neglected their duties because Fuji erupted with great violence in 864, causing much damage in a nearby province. The governor of that province blamed the priests for failing to perform the proper rites and constructed another shrine in his own territory, where he could make sure everything was done correctly. A fiery god of the mountain became at a later date the more peaceful Shinto goddess of Mount Fuji-- Konohana Sakuya Hime-- the Goddess of Flowering Trees." "Konohana Sakuya Hime originally had little or no connection with Mount Fuji. Sometime between the 14th and 16th centuries, the belief arose among the people of the region that she would protect them from eruptions of the volcano as she had her newborn son from the flames of the burning bower." Konohana is now the principal goddess of Mount Fuji. Members of Fuji-ko have altars in their own home in which they worship Konohana Sakuya Hime. This group also lights a torch for Konohana Sakuya Hime at the fire ceremony at Fuji-Yoshida.
4. "Creation stories". gly.uga.edu/. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
5. Cartwright, M ark (12 April 2017). "Mount Fuji". Ancient History. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
6. Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by William George Aston. Book II, page 73. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. ISBN 978-0-8048-3674-6
7. "According to the 'Kojiki', the great 8th century A.D. compilation of Japanese mythology, Konohana Sakuya Hime married a god who grew suspicious of her when she became pregnant shortly after their wedding. To prove her fidelity to her husband, she entered a benign bower and miraculously gave birth to a son, unscathed by the surrounding flames. The fire ceremony at Fuji-Yyoshida recalls this story as a means of protecting the town from fire and promoting easy childbirth among women."
8. "Yosoji's Camellia Tree". sacred-texts. Retrieved 2020-12-17.