Page:Shinto, the Way of the Gods - Aston - 1905.djvu/155

Rh great centre of his worship to this day, and the holiest spot in Japan, next after Ise, is Kidzuki, a town in that province. His shrine here is known all over Japan as the Taisha, or Great Shrine, and was formerly of exceptional magnificence. There is a widespread belief that all the Gods of Japan resort hither in the tenth month, which is therefore called Kami-na-dzuki, or the godless month. But Hirata's suggestion that Kami-na-dzuki is really for Kami-name-dzuki, the divine tasting-month, that is, the month of the harvest festival, is very plausible. Kaempfer transfers this annual visit of the Gods from Idzumo to the Mikado's palace, a blundering account of a myth which itself rests on a blunder.

The story of his deposition by Take-mika-dzuchi and Futsunushi is probably an echo of a real historical event, when the rulers of Idzumo were compelled to yield up their temporal power to the conquerors of Yamato, retaining however, their control of spiritual matters.

Miwa, in Yamato, was another seat of this deity's worship. To be more exact, it was his nigi-tama, or gentle spirit, which was worshipped here. He is also associated with the numerous shrines called Sannō or Hiye. The Sono no kami (garden deity), to whom there was a shrine in the Palace, is also believed to be Ohomononushi, the nigi-tama of Ohonamochi. Along with Sukunabikona he is worshipped at Kanda, Tokio, as showing special favour to the inhabitants of that city (Yedokko no mitama no kami). These two deities are supposed to grant protection against small-pox.

The Kojiki story of Ohonamochi's adventures in Yomi has no apparent connexion with his status as an Earth-God. Dr. Buckley argues that the Ohonamochi of this