Deities
Hoori
ho-OH-ree
Also Known As Yamasachihiko (Mountain Luck Prince)
Japanese Deities
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Hoori, also called Yamasachihiko (Mountain Luck Prince), is a son of Ninigi and the younger brother of Hoderi (Umisachihiko, Sea Luck Prince). After losing his brother's fishhook while attempting to swap their trades for a day, he descends to the undersea palace of the sea god Watatsumi to find it, and there marries Watatsumi's daughter Toyotama-hime. Given tide-controlling jewels by Watatsumi, he uses them to subdue his brother on his return. When Toyotama-hime later comes ashore to give birth, he breaks his promise not to look at her and sees her true form as a sea creature, after which she leaves him and returns to the sea. Their son, Ugayafukiaezu, is the father of Emperor Jimmu, making Hoori a direct ancestor of the imperial line.
History & Origin
The Kojiki recounts that after losing his brother Hoderi's precious fishhook while fishing, Hoori traveled to the undersea palace of the sea god Watatsumi to recover it, married the sea god's daughter Toyotama hime, and eventually returned home with both the hook and the power to control the tides, gifts that let him subdue his brother and establish a line of descent the Kojiki traces directly to the Japanese imperial family.
Facts
Attributions
Mythic AssociationDescended to Watatsumi's undersea palace seeking his brother's lost fishhook, married Toyotama-hime there, and broke his promise not to watch her give birth. 2 Mythic AssociationHis elder brother Hoderi, once subdued, becomes ancestor of the Hayato people of southern Kyushu, who served the imperial court as guards and dancers, their submission read as a charter myth for a real political relationship. 2 Origins
Origin of the NameHoori's alternate name Yamasachihiko translates as Mountain Luck Prince, naming him against his brother Hoderi, Umisachihiko, the Sea Luck Prince, whose trade for a day sets the story moving. 2 Practice
LineageTheir son, Ugayafukiaezu, is the father of Emperor Jimmu, making Hoori a direct ancestor of the imperial line. 2 Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 1 HistoricityNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 2 Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 Cult
Principal Cult CentreKirishima Jingu in Kagoshima Prefecture, shared with the wider Hyuga myth-cycle genealogy 1 Worship and PracticeFishing communities along the Kyushu coast historically invoked the tide controlling jewels of the myth in rites asking for calm seas and a good catch, treating Hoori's Watatsumi given power over the tides as directly useful to their own work. 2 Function
Domain / Function Domain / Function Position Profile
Key TextThe Kojiki recounts Hoori losing his elder brother Hoderi's fishhook while borrowing his tackle to fish at sea, then traveling to the palace of the sea god Watatsumi to recover it, where he marries the sea god's daughter Toyotama-hime before eventually returning home with the hook and gifts to subdue his brother. 2 Sources
Textual NoteHoori's myth of losing his brother Hoderi's fishhook and journeying to the palace of the sea god to recover it is recorded in Japan's earliest chronicles, the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, and it establishes him as an ancestor of the Japanese imperial line through his eventual son. 2 Correspondences & Relations
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Hoori's son Ugayafukiaezu is the father of Emperor Jimmu, making Hoori a direct ancestor of the imperial line.
Child Of
Son of Ninigi.
Source KojikiDonald L. Philippi (translator) Married To
Married Toyotama-hime after descending to her father Watatsumi's undersea palace.
Source KojikiDonald L. Philippi (translator) Same Figure, Narrative Entry
Worshipped In
Sources
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