Ukemochi


Ōgetsu-hime, commonly known as Ukemochi, the daughter of the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami, is a goddess of food in the Shinto religion of Japan. Different interpretations of Ukemochi often refer to them as both male and female. When shown in other forms, Ukemochi takes the shape of a fox. Ōgetsu-hime is the wife of Hayamato, who is the son of Toshigami through his wife Amechikarumizu-hime in the Kojiki. In some legends, Ukemochi is also the wife of Inari and in others, she is Inari.
When Ukemochi was visited by Tsukuyomi, she prepared a feast by facing the ocean and spitting out a fish, then she faced the forest and bountiful game spewed out of her mouth, finally turning to a rice paddy, she coughed up a bowl of rice. In the Kojiki, it is stated that she pulled various foods from within her nose, rectum, and mouth to prepare a feast. Tsukuyomi was so disgusted he killed her. Her dead body also produced food: millet, rice seeds, wheat, and beans sprang forth. Out of her eyebrows came silkworms. While different sources mention similar items that came from Ukemochi's body, from which part of her body these items came from is less agreed upon.
In some narratives of Ukemochi, after her death Tsukuyomi finds that the food that came from her body could not be destroyed. He takes the grains and animals that came from Ukemochi's body and gives them new life. This new life was put under Inari's jurisdiction. It is believed that Ukemochi's death explained why the sun and the moon are not seen together as the sun goddess, Amaterasu, who heard of Ukemochi's passing, never wanted to meet her killer, the moon god, Tsukuyomi, again.
In addition, in a legend passed down in Iwami district in Shimane Prefecture, her daughter and deity Otogosa-hime rode on a red goose and descended to transmit the seeds of the crops to the ground. Otogosa-hime was able to get food from anywhere on her body.
Ukemochi, Inari, and Toyouke are all said to be connected to each other.

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