Ame-no-Wakahiko- Japanese GodDeity

The Mission to Earth

Amaterasu and Takamimusubi armed Ame-no-Wakahiko with the Heavenly Deer Bow and Heavenly Feathered Arrows and sent him to bring the earthly realm under heaven's sovereignty. He descended to Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, met Shitateruhime, Ōkuninushi's daughter, and married her. Eight years passed. He sent no word back.

The heavenly gods dispatched a pheasant named Nakime to find him. The bird perched in a tree outside his dwelling and called down its message. The goddess Ame-no-Sagume told Ame-no-Wakahiko the bird's cry was an ill omen. He drew the Heavenly Deer Bow, nocked one of the divine arrows, and shot the pheasant through the breast.

The arrow passed through the bird and kept rising. It ascended all the way to the High Celestial Plain and landed, bloodied, at the feet of Takamimusubi. He recognized it as the arrow he had given Ame-no-Wakahiko. He picked it up and hurled it back earthward with a curse: if it was shot with a rebellious heart, let it kill him; if with a pure heart, let it miss. The arrow fell through the sky, found Ame-no-Wakahiko sleeping, and pierced his chest. He died where he lay.

The Funeral

Ōkuninushi and Shitateruhime built a mourning house and held rites lasting eight days and eight nights, with river geese and herons among the birds that served as attendants. During the mourning, the deity Ajishikitakahikone came to pay respects. He bore such a striking resemblance to the dead Ame-no-Wakahiko that the mourners rushed to embrace him, weeping with joy, believing the dead had returned.

Ajishikitakahikone was so furious at being mistaken for a corpse that he drew his sword, cut down the mourning house, and kicked it from the heavens. It fell to earth and became Mount Moyama in Mino Province.