Hoderi- Japanese DemigodDemigod"Sea-Luck Prince"
Also known as: Hoderi-no-Mikoto, Umisachihiko, 火照命, and 海幸彦
Description
His brother lost a fishhook and offered hundreds in return, but Hoderi demanded the original — an obstinacy that drove Hoori to the sea god's palace. When Hoori returned with tide jewels that could raise and lower the ocean itself, the elder brother drowned in his own element.
Mythology & Lore
The Quarrel of the Brothers
Hoderi and his younger brother Hoori were sons of Ninigi and Konohanasakuya-hime, born from the fire that proved their divine paternity. Hoderi, called Umisachihiko (Sea-Luck Prince), was a skilled fisherman, while Hoori, called Yamasachihiko (Mountain-Luck Prince), was a hunter. One day the brothers agreed to exchange their tools. Hoori took Hoderi's fishhook to the sea but failed to catch anything and lost the hook in the water. When Hoderi demanded its return, Hoori offered hundreds of substitute hooks forged from his own sword. Hoderi refused every one, insisting on the original.
Hoori, desperate, followed the advice of the salt god Shiotsuchi and descended to the palace of the sea god Watatsumi. There he married Toyotama-hime and eventually recovered the lost fishhook from the mouth of a sea bream. But Watatsumi also gave Hoori the Tide Jewels, Manju and Kanju, and instructed him in how to use them against his brother.
Subjugation
When Hoori returned to the surface and gave back the fishhook, Hoderi's luck at sea failed. The Kojiki records that Watatsumi had cursed the hook: whoever used it would find the fish deserting him, his catches dwindling to nothing. As Hoderi grew impoverished and desperate, he attacked his younger brother. Hoori raised the tide-flowing jewel, and the sea surged in, overwhelming Hoderi. Drowning and terrified, Hoderi begged for mercy. Hoori produced the tide-ebbing jewel and the waters receded.
Hoderi submitted completely, pledging that he and his descendants would serve as guards and performers for Hoori's line forever. He prostrated himself and declared that day and night he would protect his brother's household. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki identify the Hayato people of southern Kyūshū as Hoderi's descendants, bound by this oath to serve the Yamato court as palace guards and ritual dancers.