Ikutsuhikone- Japanese GodDeity"Ancestor of Noble Clans"
Also known as: 活津日子根命, 活津彦根命, and Iku-tsu-hikone
Description
Breathed into being when Susanoo cracked Amaterasu's sacred magatama between his teeth, one of five male gods who emerged from the mist to prove the storm god's pure heart during the oath trial in Takamagahara.
Mythology & Lore
The Oath Trial in the Heavens
Susanoo descended from the heavens weeping and raging, shaking the mountains and withering the green of the forests. He claimed he wished only to bid farewell to his sister before departing for the underworld, but Amaterasu armed herself with bow and quiver and confronted him at the border of Takamagahara. She suspected he had come to seize her domain.
To prove his pure intentions, Susanoo proposed the ukei (誓約), a ritual oath in which each deity would produce offspring from the other's sacred possessions. The nature of the children would reveal the heart of their parent. Amaterasu took Susanoo's ten-span sword, broke it into three pieces, rinsed them in the heavenly well, chewed them, and breathed out three goddesses. Susanoo then took Amaterasu's string of magatama beads, cracked them between his teeth, and breathed out five male gods. Ikutsuhikone was among them, born from the mist of his mother's own jewels.
Since the five were produced from Amaterasu's regalia, she claimed them as her children. Their gentle nature was declared proof of Susanoo's sincerity. The storm god's heart was clean.
The Kojiki records Ikutsuhikone as a divine ancestor of several noble lineages within the Yamato court, clans that traced their authority through him back to Amaterasu's own regalia. His birth was their title deed.