Iwanagahime- Japanese GodDeity"Princess of Eternal Rock"
Also known as: 石長比売, Iwanaga-Hime, and Iwanagahime-no-Mikoto
Description
Her name means 'Rock-Long Princess,' and her blessing would have been immortality itself. When the heavenly prince chose her beautiful sister and sent Iwanagahime away, the gift of permanence went with her, and every mortal life since has fallen like blossoms from a tree.
Mythology & Lore
The Rejected Bride
When Ninigi descended from the High Plain of Heaven to rule the land below, he encountered Konohanasakuya-hime and desired her as his wife. He sent a proposal to her father, Ōyamatsumi, the great mountain deity. Pleased by the match, Ōyamatsumi offered both his daughters: the lovely Konohanasakuya-hime and her elder sister Iwanagahime. Together, the Kojiki tells us, they were meant as a paired gift. One daughter bloomed. The other endured.
Ninigi found Iwanagahime ugly and sent her back. He kept only Konohanasakuya-hime.
The Curse of Mortality
Ōyamatsumi's response, recorded in the Kojiki, was swift. Had Ninigi accepted Iwanagahime, the mountain god declared, the lives of the heavenly sovereign's descendants would have been firm and enduring like rock, lasting through all seasons and all ages. But because Ninigi chose only Konohanasakuya-hime, their lives would be like the blossoms of trees: radiant but brief, destined to fall.
The text is explicit: this is why the heavenly sovereigns do not live forever. The emperors descended from Ninigi live and die as mortals. Iwanagahime was sent home, and permanence went with her.
Relationships
- Associated with