Shitateruhime- Japanese GodDeity
Also known as: 下照比売, Shitateruhime-no-Mikoto, and 下照姫
Description
Her wailing for the slain heavenly envoy reaches the High Plain of Heaven, and when the mourners mistake her brother for the dead god, it is Shitateruhime's song that reveals the truth and restores the boundary between living and dead.
Mythology & Lore
The Death of Ame-no-Wakahiko
Shitateruhime was born to Ōkuninushi and the Munakata goddess Tagorihime. She became the wife of Ame-no-Wakahiko, a heavenly deity sent by the celestial gods to pacify the earthly realm of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni. But Ame-no-Wakahiko, enjoying his life on earth and his marriage, neglected his mission for eight years and sent no report to heaven. The heavenly gods dispatched a pheasant to investigate, and when Ame-no-Wakahiko shot the bird with his heavenly arrow, the arrow passed through the pheasant and flew up to the High Plain of Heaven. Takamimusubi seized the bloodied arrow and flung it back, declaring that if Ame-no-Wakahiko had been shooting with a true heart, the arrow would miss him, but if his heart was false, it would strike him. The returning arrow pierced Ame-no-Wakahiko in the chest as he lay sleeping, killing him instantly.
The Song of Mourning
Shitateruhime's grief was immense. Her wailing rose so loud that it reached heaven, and the celestial gods heard her cries. Ame-no-Wakahiko's father and family descended from heaven to build a mourning hall and hold funeral rites lasting eight days and eight nights. During the mourning, Shitateruhime's brother Ajisukitakahikone arrived to pay his respects. So great was his resemblance to the dead Ame-no-Wakahiko that the heavenly mourners embraced him, believing the dead god had returned to life. Ajisukitakahikone was enraged at being confused with a corpse, an association deeply polluting, and in his fury he drew his sword and destroyed the mourning hall, kicking it away.
As her brother flew off in anger, Shitateruhime composed a song to reveal his true identity, singing his name so that the mourners would know he was not Ame-no-Wakahiko. This song, preserved in the Kojiki, is called the hinaburi and is one of the earliest named song forms in the Japanese tradition. Through it, Shitateruhime served not only as a mourner but as the one who restored order to the confusion between the living and the dead.