Image of the Kashima Deities Departing to Kasuga
Image of the Kashima deities departing
to Kasuga
Muromachi period, the 14th century
Nara National Museum
This painting scroll portrays the two deities
departing the eastern provinces to Kasuga Shrine. According to
the history of the shrine, Takemikazuchi-no-Mikoto, the first
of the four deities of the shrine, was invited from Kashima in
the Hitachi Province (modern Ibaraki Prefecture) and arrived riding
a white deer in 768. In the Japanese mythology recorded in the
histories such as Kojiki and Nihon-shoki in the
8th century, he was described as a sword spirit and a martial
deity. Futsunushi-no-Mikoto, the second deity invited from Katori
in the Shimousa Province (modern Chiba Prefecture), is also portrayed
in this image. The deities are visualized as noblemen mounted
on white deer. The two men depicted in the lower-right part of
the image are priests of the shrine, Nakatomi-no-Tokikaze and
Nakatomi-no-Hideyuki.
By Noboru Ogata, Emeritus, Kyoto University
Reproduced by courtesy of the
Nara National Museum. Unauthorized reproduction of the image
is prohibited.
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