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Ebisu

The God of Fishing and Fortune

Domain: Fishing, Commerce & Prosperity
Alignment: Neutral Good
Element: Water
Relics of Power: Fishing Rod of Luck

Speak with Ebisu

The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Japanese

Region

Japanese archipelago

Period

c. 500 BC – present

The kami of Shinto have been worshipped in Japan since time immemorial, in thousands of shrines across the archipelago. The imperial family claims direct descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the cult coexists with Buddhism brought from the mainland. Festivals (matsuri) and purification rites keep these beliefs alive to this day.

Matsuri fill the streets with processions of portable shrines (mikoshi), drums, and dances. The great shrine of Ise, dedicated to Amaterasu, is rebuilt every twenty years, and at hatsumode millions visit the shrines at New Year to ask for blessings.

At a glance

Ebisu is a Japanese kami associated with fishing, good fortune and, in urban settings, marketplaces. His familiar image carries a fishing rod and a sea bream. The name Ebisu does not appear as such in the genealogies of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki: later traditions identify him either with Hiruko, the child of Izanagi and Izanami set adrift, or with Kotoshironushi, the son of Ōkuninushi who answers the demand to transfer the land. Nishinomiya Shrine venerates Ebisu as Hiruko, whereas Imamiya Ebisu Shrine describes Kotoshironushi as the kami popularly called Ebisu. These identifications belong to different cult histories and do not form one ancient biography. Kokugakuin's scholarship locates his worship among fishing communities, which could also sanctify objects found at sea, in medieval markets and in regional agricultural practice. Tōka Ebisu, observed in January at Nishinomiya and Osaka, shows the kami's continuing place in commercial life. Sources: https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/?id=9942 ; https://nishinomiya-ebisu.com/about/ ; https://www.imamiya-ebisu.jp/english .

15 min read · Reviewed on October 4, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

The fishing rod, the golden sea bream (tai), the hat and the smile

Family

Parents

Izanagi IzanamiŌkuninushi (father of Kotoshironushi in the alternative identification of Ebisu)

Siblings

Awashima (the birth following Hiruko in the Kojiki, also not counted among their children)

Ebisu

Unions

Mizokuhihime of Mishima (of Settsu; with Kotoshironushi she had Himetataraisuzuhime, according to Kadoya Atsushi)

Children

Himetataraisuzuhime (daughter of Kotoshironushi and wife of Jinmu in the genealogy cited by Kokugakuin)

Genealogy according to Kojiki, união de Izanagi e Izanami e cessão da terra; Kadoya Atsushi, Kotoshironushi: https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/?id=9373

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Ō no Yasumaro, Kojiki, Book I, Chapter 4. translation: Studies on the Kojiki, Kokugakuin University. read
Nihon Shoki compilers, Nihon Shoki, Age of the Gods and land transfer passages. translation: William George Aston, Nihongi. read

Studies

Iwai Hiroshi, Ebisu. Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto. open
Kadoya Atsushi, Kotoshironushi. Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto. open
Kokugakuin University, Studies on the Kojiki, Chapter 4: The Union of the Two Deities. Kokugakuin University. open
Nishinomiya Jinja, Shrine history and Ebisu tradition. Nishinomiya Jinja. open
Imamiya Ebisu Jinja, History of Imamiya Ebisu Shrine. Imamiya Ebisu Jinja. open
Fynn Holm, The Beached God, in The Gods of the Sea. Cambridge University Press, 2023. open
Kyoto City Tourism Association, Ebisu Shrine. Official Kyoto Travel Guide. open
Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System, Ebisu, JAANUS art dictionary. JAANUS. open
Iwai Hiroshi, Ebisu shinkō. Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto. open
Iwai Hiroshi, Shichifukujin. Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto. open

Name and epithets

Ebisu has several historical spellings, including 戎 and 恵誹施. Iwai Hiroshi notes a proposed connection with emishi or ebisu, terms applied to people considered foreign from a Yamato perspective, but cautions that neither…

In the ancient sources

Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), 712 CE. Relates the union of Izanagi and Izanami, Hiruko’s abandonment and, in another cycle, Kotoshironushi’s response in the transfer of the land; it does not use Ebisu as the kami…

The myths

The Boneless Birth of Hiruko and the Reed Boat Adrift. In the fourth chapter of the Kojiki, Izanagi and Izanami circle the heavenly pillar in opposite directions, and the goddess speaks first when they meet.

Worship and archaeology

The extension of Ebisu worship can be observed in different places and calendars. Kokugakuin records his invocation as a guardian of markets at Tōdaiji in 1163 and at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū in 1253.

How the god was depicted

According to the JAANUS art history dictionary, Ebisu may appear as a plump, smiling figure, often seated on a rock.

What scholars debate

The sea visitor as an interpretive hypothesis. The arrival of unexpected things from the sea helps explain some local forms of Ebisu worship.

After antiquity

JAANUS records paintings of Ebisu by Edo period artists and his appearance in Ōtsu-e popular pictures, sometimes alongside Daikoku. Masks with smiling faces represent him in celebratory kyōgen plays.

Did you know?

Fynn Holm observes that Ebisu is the only one of the Seven Gods of Fortune not based on a Hindu deity; according to the Encyclopedia of Shinto, Daikokuten, Bishamonten, Benzaiten and Kichijōten have Indian origins, whil…

Codex relic

Fishing Rod of Luck. A fishing rod with which he hooks prosperity and abundance from the seas and from business.

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