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Ninigi-no-Mikoto

The Heavenly Grandson Who Descended to Earth

Domain: Kingship & Rice Harvest
Alignment: Lawful Good
Element: Light
Relics of Power: The Three Sacred Treasures

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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

Ninigi-no-Mikoto is the paramount celestial divinity in Shinto tradition who serves as the sovereign agricultural progenitor and direct divine ancestor of the Japanese Imperial dynasty. Grandson of the solar deity Amaterasu-Omikami and the primordial creator Takamimusubi, he was commissioned to descend from the heavenly high plain (Takamagahara) to govern and pacify the terrestrial realm in the momentous Tenson Korin event atop Mount Takachiho in Kyushu. Carrying the Three Sacred Treasures (the mirror Yata no Kagami, the sword Kusanagi, and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama) along with heavenly rice seeds, Ninigi established the sacred foundations of monarchical rule and agrarian ritual continuity.

5 min read · Reviewed on September 28, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

The Yata mirror, the Kusanagi sword, the Yasakani jewel and the rice stalk

Family

Parents

Ame-no-OshihomimiTakuhadachiji-hime

Ninigi-no-Mikoto

Unions

Konohanasakuya-hime

Children

Hoderi (Umisachihiko, prince of marine fortune)HosuseriHoori (Yamasachihiko, grandfather of Emperor Jimmu)

Genealogy according to Kojiki 1.33-39; Nihon Shoki 2.15-22; Kogoshui; Engishiki, Livro 8 (Norito)

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Ono Yasumaro (compilador), Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters (Book I: The Heavenly Descent Tenson Korin). translation: Basil Hall Chamberlain, The Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Asiatic Society of Japan, Yokohama, 1882. read
Prince Toneri (compiler), Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from Ancient Times to 697 AD (Book II). translation: William George Aston, Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, Kegan Paul, London, 1896. read
Imbe no Hironari, Kogoshui: Gleanings from Ancient Stories. translation: Genchi Kato and Hikoshiro Hoshino, Kogoshui: Gleanings from Ancient Stories, Meiji Japan Society, Tokyo, 1925. read
Fujiwara no Tadahira (compiler), Engishiki: Procedures of the Engi Era (Book VIII: Liturgical Norito). translation: Felicia Gressitt Bock, Engi-Shiki: Procedures of the Engi Era, Sophia University, Tokyo, 1970. read

Studies

William George Aston, Shinto: The Ancient Religion of Japan. Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd., London, 1907. open
Daniel Clarence Holtom, The Japanese Enthronement Ceremonies: With an Account of the Imperial Regalia. Kyo Bun Kwan, Tokyo, 1928. open
Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, 1975. open
Helen Hardacre, Shinto: A History. Oxford University Press, New York, 2017. open

Name and epithets

His full formal ceremonial title Ame-nigishi-kuni-nigishi-amatsuhiko-hiko-ho-no-ninigi-no-mikoto translates literally as 'Heaven-Plenty-Earth-Plenty-Heaven's-Sun-Height-Prince-Rice-Ear-Ruddy-Plenty'.

In the ancient sources

Kojiki, 712 CE. Compiled by Ono Yasumaro, detailing the commission, the descent onto Mount Takachiho, the encounter with Sarutahiko, and marriage to Konohanasakuya. Nihon Shoki, 720 CE.

The myths

The Heavenly Descent (Tenson Korin) and the Imperial Regalia. Following the pacification of the terrestrial Central Land of Reed Plains by the warrior deities Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi, the sun goddess Amaterasu and…

Worship and archaeology

The veneration of Ninigi-no-Mikoto is central to the state ritual of the Japanese Imperial house and Shinto agricultural liturgies.

How the god was depicted

Classical Shinto painting and medieval narrative scrolls depict Ninigi as an elegant young courtly sovereign in ancient ceremonial vestments, wearing white flowing silk robes with wide sleeves and scarlet or deep blue h…

What scholars debate

Political Ideology of Yamato Hegemony versus Shamanic Myth. Scholars of Japanese history, including William George Aston and Helen Hardacre, investigate the tension between Tenson Korin as an archaic myth of agricultura…

After antiquity

Ninigi-no-Mikoto remains the foundational mythological figure underpinning the concept of the continuous imperial line (Bansei Ikkei) in Japan.

Did you know?

The sacred mirror Yata no Kagami given to Ninigi is permanently enshrined as the supreme sacred relic of the Grand Shrine of Ise (Naiku), unviewed by the public and accessed exclusively by imperial priests.

Codex relic

The Three Sacred Treasures. The mirror, the sword and the jewel given by Amaterasu, the eternal regalia of Japan's imperial throne.

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