Okuninushi

The Great Lord of the Land

Domain: Nation-Building, Medicine & Marriage
Alignment: Neutral Good
Element: Earth
Relics of Power: Sword and Bow of Susanoo

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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

Okuninushi-no-Kami is the foremost terrestrial divinity (Kunitsukami) and the primordial sovereign of the land in classical Japanese Shinto mythology. A sixth-generation descendant of Susanoo, he endured deadly persecution by his eighty jealous brothers, healed the renowned White Hare of Inaba, and triumphed over lethal trials within the subterranean realm of Ne-no-Katasukuni to wed Suseri-hime. Alongside the dwarf deity Sukunabikona, he cultivated and pacified the islands, introducing agriculture, medicine, and foundational rites. In the crucial Kuni-yuzuri (yielding of the land) event, Okuninushi ceded terrestrial administrative rule to the heavenly descendants of Amaterasu in exchange for the erection of the monumental Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine, becoming the supreme ruler of the unseen spiritual world (kakuriyo), of deceased souls, and of fateful bonds.

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

Sacred symbols

The land of Izumo, the white hare, little Sukunabikona and the grand shrine

Family

Parents

Ame-no-FuyukinuSashikuniwakahime

Okuninushi

Unions

Suseri-hime (daughter of Susanoo and chief consort)Yagami-hime (princess of Inaba province)Nunakawa-hime (princess of Koshi)

Children

Kotoshironushi (oracular kami and patron of the sea and fishing)Takeminakata (kami of terrestrial forces and Suwa)

Genealogy according to Kojiki 1.20-32; Nihon Shoki 1.24-28; Izumo no Kuni Fudoki; Engishiki, Livro 9 (Izumo Jinja Cho)

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Ono Yasumaro (compilador), Kojiki (Annals of Ancestral Deeds: Izumo Epic Cycle and the Hare of Inaba). translation: Donald L. Philippi (trans.), Kojiki, Princeton University Press / Historical translation online by Basil H. Chamberlain (1882). read
Prince Toneri (compiler), Nihon Shoki (Dynastic Chronicles of Japan: The Sacred Covenant of Izumo). translation: W. G. Aston, Nihongi: Transactions and Proceedings of The Japan Society, London, Kegan Paul, 1896. read
Governor and Officials of Izumo (compilers), Izumo no Kuni Fudoki (Reports on the Land and Winds of Izumo). translation: Michiko Aoki, Records of Wind and Earth: A Translation of Fudoki, with Introduction and Commentaries, Association for Asian Studies, Ann Arbor, 1997. read
Fujiwara no Tadahira (compiler), Engishiki (Procedures of the Shrines of Izumo Province). translation: F. G. Bock, Engi-Shiki: Books VI-X, Studies in Japanese Culture, Sophia University Press, Tokyo, 1972. read

Studies

Helen Hardacre, Shinto: A History (Chapter 2: The Kami of Myth and State). Oxford University Press, New York, 2017. open
Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan (Chapter 3: The Other World). George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, 1975. open
Michael Ashkenazi, Handbook of Japanese Mythology. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, 2003. open
Daniel Clarence Holtom, The National Faith of Japan: A Study in Modern Shinto. K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., London, 1938. open

Name and epithets

The divine title Ōkuninushi-no-Kami (大国主神) translates literally as 'Great Master of the Country' or 'Lord of the Great Land'.

In the ancient sources

Kojiki, 712 CE. Primary narrative record describing the Inaba hare, the deadly trials in Susanoo's underworld, and the yielding of the land. Nihon Shoki, 720 CE.

The myths

The White Hare of Inaba and the Jealousy of the Eighty Brothers. In the famous opening narrative of the Kojiki, Onamuji was treated as a menial servant forced to carry the luggage of his eighty brothers, who were travel…

Worship and archaeology

The eternal focal point of Okuninushi's worship is the Grand Shrine of Izumo Taisha (出雲大社) in Shimane Prefecture, one of the oldest and most revered Shinto complexes in Japan.

How the god was depicted

Visual representations depict Okuninushi in two major traditions. In classical shrine art and mythological scrolls, he appears as an imposing ancient warrior-sovereign clad in ancient Yamato court vestments with wide fl…

What scholars debate

Yamato Imperial Hegemony versus the Autonomy of Izumo. Scholars of Japanese history, including William George Aston and Helen Hardacre, analyze the Kuni-yuzuri myth as a theological reflection of historical conflict and…

After antiquity

In modern Japanese culture, Okuninushi is revered as the patron deity of marriage, love, and interpersonal relationships (Enmusubi).

Did you know?

In the tenth month of the traditional lunar calendar, while the rest of Japan calls the month Kannazuki ('the month without gods'), in Izumo it is proudly called Kamiarizuki ('the month of the present gods').

Codex relic

Sword and Bow of Susanoo. The divine weapons won in the underworld, with which he pacified and built the land of Izumo.

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