Toyouke-Omikami

The Goddess of Food and Agriculture

Domain: Food, Agriculture & Abundance
Alignment: Neutral Good
Element: Earth
Relics of Power: Bowl of Divine Sustenance

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4 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

Toyouke-no-Ōmikami (also recorded as Toyouke-bime, Toyoke-no-Ōkami, or Toyoukanome) is the Shinto deity of food, agriculture, grain, and daily sustenance, enshrined as the principal kami of the Outer Shrine (Gekū or Toyouke Daijingū) of the Grand Shrine of Ise in Mie Prefecture. According to the imperial liturgical record Toyouke Kōtaijingū Gishikichō (804 CE), the goddess originally dwelt at Hijino Manai in the northern province of Tanba (modern Kyoto Prefecture). In the twenty-second year of the reign of Emperor Yūryaku (5th century CE), the sun goddess Amaterasu appeared in an imperial dream revealing that, living in solitude at Ise, she could not peacefully enjoy her morning and evening meals, commanding that Toyouke be brought from Tanba to Yamada in Watarai to prepare her divine food. Ever since this foundation during the Kofun period, the sacred rite of Higoto Asayū Ōmiketsusai has been conducted without interruption twice daily at the Gekū, where priests prepare cooked and raw offerings for Amaterasu and heavenly deities. In the provincial fragments of the Tango no Kuni Fudoki, Toyouke is linked to the folklore of the celestial swan-maiden of Manai whose feather robe was stolen by mortals to brew curative sake. During the medieval era, priests of the Watarai lineage developed Ise Shinto theology, identifying Toyouke with the primordial cosmic deity Ame-no-Minakanushi.

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

Sacred symbols

The grains, the offering bowl, the rice field and the shrine of Ise

Family

Parents

Wakumusubi (according to the Kojiki)

Toyouke-Omikami

Genealogy according to Kojiki (Livro 1, seções 6 e 34); Toyouke Koutaijingu Gishikicho (804 d.C.); Tango no Kuni Fudoki Itsubun; Engishiki (Livros 8 e 9)

Name and epithets

The theonym Toyouke (豊受) is an archaic Japanese compound noun. The prefix toyo (豊) functions as an honorific expressing abundance, luxuriance, fertile plenitude, and excellence.

In the ancient sources

Toyouke Kōtaijingū Gishikichō (止由気宮儀式帳), 804 CE. Foundational liturgical document recording Amaterasu's oracle to Emperor Yūryaku commanding the relocation of Toyouke from Tanba to Yamada in Watarai.

The myths

The Oracle of Amaterasu and the Foundation of the Outer Shrine. According to the official register Toyouke Kōtaijingū Gishikichō compiled in 804 CE, during the twenty-second year of the reign of Emperor Yūryaku, the sun…

Worship and archaeology

Veneration of Toyouke-no-Ōmikami centers upon the most archaic and austere ritual tradition of classical Shinto.

How the god was depicted

Within mainstream orthodox Shinto tradition, Toyouke-no-Ōmikami is strictly aniconic, without public statues or human figurative representations in her primary shrines.

What scholars debate

. The most influential intellectual debate surrounding Toyouke emerged during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods through the rise of Watarai Shinto (Ise Shinto).

After antiquity

In Japanese performing arts, Toyouke's mythical heritage in Tanba heavily informed classical Noh theatre, most famously in the renowned play Hagoromo (The Feather Mantle), attributed to the playwright Zeami Motokiyo, wh…

Did you know?

Traditional shrine etiquette at Ise strictly mandates that pilgrims and imperial envoys must always visit and pay reverence to the Outer Shrine (Toyouke) before proceeding to the Inner Shrine (Amaterasu).

Codex relic

Bowl of Divine Sustenance. The sacred bowl from which the food of the gods comes, offered each day at the shrine of Ise.

The rest of this scroll is sealed

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