Yamatohime-no-mikoto

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Yamatohime-no-mikoto (倭比売命 or 倭姫命, Yamatohime-no-mikoto^?) is a Japanese deity figure that is said to have established Ise Shrine, where the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami is enshrined. Yamatohime-no-mikoto is recorded as being the daughter of Emperor Suinin, Japan's 11th Emperor.

1 History
2 Alternate Historical Views
3 Ceremonies
4 Notes
5 External links
6 See also

[edit] History

Legend says that about 2,000 years ago, Emperor Suinin ordered his daughter, Princess Yamatohime-no-mikoto, to set out and find a suitable permanent location from which to hold ceremonies for Amaterasu Ōmikami. Prior to this, Amaterasu Ōmikami had been worshiped within the Imperial Palace at Yamato, before a temporary location was created in the eastern Nara basin. Yamatohime-no-mikoto is said to have set out from Mt. Miwa and wandered for 20 years through the regions of Ōmi and Mino in search of a suitable location.

When she arrived at Ise, she is said to have heard the voice of Amaterasu Ōmikami saying that she wanted to live forever in the richly abundant area of Ise, near the mountains and the sea, and it was here that Yamatohime-no-mikoto established Naiku, the Inner Shrine.^[1]

[edit] Alternate Historical Views

Some sources^[2] ^[3] point out the parallels between Yamatohime-no-mikoto and Queen Himiko, a female ruler of Japan referred to in 3rd century Chinese sources, namely the Records of Three Kingdoms and the Waijinden. Himiko was recorded as an unmarried queen and priestess, whose name means "sun child", or "sun daughter". Parallels can be drawn between Yamatohime-no-mikoto's role as both princess and priestess and the descriptions of Himiko, as well as the meaning of Himiko's name and that of the role of Yamatohime-no-mikoto as priestess and descendant of the sun goddess, or "daughter of the sun". Queen Himiko is recorded as having ruled the land of "Yamatai", where as Yamatohime-no-mikoto left her home of Yamato to establish Ise Shrine.

The nature of Queen Himiko has been a point of great debate since the late Edo period, with other theories linking her with Empress Jingū or even a real person upon whom the myth of the sun goddess Amaterasu was built.^[4] As the first Japanese sources for Yamatohime-no-mikoto date from the Kojiki in the early 8th century, it is unlikely that the figure of Yamatohime-no-mikoto will be able to be viewed with any real sense of historical accuracy.

[edit] Ceremonies

A Shinto ceremony is conducted on May 5th and November 5th each year at the sanctuary of Yamatohime-no-miya, near Ise Shrine, to celebrate the contribution of Yamatohime-no-mikoto in the establishment of the shrine.^[5]