Who Is Ninigi?
The heavenly grandson who descended to Takachiho
Ninigi-no-Mikoto
Ninigi (Ninigi-no-Mikoto) is the grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu in the Kojiki, the god who came down from heaven to rule the land on earth. This event is called Tenson Kōrin, the "Descent of the Heavenly Grandson."
At first his father, Ame-no-Oshihomimi, was ordered to go down to earth, but the task was handed to the newborn Ninigi instead. Ninigi received a curved jewel, a mirror, and a sword, and with Ame-no-Uzume and other gods as his companions, he was guided by Sarutahiko down to the peak of Takachiho in Himuka, in Tsukushi. Later he proposed to Konohana-no-Sakuyabime, daughter of a mountain god. But because he sent back her older sister Iwanagahime, who had been married to him along with her, on account of her looks, the Kojiki says the lives of the emperors are no longer long. He also doubted his wife when she became pregnant after just one night, and she gave birth inside a fire to prove her innocence.
Ninigi is the great-grandfather of Emperor Jimmu. There are two theories about where Takachiho is: the town of Takachiho in Miyazaki Prefecture, or Mount Takachiho in the Kirishima mountains.
Episodes featuring this character2
NEWEpisode 9
The Blinding Giant and the Smallest DancerThe Descent of the Heavenly Grandson
As the young god Ninigi prepares to descend to the earth, a blinding god who lights both heaven and earth blocks his way. Uzume, the smallest of the dancing goddesses, goes to him alone, stepping as if she were dancing, and demands to know who he is. Ninigi lands on the earth carrying his grandmother's mirror. Uzume then sees the guide god off to the sea and takes his name as her own.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 10
We Die Because He Chose the FlowerKonohanasakuya-hime and Iwanaga-hime
The young heavenly god Ninigi falls for Sakuya, a princess of blossoms he meets on a cape, and asks to marry her. Her father, the mountain god, sends her older sister Iwanagahime, the princess of stone, along with her. Ninigi sends the sister home because of how she looks, and from then on the lives of his descendants are as short as falling petals. After one night together Sakuya is pregnant, and Ninigi doubts the child is his. To prove she is telling the truth, she sets her own palace on fire and gives birth to three sons inside it.
19 pages