Sarutahiko

Sarutahiko Ōkami (猿田毘古大神, 猿田彦大神), is a "kami", a deity of the Japanese religion of Shinto.

Sarutahiko Ōkami is a powerful guardian "kami" who is enshrined at Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture1st among the 2000 shrines of SarutahikonoOkami and it US Branch Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, Sarutahiko Jinja in Ise and Ōasahiko Shrine in Tokushima Prefecture. In the Kojiki, he is the leader of the earthly "kami" and the one who greets Ninigi-no-Mikoto, the grandson of Amaterasu, the Sun goddess, when he descends from Takamagahara. He is depicted as a towering man with a large beard, jeweled spear, ruddy face, and long nose. At first he is unwilling to yield his realm until persuaded by Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, the "kami" of dance and the arts, whom he later marries. Sarutahiko Ōkami is seen as a symbol of strength and guidance, which is why he is the patron of martial arts such as aikido.

His name consists of an etymologically obscure element, "Saruta", which is traditionally transcribed with kanji (猿田) that suggest the meaning "monkey-field" as a sort of double entendre, followed by the Classical Japanese noun "hiko" "a male child of noble blood, a prince." Thus, Sarutahiko Ōkami's embellished name could be roughly translated into English as "Great Kami, Prince Saruta." Many variant pronunciations of his name exist, including Sarudabiko and Sadahiko. Although it is usually not written, the Japanese genitive case marker, "-no", is often suffixed to his name in speech when it is followed immediately by one of his honorific titles, such as "Ōkami" or "Mikoto".

Sarutahiko has the distinction of being one of only six "kami" to be honored with the title "Ōkami" (大神) or "Great Kami"; the other five are Izanagi, Izanami (in her Persephone-like role as Queen of the Underworld), Michikaeshi, Sashikuni, and Amaterasu. The special honor paid to Sarutahiko is particularly notable for the fact that he is the singular "kunitsukami", or earthly "kami", to be given the title; the other five are all "amatsukami", i.e. heavenly "kami".