Ukemochi: The Goddess of Food

Amaterasu-o-mikami, the sun goddess, was married to her brother, Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto, the moon god. Amaterasu was made the ruler of the celestial plane of heaven by her father, Izanagi, whereas Tsukiyomi was entrusted with the power to rule the night.

Image by DerWeg from Pixabay

One day, Ukemochi-no-kami, also known as Ogetsu-hime, invited Amaterasu to a feast. Ukemochi (one who preserves the food) was a goddess of food and fertility, who used to live in the central land of reed planes. As Amaterasu was unable to attend the feast, she asked her husband to go there.

Ukemochi organised a grand feast in the honour of the moon god, and she arranged many tables full of delicious foods. Tsukiyomi was surprised to see the fabulous arrangement. But then he noticed something unusual. Ukemochi was frequently going behind a large stone, and while returning, she was bringing loads of food with her. Tsukiyomi was intrigued to know what was behind the boulder.

He sneaked around Ukemochi and saw that there was nothing behind the rock. But as Ukemochi looked towards the ocean, she regurgitated some fish, and when she looked at the forest, some games came out of her mouth. Then she looked at the field and spat a bowl of boiled rice. In this way, many different kinds of foods started to come out of her mouth, nose, ears, and anus. Tsukiyomi was disgusted by seeing that, and he considered all the food polluted. He returned back to his seat. Soon, Ukemochi came out from behind the stone with all those foods in her hand. Tsukiyomi considered that profane. Enraged, he unsheathed his sword and hacked Ukemochi to death.

But Ukemochi continued to produce food even after she died. Cattles and horses came out of her head, silk worms from her eyebrows, and millet from her forehead. Rice was produced from her belly and wheat and beans from her genitals.

Tsukiyomi returned to heaven and informed Amaterasu about everything. Amaterasu was shocked to hear that Tsukiyomi had slaughtered the goddess for creating food from her body. She was extremely angry at her husband and labelled him an evil Kami. She has always avoided Tsukiyomi since that day. Thus, the day became separate from the night. Amateraru, or sun goddess, never appears in the sky along with the moon god.

Amaterasu sent Amenokumanoushi to inspect the situation below. Amenokumanoushi found the dead body of Ukemochi and brought all the foods produced by the goddess to Amaterasu. Amaterasu was pleased to see the animals, fish, grains, and vegetables. She stated that the food would be used to feed the humans. She spread the seeds and initiated cultivation.

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