3-2 Blacksmithing and the One-Eyed God

In the previous section, we traced the ambiguity of the substance vermilion—mercury—and the existence of the people who mined and transported it. So, what kind of god did those who extracted metal from rock worship?
Japanese mythology features a one-eyed god. Amenomahitotsu-no-kami. The name of this god, considered the ancestor of blacksmiths, literally means "one eye." Why is the god of blacksmithing one-eyed? Using this question as an entry point, we will look at how metals like copper and iron became intertwined with people and faith.

Why is the god one-eyed?

The earliest document in which the name Amenomahitotsu-no-kami appears directly is the "Kogo Shui," compiled by Inbe no Hironari in 807. The "Kogo Shui" also recounts the episode of the Heavenly Rock Cave (Ama-no-Iwato), where Amenomahitotsu-no-kami appears as the god who forged swords, axes, and iron bells (sanagi). It was this god who forged the ritual implements to open the rock cave. However, the "Nihon Shoki" (720), in a supplementary chapter of the ninth section of the Age of the Gods, already introduces "Amatsumara," and if we consider this to be the same god, the first appearance in literature goes back even further. The Nihon Shoki describes this god as a "kanadakumi"—a metal forger—calling him by his profession rather than his name. He also appears under the name "Amenome-no-mikoto" in the section on Taka District in the "Harima no Kuni Fudoki." As will be discussed later, Harima was a production site for iron and copper since ancient times and a land where blacksmith groups were active. The appearance of this god in the Fudoki indicates that the mythology in the literature was directly linked to the local industry.
Why does the god have one eye? Kunio Yanagita was the first to address this question head-on. In "Hitome Kozo Sono Ta" (The One-Eyed Boy and Others), Yanagita collected stories of one-eyed and one-legged gods and spirits from all over Japan, attempting to discern a common structure within them. One-eyed boys, one-eyed fish, one-legged scarecrows—Yanagita asked if these were not merely ghost stories, but rather the distorted memories of something. What Yanagita focused on was the fact that the traditions of one-eyed and one-legged beings are linked to specific rituals. For example, he presented the possibility of an interpretation where the one eye of a servant of the god was gouged out and one leg broken to prevent them from fleeing—in other words, a mark was carved into their body so they could not escape their service to the god. It is a view that one eye and one leg were magical "marks," a physical restraint to bind them to the sacred realm.
Kenichi Tanigawa took up this question from Yanagita and added an interpretation from a different angle in "Seido no Kami no Ashiato" (Footprints of the Bronze God). This is the interpretation that the one-eyed god stems from the occupational diseases of blacksmiths.
In tatara ironmaking, the color of the flames is observed through the hodo-ana (air intake) provided on the side of the furnace to judge the state of the iron. The work of repeatedly staring at high-temperature flames with one eye inevitably robs one of their eyesight. The "Nihon Ryoiki" and "Konjaku Monogatarishu" record that there was once a place in Aichi District, Owari Province, called "Hitowa no Sato" (Village of the One-Eyed). Tanigawa focused on this place name and interpreted it as a settlement for blacksmiths. He argues that the reality of blacksmiths becoming one-eyed or one-legged—the physical damage as an occupational disease—is carved into the place name.
It is said that "seven or eight out of ten people had impaired vision." The fact that the ancestor god of blacksmithing is one-eyed is, before being a mythological symbol, a deification of the bodies of the people who stood in front of the furnace. Tanigawa brought the mystery of the "one eye," which Yanagita picked up from the spread of folklore, down to the reality of the labor of blacksmithing.

The map drawn by the distribution of blacksmith gods

Amenomahitotsu-no-kami has many aliases. Amenomahitotsune-no-mikoto, Amekushimahahitotsu-no-mikoto, Amatsumara, Amenome-no-mikoto, Amekushihime-no-mikoto, Ametomami-no-mikoto, Amaterumaraketewo-no-mikoto—these are all considered to be the same god or gods belonging to the same lineage. The very fact that there are so many aliases suggests that the worship of this god did not spread from a single center, but that blacksmith groups in various regions worshipped him independently and gave him their own names.
When shrines dedicated to these gods are plotted on a map, their distribution overlaps with the mining and ironmaking regions of the Kinki and Western Japan.
In Harima, there is the Amenohito Shrine in Ogi-cho, Nishiwaki City, Hyogo Prefecture. It is a Shikinaisha (a shrine listed in the Engishiki Jinmyocho) recorded in the "Engishiki." Similarly, the Katsura Shrine in Taka-cho, Taka District, enshrines the Amenohito Shrine as a sub-shrine within its precincts. The Suda Shrine in Ono City enshrines Amekushimahahitotsu-no-mikoto. The Sugiharadani area in the upper reaches of the Kako River produced copper and iron. Iron was also produced in Haga-cho and the Chigusa Valley in the upper reaches of the Ibo River, as well as in Sayo District, and the steel refined in this region was called "Chigusa Steel." It was of such high quality that it was used for the base metal of Japanese swords, and its name was known nationwide.
In Omi, there is the Mikami Shrine in Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture. The enshrined deity, Amenomikage-no-mikoto, is also considered an alias for Amenomahitotsu-no-kami. In Higashiomi City, the place name "Imonoji-cho" (Blacksmith Town) remains as is. The place name itself is a trace of ironmaking.
In the precincts of Tado Taisha in Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture, there is the "Hitome-ren Shrine." Together with the main shrine, it is called the "Tado Ryogu" (Tado Two Shrines) and was deeply connected to the metalworking of this land overlooking Ise Bay. In Tennoji Ward, Osaka, there is the "Fuigo Shrine" as a sub-shrine within the precincts of Ikukunitama Shrine. A fuigo is an air-blowing device used in blacksmithing, and the name of the shrine is the tool of the blacksmith itself. In Sakai City, there is also the Taoarata Shrine, which enshrines the god of "tatara." Also, there is an Amenohito Shrine in Kamiita-cho, Itano District, Tokushima Prefecture.
Harima, Omi, Ise, Settsu, Izumi, Awa. Regions where metal mining and processing were carried out from ancient times to the Middle Ages emerge. The god of blacksmithing was worshipped where blacksmiths were. Conversely, the distribution of shrines dedicated to Amenomahitotsu-no-kami is physical evidence that a network of blacksmiths once existed there.
Let us delve a little deeper into the Amenohito Shrine in Ogi-cho, Nishiwaki City, Hyogo Prefecture. At this shrine, a Fuigo Festival is held on November 8th of the lunar calendar, and blacksmiths from Tajima, Tanba, Izumi, and nearby Miki and Himeji visited to worship. Blacksmiths from a wide area of Western Japan gathered at this one shrine.
It is said that the Suda-no-Obito clan, who worshipped Amenomahitotsu-no-mikoto, lived in the upper reaches of the Kako River—Miki, Ono, Nishiwaki, and Naka-cho. There were mines in the upper reaches of the Kako River, such as the Sugiharadani area of Taka District, and near them were shrines dedicated to the god of blacksmithing, and groups of blacksmiths lived along the river basin. Rivers, mineral veins, and faith are connected along a single water system.
This Suda-no-Obito did not stay in Harima. The Suda-no-Obito, who originated from "Suda" in Tojo, Kamo District (later Kato District), Harima Province, are a blacksmith group considered to be the descendants of Amenomahitotsu-no-kami (Amekushimahahitotsu-no-mikoto). A branch of the clan moved to Tsutsui-go, Soekami District, Yamato Province (present-day Yamatokoriyama City), and also engaged in blacksmithing there. Furthermore, they branched out to Kirihara-go, Gamo District, Omi Province, and built Suda shrines in various places.
A clan that mined mineral veins and honed their skills in Harima moved to Yamato and Omi, building shrines to worship the same god while engaging in blacksmithing in each land. This is not just migration. It was a wide-area movement where technology and faith were a set, and the building of shrines was also the raising of a flag for a new base. The distribution of Suda shrines is a map that has carved the propagation route of blacksmithing technology as it is.
To the south of the area where the Suda Shrine in Yamatokoriyama City is located, place names like Nukatabe-kita-machi and Minami-machi remain. Kenichi Tanigawa interprets "Nukata" as a place name derived from an iron production site.
The traces of blacksmithing in Omi are not limited to the Suda-no-Obito. The Ono clan, which originated from Ono, Shiga District, Omi Province—the clan that produced Ono no Imoko, Ono no Michikaze, Ono no Komachi, and Ono no Takamura—has also been pointed out to have a deep connection with metal. The Ono Shrine (Ono, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture) is a Shikinaisha said to have been founded by Ono no Imoko, and the official enshrined deities are the two pillars of Ame-no-ashihiko-kuni-oshihito-no-mikoto and Yone-mochitsuki-no-o-mikoto, but Kenichi Tanigawa points out the connection to blacksmithing in this area from the relationship with ironmaking-related place names in the vicinity. Around the precincts, ironmaking-related place names such as "Tatara-dani" and "Kanakuso" remain. Kanakuso is slag that comes out during ironmaking, and the fact that it remains in the place name means that tatara ironmaking was actually carried out at that location in the past.
Kenichi Tanigawa positions the Ono clan as a clan that moved while searching for water veins and mineral veins, carrying water-spirit worship with them. People who moved according to principles different from those of settled farmers expanded a network of blacksmithing and faith to various places while using the land of Omi as a base. The network of Kijishi (woodworkers), who are also said to be mobile people and are said to have had a base around the present-day Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture, is also said to have originated from Prince Ononomiya Koretaka.
Here, let us return to Ono City, Hyogo Prefecture, where I introduced that there is a Suda Shrine. In this land, there are other traces that support the connection between blacksmithing and immigrants. The town name "Kishi" in Ono City was originally called "Kishi-no." It is said that the notation changed to "Kishi" (meaning "coming to live") after they began to worship Gozu Tenno—a god of plague prevention said to originate from Mt. Gozu on the Korean Peninsula, which was syncretized with Susanoo-no-Mikoto. In Kishi, there is the Oara Shrine, which enshrines the immigrant Hata no Kawakatsu, and the place name "Hata" to the northeast is also said to be a phonetic equivalent for Hata. The Suda Shrine, which enshrines the ancestor god of blacksmithing, the immigrant Hata clan, and the Gozu Tenno worshipped by the Hata clan—on the single land of Ono City, the technology and faith brought by immigrants are carved as a series.
I think that this "Ono" in Ono City might be the root of Ono in Shiga District and the Ono clan. Considering that the movement of blacksmith groups went from west to east, there is a possibility that the group that was around Ono City moved to Omi via Tanba and brought the place name "Ono." However, although I have researched various things such as the Ono City Hall website, a clear root of the name does not appear. One more thing, I will write down a baseless intuition. Even today, one eye is called "sugame." I think that the "Suga" of Suda Shrine might be the same root as the "Suga" of this "sugame."

The battle for iron in ancient times—Amenohiboko and Iwa-no-Okami

I have been tracing the god of blacksmithing and the network of blacksmiths, but if we broaden our perspective one step further here, another important story is carved into the land of Harima, where the blacksmiths were active. It is the battle of the gods over iron.
The "Harima no Kuni Fudoki" records a tradition in which Ashihara-no-shiko-o-no-mikoto—also called Iwa-no-Okami and identified with Okuninushi-no-mikoto—fought fiercely for the land. Iwa-no-Okami is a god of the Izumo lineage. As recorded in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, tatara ironmaking in the Izumo region suggests that there was an ironmaking group behind Iwa-no-Okami. On the other hand, Amenohiboko is considered a prince of Silla and a force that immigrated from the Korean Peninsula with advanced ironmaking technology. In other words, Amenohiboko aimed at the abundant iron resources in Harima and challenged Iwa-no-Okami to a battle.
It is said that these two gods fought over valleys in various parts of Harima and threw black vines (tsuru) to decide their territory (Harima no Kuni Fudoki, section on Mikata-no-Sato, Shisawa District). All of Amenohiboko's black vines fell in Tajima. Iwa-no-Okami's black vines fell divided between Tajima and Harima. As a result, Amenohiboko retreated to Tajima, and Iwa-no-Okami ruled Harima.
Amenohiboko, who retreated to Tajima, is said to have mined iron in Izushi and developed the region. Izushi Shrine in Toyooka City is a Shikinaisha that enshrines Amenohiboko and is still worshipped today as the Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Tajima. On the other hand, in Harima, Shikinaisha linked to the traditions of the Fudoki, including Iwa Shrine (Shiso City), are scattered.
However, it seems it was not so simple that Amenohiboko, who was driven out of Harima, headed straight for Tajima. According to Dan Kirin's "Hyogo no Naka no Kodai Chosen" (Ancient Korea in Hyogo), Amenohiboko, who tried to land from the Ibo River basin but was blocked by the forces of Iwa-no-Okami, once left Harima and went to Naniwa, went up the Yodo River, and went back and forth around Omi via the Uji River. Many shrines and place names related to Amenohiboko remain in Omi. From there, he went further north, passed through Echizen, set sail from Wakasa Bay, and finally reached Izushi, Tajima Province. Ibo River to Naniwa, Omi, Echizen, Wakasa, Tajima—at first glance, this detour looks like the flight of a loser. However, when you place this trajectory on a map, you notice that they all connect iron and copper production sites one by one. It is also possible to read it not as a retreat, but as a movement that combined the exploration of iron resources and the creation of bases.
What this myth tells is the fact that Harima was a crossroads for different ironmaking forces since ancient times. The indigenous forces of the Izumo lineage and the blacksmithing technology that immigrated from the Korean Peninsula. Both clashed in Harima, and one retreated, but even where they retreated, they took root in iron production sites. The battle of the gods recorded in the Fudoki can be read as a record of the power map over iron interests.

Iron and immigrants

As the story of Amenohiboko shows, the blacksmithing technology of the Japanese archipelago was greatly updated by immigrants. Let us trace one more concrete trace of that.
According to Dan Kirin, the Oshimi-no-Ayahito, called Karakanchi (foreign blacksmiths), were a group that immigrated from Ayakara (Haman, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea) and served the Yamato Imperial Court with advanced blacksmithing technology. This group, which based itself in Oshimi District, Yamato Province (near the present-day Katsuragi City, Nara Prefecture), eventually spread to Iga, Ise, Omi, Tanba, Harima, and Kii. Its distribution almost overlaps with the distribution area of shrines dedicated to Amenomahitotsu-no-kami seen earlier.
In Mino District, Harima Province, blacksmithing by the Oshimi-be clan was already flourishing from around the 5th century, but later, the immigrant Kara-kanuchi-no-obito Hirotomi became the Dairyo (district governor) of Mino District, Harima Province (Shoku Nihongi, 8th year of Enryaku (789)), which is said to have brought even more advanced refining technology from the continent. After the 6th century, with the spread of Buddhism, temples and shrines were built in various places, and the demand for casting Buddhist statues and temple bells, as well as the necessary carpentry tools, made blacksmithing even more active. The industrial base of the former Mino District, known as the "Town of Metalware," that is, the present-day Miki City, was built in this way.
The footprints of the Oshimi-be are also carved into place names. There is such a story in the Nihon Shoki, pre-accession record of Emperor Kenzo, and the Harima no Kuni Fudoki, section on Shijimi-no-Sato, Mino District. Prince Oke (later Emperor Ninken) and his younger brother Prince Woke (later Emperor Kenzo), whose father Prince Ichinobe-no-Oshiwa was killed by Emperor Yuryaku, fled to Harima and hid under Oshimi-be-no-miyatsuko Hosome, who was the Shijimi-no-miyake-no-obito. They pretended to be cowherds from Tanba and hid for a long time. That place is considered to be near the present-day Shijimi, Miki City.
The place name "Oshibedani" in Nishi Ward, Kobe City, is said to be a corruption of "Oshimibe." The area around Oshibedani Station on the Kobe Electric Railway Aoi Line is that place. In the hills, as if to clearly show the roots, there is the old temple Enko-ji. Near Kobata Station, there are ruins of "Hosome-no-i" (Hosome's Well), and the place name "Hosome" remains near Shijimi Station. Place names related to one person, Oshimi-be-no-miyatsuko Hosome, are scattered in a narrow range from Kobe to Miki. And, as if to support the existence of ancient iron, there is the Tenichi Shrine just to the southeast of Oshibedani Station.
The story of the two princes' hiding has a dramatic turning point. According to the Harima no Kuni Fudoki, section on Shijimi-no-Sato, Mino District, the two princes finally revealed their status at a banquet celebrating Oshimi-be-no-miyatsuko Hosome building a new room. They recited poems and danced at the banquet, announcing that they were of imperial blood.

In the Nihon Shoki, pre-accession record of Emperor Kenzo, this scene is depicted in more detail. The younger brother, Prince Woke (later Emperor Kenzo), stands up at the banquet and recites the following poem.

Paraphrased, it means: The sacred cedar tree standing in Furu of Isonokami, which is a symbol of royal authority, was cut down from the root (by someone). I am the descendant of Ame-yorozu-kuni-yorozu Oshiwa-no-mikoto, who ruled the world at the Ichinobe Palace.
Thus, because they identified themselves as the children of Prince Ichinobe-no-Oshiwa, the banquet froze in an instant, and Oshimi-be-no-miyatsuko Hosome is said to have prostrated himself on the ground and worshipped. The identities of the two princes were conveyed to the imperial court through Yamabe-no-muraji Odate, the Harima provincial governor, leading to their return.
I would like to look at the two poems in order.
First is the poem from the "Harima no Kuni Fudoki." "Kibi no magane" (iron of Kibi) is included here. Prince Ichinobe-no-Oshiwa, the father of the brothers Oke and Woke, was a person who based himself in Omi Province, the center of the iron industry, and it was the Oshimi-be of Harima—an immigrant blacksmith group—that hid the brothers. The story of a prince with the right to succeed to the throne surviving under the protection of blacksmiths and regaining power suggests that there was a deep interdependence between those who held the production power of iron and royal authority. Those who control iron become kings.
Next is the poem from the "Nihon Shoki." Prince Woke declared his imperial lineage starting with "Isonokami furu no kami sugi"—the sacred cedar standing in Furu of Isonokami. This Furu of Isonokami is none other than the base of the Mononobe clan. And the core of the poem is in the passage "moto wo kiri sue wo tachi"—cut from the root and knocked down. Prince Ichinobe-no-Oshiwa, the father of the brothers Oke and Woke, was a strong candidate for imperial succession, but he was killed by Emperor Yuryaku (Ohatsuse-no-wakatakeru-no-mikoto). The reason the brothers had to flee to Harima and survive by hiding their status was because of this usurpation by the Yuryaku dynasty. The poem that the sacred tree, the symbol of the Mononobe clan, was knocked down can also be taken to mean that the Yuryaku dynasty cut off the orthodoxy of the Mononobe. On top of that, Prince Woke identified himself as the descendant of Prince Ichinobe-no-Oshiwa. It is a declaration that I am the orthodoxy that inherits the blood and iron of the side that was robbed.
Traces that support this reading also remain in Kibi. The Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Kibi Province, which is said to be the place where the spiritual sword "Futsu-no-mitama," which Susanoo-no-Mikoto used when he defeated Yamata-no-Orochi, was first enshrined, is called Isonokami-futsumitama Shrine. The fact that a shrine bearing the name Isonokami and enshrining the divine power of iron and martial arts exists in Kibi—coincides with the fact that the "Kibi iron" sung in the poem of the "Harima no Kuni Fudoki" belonged to the sphere of the Mononobe clan.
Historical writer Yuji Seki, based on the "Gango-ji Garan Engi narabini Ruki Shizaicho," claims that Empress Suiko called the Mononobe clan "my kin," suggesting the possibility that she was from the Mononobe clan. However, there is doubt as to whether this expression can be directly confirmed in the original text of the same asset ledger. This issue is beyond the scope of this paper, but I will record it as circumstantial evidence showing that the connection between iron and royal authority does not fit into one clan or one story.

What the blacksmiths connected

Up to this point, starting from one one-eyed god, I have traced the network of blacksmiths. What has become visible is that the technology of blacksmithing was not just "manufacturing."
Blacksmiths moved in search of mineral veins, built shrines at new bases, and carried their faith along with their technology. The Suda-no-Obito went from Harima to Yamato, and from Yamato to Omi. The Oshimi-no-Ayahito also expanded their bases as a professional clan to Yamato, Iga, Ise, Omi, Tanba, Harima, and Kii. The tradition of Amenohiboko tells of the immigration of technology from the Korean Peninsula. What they all have in common is that the movement of technology, faith, and people was one. The distribution of shrines of Amenomahitotsu-no-kami is nothing but the traces of this integrated movement.
And the roads that the blacksmiths opened were not walked by them alone. If there were no people to cut trees and burn charcoal in the mountains, the tatara would not move. If there were no people to transport goods on the river, iron would not reach the plains. With blacksmithing as the core, charcoal burners, woodcutters, river transporters, and even religious figures who divined mineral veins and water veins rode on the same network. In the next section, we will look at the overall picture of that spread—the world of people called "mountain people and river people."

References

Books

• Etsuo Inoue, "Yama no Tami, Kawa no Tami: Nihon Chusei no Seikatsu to Shinko" (Mountain People, River People: Life and Faith in Medieval Japan) (Heibonsha Sensho, 1981)

• Kenichi Tanigawa, 'Footprints of the Bronze God' (Shueisha Bunko, 1989)

• Kenichi Tanigawa, 'The Blacksmith's Mother' (Kodansha Gakujutsu Bunko, 1985)

• Kunio Yanagita, 'The One-Eyed Boy and Others' (Kadokawa Sophia Bunko, 2013)

• Duan Xilin, 'Ancient Korea in Hyogo' (Kobe Shimbun Publishing Center, 1985)

• Yuji Seki, 'The True Identity of the Mononobe Clan' (Shincho Bunko, 2010)

Academic Papers

Yoshiyuki Ibaragi, 'On the Legend of Emperor Kenzo's Name-Declaration in the Harima no Kuni Fudoki' (Kokugakuin Zasshi, Vol. 121, No. 11, 2020)

Historical Sources

• 'Kogo Shui'

• 'Nihon Shoki'

• 'Harima no Kuni Fudoki'

• 'Shoku Nihongi'

• 'Nihon Ryoiki'

• 'Konjaku Monogatarishu'

• 'Engishiki Jinmyocho'

Websites

Nakatani Sake Brewery, 'President's Blog' (https://www.sake-asaka.co.jp/blog-president/20121130/)