[Learning the Kojiki with Parents 365 | November 23, 2025] Kara no Kami / A Short Story on Lucky Days and Seasons / Labor Thanksgiving Day
[Learning the Kojiki with Parents 365 | November 23, 2025]
Kara no Kami
/ A Short Story on Lucky Days and Seasons / Labor Thanksgiving Day
Good morning.
I am Otoha Koto🌿
《Kojiki 365》 is where we savor the "Kojiki" and "today's calendar" little by little, feeling the breath of the seasons together as parent and child.
Today, I bring you the record for November 23, 2025.
As if walking through the world of mythology while holding small hands—
Please enjoy this gently with your child today as well.
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☀️ Today's Calendar and How to Spend the Day
November 23, 2025 (Sun/Holiday)
Today is a somewhat complex day where several lucky and unlucky days overlap.
I think the calendar is also a "tool for organizing one's feelings."
Please use this as an opportunity to talk lightly with your child about "What kind of day is it today?"✨
■ Overlap of Lucky and Unlucky Days
・Fuju-jitsubi (Day of No Success) - Unlucky Day
A day when it is said to be cautious about new challenges.
・Boshonichi (Mother's Day) - Lucky Day
A day when heaven shows compassion to people. Great for weddings.
・Ten-ichi Tenjo - Lucky Period: A lucky period that lasts for 16 days.
A day to move forward with your wishes.
・Kamiyoshi-nichi (God's Lucky Day) - Lucky Day
Compatible with divine connections, a good day for visiting shrines.
・Sensho - Morning is lucky, afternoon should be low-key.
■ How to interpret days where luck overlaps?
・If you think of the "lucky flow" softening the unlucky intent, your feelings might change a little!
・When in doubt, make the "choice that keeps you positive."
・It is also fun to consult with your child, saying "Shall we do this in the morning?" or "How about a shrine visit?"
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📖 Today's Kojiki: Kara no Kami
From here on, we enter the world of the Kojiki itself.
Of the five pillars born between O-toshi no Kami and Inu-hime, today we will take up the second one, Kara no Kami.
■ Original Text
Therefore, that O-toshi no Kami married Inu-hime, the daughter of Kamikatsubi no Kami, and bore children: O-kuni-mitama no Kami, next Kara no Kami...
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👤 Who is Kara no Kami?
🌾 A god whose name alone remains — Reading about Kara no Kami with your child
In the Kojiki, sometimes
"a god whose appearance and actions are not described, and whose name is just quietly placed"
appears.
Kara no Kami is one such pillar.
However—
Precisely because it is only a name,
"Why is this name here?"
By thinking about this, the background of the compilation and the flow of culture suddenly emerge; they are actually very interesting gods.
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🏺 Kara no Kami's "Place" as understood from literature
When reading with your child, break down difficult academic theories and
"In what era and in what book was this god?"
It becomes fun if you follow it from that perspective.
■ 1. Appears in the Kojiki as the "Child of O-toshi no Kami"
O-toshi no Kami is the god of agriculture who governs the five grains.
Kara no Kami was recorded second as his child.
→ In other words, in the background of Kara no Kami,
"Agriculture," "Land," and "Harvest"
images seem to faintly follow!
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■ 2. A name that also appears in other classics
The divine name is also confirmed in the "Kujihongi," etc.,
and it seems we know that "it is not a god only in the Kojiki"📝👀
→ For ancient people,
the possibility that it was a reasonably well-known existence.
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■ 3. The name "Kara-jinja" in the Engishiki Jinmyocho
In the "Engishiki," a list of national rituals from the Heian period,
it is recorded that there was a "Kara-jinja" in the Imperial Court📝👀
→ This can be considered a trace of being enshrined as a god involved in the protection of the Imperial Court!
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■ 4. Agricultural god? Landlord god? Connection to immigration?
In academia, the following theories seem to have been put forward regarding Kara no Kami:
• Character as a god of agriculture and land
• Possibility that the name indicates a relationship with immigration (people from foreign countries)
• Theory that it is related to powerful ancient clans such as the Hata clan
• Theory of reading it as a symbol of the transmission of rice cultivation culture
These are just academic inferences from traces of literature, place names, and rituals, but
whichever theory you take,
"A god placed in a place where cultures intersect"
the impression remains strong, doesn't it?🧐
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👧👦 How to read "Gods of only a name" to enjoy with your child
Without appearance or story,
Kara no Kami appears only by "name."
However, these "gods of only a name" are
the presence that ancient people felt important, their roles in life, and local prayers
are like treasure chests that quietly leave these things behind.
For example, you can have a conversation like this with your child:
• "Why is it only a name?"
• "What kind of work did this god do?"
• "What did people in the old days think when they saw this name?"
• "What is it like for 'cultures to intersect'?"
Expanding your imagination from the "unknown"
is actually the real thrill of the Kojiki, I think😊
And,
Agriculture, land, travel, cultural exchange...
A god from whom learning is born no matter which direction you look from.
Even though only the name remains,
it makes us think so much
that is the fun of Kara no Kami👀
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📚 Seasonal Short Story: Labor Thanksgiving Day and Niiname-sai
Today is Labor Thanksgiving Day and Niiname-sai, isn't it?🌾
Thinking that I didn't know the history unexpectedly,
I summarized it based on what I researched the other day✨
🌾① The old "Niiname-sai"
To put it simply—
A day to tell the gods, "Thank you for this year's rice!"
・Offering freshly harvested rice and millet
・An important ritual where the Emperor also partakes
・In the past, it was held on the "Day of the Rabbit in November"
In other words,
it was not a day to praise working people,
but a day to say "thank you" to the food itself🌾
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👷♀️② The current "Labor Thanksgiving Day" (1948–)
A new holiday created after the war,
it is said to be written in the law like this:
"A day to value work, celebrate production,
and thank each other."
・The theme is "working," not gratitude for rice
・A holiday that started with a new name and meaning
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📅③ Why is the date November 23 for both?
This is the interesting point of history!💡
・In the Meiji era, the Imperial Court's Niiname-sai was fixed on "November 23"
・After the war, only the name of the holiday changed, and the date was used as is
・The Imperial Court's Niiname-sai still continues today (the "original" remains as is)
In other words,
it seems to be a form where the content changed, but only the date remained!
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🧭 Key points that can be confirmed in literature
・Niiname-sai = An old ritual of "gratitude for new rice"
・Labor Thanksgiving Day = A post-war holiday with a different meaning
・The reason the date is the same is because the Meiji "fixed date" was moved as is
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👨👩👧 Summarizing for parents and children...
🌾Past:
"Day of gratitude for this year's rice"
🛠Now:
"Day of gratitude to everyone who works"
What flows through both is—
The Japanese heart of "not forgetting the feeling of gratitude."
Behind the same date, there was such an interesting historical connection!
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🌿 Summary: How to spend today?
・In the morning, act early with the lucky intent of "Sensho"
・With the flow of Ten-ichi Tenjo, put your wishes into words "straightforwardly"
・A season when rainbows hide. Look up at the sky with your child
・Think about the "thank you" of Niiname-sai and Labor Thanksgiving Day
Today's small dialogue will surely become a precious memory.
Please have a wonderful day🌾
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