[Learning the Kojiki with Parents 365 | December 14, 2025] The Genealogy of Otonoshi-no-Kami / A Small Story about Lucky Days and the Seasons
[Learning the Kojiki with Parents 365 | December 14, 2025]
The Genealogy of Otonoshi-no-Kami
/ A Small Story about Lucky Days and the Seasons
Good morning.
This is Otoha Koto🌿
This is the series "Kojiki 365," where parents and children can gently enjoy the "Kojiki" and the changing of the seasons.
Today, I am delivering the record for December 14, 2025.
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Today's Calendar and How to Spend the Day | December 14, 2025 (Sun)
Today is a day where Butsumetsu (Buddha's Death) and the Day of the Snake overlap.
It is a day that possesses both unlucky and lucky qualities.
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📅 Today's Calendar
• Butsumetsu
A day considered unlucky among the six-day cycle (Rokuyo).
It is generally advised to refrain from celebrations like weddings, but it is a good day for "finishing things," "letting go," and "drawing a line."
• Day of the Snake
A lucky day deeply connected to financial luck and wealth.
The snake is considered a messenger of Benzaiten, making it a suitable day for wishes and actions related to money.
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🌿 Tips for Spending Today
• Recommended actions
• Organizing, buying, or starting to use a new wallet
• Reviewing bank accounts and cash flow
• Starting a household account book
• Buying a lottery ticket (a small amount for a good feeling✨)
🌌 Today's Kojiki | The Genealogy of Otonoshi-no-Kami: The "Sixteen Gods"
The genealogy of Otonoshi-no-Kami consists of sixteen gods, doesn't it?😊
Today's Kojiki starts here👇✨
Starting from Okuninushi-no-Mitama-no-Kami,
who is the child of Otonoshi-no-Kami mentioned earlier,
up to Otsuchi-no-Kami,
there are a total of sixteen deities.
◆ Original Text (Classical Chinese)
上件大年神之子、自大國御魂神以下、大土神以前、幷十六神。
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📜 The Genealogy of Otonoshi-no-Kami | List of the Sixteen Gods (Summary)
The gods that Otonoshi-no-Kami fathered with his three goddess wives are the following sixteen deities✨
【Children with Inuhime】 Five deities
1. Okuninushi-no-Mitama-no-Kami
2. Karanokami
3. Sohorinokami
4. Shirahinokami
5. Hijirinokami
【Children with Kayohime】 Two deities
6. Ookaguyamatominokami
7. Mitoshinokami
【Children with Amechikarumizuhime】 Nine deities
8. Okutsuhikonokami
9. Okutsuhimenokami (also known as Ootohimenokami)
10. Ooyamakuhinokami (also known as Yamasue-no-Oonushinokami)
11. Niwatsuhinokami
12. Asuhanokami
13. Hahikinokami
14. Kaguyamatominokami
15. Hayamatokami
16. Niwatakatsuhinokami
17. Otsuchinokami (also known as Tsuchi-no-Oyagami)
*In the genealogy, it seems they are grouped as "from Okuninushi-no-Mitama-no-Kami to Otsuchinokami" and counted as sixteen gods!
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The hearth, the garden, the entrance, the earthen floor—
the gods that appear in the Kojiki
are all gods that exist within our daily lives.
Mythology is not a story from a distant world,
but perhaps it is also wisdom for re-examining the "foundation of our current lives"✨
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☀️ A Small Story about the Seasons | Shiwasu, the "Month of Conclusion"
December 14. We have reached the time when we count the remaining days of 2025 on our fingers, haven't we?❄️
Now, let's talk about the Japanese name for December, "Shiwasu."
Why did it get such a name?
We read it as [Shiwasu] as if it were natural,
but I suddenly wondered why it was called that👀
I became curious and looked it up📝
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① The idea that it is the month when priests run around
People in the past thought like this:
December is a month when priests (= shi) are busy
reciting sutras and performing Buddhist rites,
running around here and there.
From that,
it came to be called "the month when the master runs" = Shi-hasu,
and the theory is that the current kanji "Shiwasu" was born from this📝
📚 This idea seems to be written in actual old books such as:
• "Iroha Jirui-sho" (Heian period)
• "Ougi-sho," "Nagoki," "No-sho" (Kamakura period and later)
* In modern linguistics,
it is also said that "it might be a kanji assigned later to give it meaning,"
but I think it is an important clue to knowing how people in the past perceived it.
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② The idea that it was born from a word expressing the "end of the year"
There seems to be another idea that is considered closer to the older meaning📝
● The "Toshi-hatsu" (Year-end) theory
The month when the year "ends" (hatsu),
a theory that "Toshi-hatsu" gradually changed into "Shiwasu."
📚 It can be seen in "Toga," "Kokon Yoranko," etc.
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● The idea that it is the month when the four seasons end
The month when all four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—
come to an end.
This is called
"Shihatsuki" (Month of the Four Extremes),
and a theory that it became "Shiwasu" from there
📚 It seems to be recorded in "Waji-ga," "Nihon Shakumei," etc.👀
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📖 When did the word "Shiwasu" first appear?
Actually, the sound "Shiwasu" itself is said to be a very old word.
• "Nihon Shoki" (Nara period)
• "Manyoshu"
It appears in the forms of
"Twelfth Month (Shiwasu)"
"Kito (Shiwasu)"
At this time,
👉 the kanji "Shiwasu" were not yet used.
The way of writing "Shiwasu"
is considered to be kanji (assigned characters) added later to explain the meaning😊
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🌱 Summary
Shiwasu is
a "month so busy you run," but also
a "month to quietly end the year."
Even in the midst of busyness,
it would be wonderful to have a little time
to look back on the year
and count the "thank yous."
Perhaps such feelings
are also contained in the word Shiwasu.
Ending something is preparation for starting something new.
Because today is a day where Butsumetsu and the Day of the Snake overlap,
a day spent quietly setting your foundation
is also a very rich way to spend the day.
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I hope it will be a good day for all of you😊
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#Kojiki365
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