Sumiyoshi sanjin

Sumiyoshi sanjin (住吉三神) is the generic name for the three Shinto gods Sokotsutsu no O no Mikoto (底筒男命), Nakatsutsu no O no Mikoto (中筒男命), and Uwatsutsu no O no Mikoto (表筒男命).^[1] The Sumiyoshi sanjin are regarded as the gods of the sea and sailing. They are sometimes referred to as the Sumiyoshi daijin (住吉大神).

The Sumiyoshi taisha has four buildings dedicated to four kami—the three Sumiyoshi brothers and Empress Jingū who is also enshrined.^[2]

According to Japanese mythology as written in works such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, the Sumiyoshi sanjin were born together with the Watatsumi Sanjin (綿津見三神) when Izanagi performed a purification ceremony after returning from Yomi.

Originally the Sumiyoshi sanjin and Watatsumi sanjin were the same gods, but when, in ancient times, the throne was moved east from Kyūshū to the area now known as Kinki, it was the Sumiyoshi sanjin that supposedly served an important role. In other words, the Watatsumi sanjin stayed in Kyūshū and the Sumiyoshi sanjin moved to Kinki.^{[dubious – discuss]}

The three Watatsumis are speculated to correspond to three historical fishing practices Uwatsu Watatsumi no Kami (sea surface god), Nakatsu Watatsumi no Kami (middle depth god) and Sokotsu Watatsumi no Kami (depths god).^{[3]: xxviii}

Of the Shinto Shrines that enshrine the Sumiyoshi sanjin the oldest are Sumiyoshi jinja in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city, Fukuoka prefecture, Sumiyoshi jinja in Iki city, Nagasaki prefecture, and Moto Sumiyoshi Shrine in Kobe, Hyōgo prefecture. However, it is not known which one of these is the oldest.

The tsutsu part of the names of the three gods has a connection to the planets, and there is a theory that suggests the Sumiyoshi sanjin are the deification of the three main stars in the Orion constellation. In the olden days the Orion constellation was used for navigational purposes so it was perhaps for this reason that they were deified. Also, the locations of Tsutsu on Tsushima Island, Tsutsuki on Iki Island, and Tsutsuki in Itoshima, Fukuoka prefecture are in the arrangement of these three Orion stars.

Probably the most notable appearance is in The Tale of Genji where it is the luck deity which the father of the Akashi Lady prays to help his daughter find a husband and secure her well-being. The father, who is the Novitiate of the Province of Akashi, hence the name "Akashi Lady", devoutly prays to Sumiyoshi for many years and eventually Sumiyoshi grants his prayers and Hikaru Genji ends up taking the Akashi Lady and giving her a daughter of The Akashi Princess, who eventually becomes Empress.

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128

• Media related to Sumiyoshi-sanjin at Wikimedia Commons