is a mythical crow and a guiding god in Shinto mythology. During Emperor Jimmu's Eastern Expedition, he was guided from the Kumano Region to Yamato Province by Yatagarasu, who was sent by Takamimusubi. He is generally known for his three-legged figure, and his picture has been handed down since ancient times. The word means and the appearance of the great bird is construed as evidence of the will of Heaven or divine intervention in human affairs.
Yatagarasu as a crow-god is a symbol specifically of guidance. This great crow was sent from heaven as a guide for legendary Emperor Jimmu on his initial journey from the region which would become Kumano to what would become Yamato, (Yoshino and then Kashihara). It is generally accepted that Yatagarasu is an incarnation of Kamotaketsunumi no Mikoto, but none of the early surviving documentary records are quite so specific.
Overview
In Japanese mythology, the Yatagarasu is said to have guided Emperor Jimmu to Kashihara in Yamato, and is believed to be a god of guidance. He is also believed to be an incarnation of the sun.
In the Kojiki, he was sent by Takamimusubi, and in the Nihon Shoki, he was sent by Amaterasu. In the Kojiki, he was sent to ask the brothers Ukausi and Ukausi to return to Emperor Jinmu, but was turned away by the elder brother with a squeaky whistle. On the other hand, in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), Yatagarasu was sent to ask the brothers to return to the emperor. The younger brother, however, was afraid and said, "I hold the heavens against the gods, and I fear for my life. What a crow, you are singing." He offered food to the crow on eight leaf boards. There is a slight difference between the traditions in the two books; for example, the crow returned to Emperor Jimmu and reported to him that his brother Isoshiro was rebellious.
After that, in "Nihon Shoki", the merit was worked, and the descendants of Yatagarasu became the lords of Katsuno (Kazuno no Tomori no Agatanushi), and the root was Katsuragi Kokuzo.
In the Nihon Shoki, the Kinshi ("golden kite") saved Emperor Jimmu in his battle with Naganohiko during his eastern expedition. In addition, the Kamo clan is also considered to be the same as the Ame-no-Kanatomi and Kamotaketsunumi no Mikoto. In the genealogy of the Kamo clan, another name for Kamotaketsunumi no Mikoto is Yatagarasu Kamotaketsunumi no Mikoto, even though the Yatagarasu in the Chronicles is said to be Ikutama Anihiko no Mikoto, a contemporary of Emperor Jinmu.
In the three Kumano mountains, crows are considered to be Misaki deities (spirits of the dead that have been appeased; Shinshi). In Kumano Sanzan, Yatagarasu is worshiped as a servant of the Susanoo-no-Mikoto, the Great God of Kumano, and is also a symbol of Kumano. The crow is depicted on the Kumano Gyuuhoin, which was often used as an invocation before the Early modern period.
An ata is a unit of length, the length of the thumb and middle finger spread out (about 18 cm), and a yata is 144 cm, but yata here simply means "large".
The Meaning of Three Legs
There are many theories as to what it means for the Yatagarasu to have three legs. According to Kumano Hongu Taisha, the three legs of the Yatagarasu represent heaven (Tenjin Jigion), earth (natural environment), and man, respectively, indicating that God, nature, and man are brothers born from the same sun. It is also said to represent the authority of the three Kumano clans (Enomoto, Ui, and Fujihaku Suzuki) that once held power in the Kumano region. There is a theory that the meaning of the three legs originates from the fact that the number representing the sun has been three since ancient times, and that it has the same meaning as the Mitsunoe of the crest of shrines (Himekoso shrines) such as Usa Jingu that worship the sun goddess Hime. However, neither Kojiki nor Nihon Shoki mentions that the Yatagarasu has three legs, and the earliest reference to the Yatagarasu as having three legs is Wamyō Ruijushō, written in the middle of the Heian period (around 930), and it is thought that at that time Yatagarasu became identified with the three-legged crow, a mythical bird of China and Korea, and became three-legged. It is possible that the belief in the bird as a messenger of the gods, which originally existed in Japanese mythology, was fused with the Chinese belief in the spiritual bird of the sun.
Chinese "three-legged crow"