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次つぎに成なる神かみの名なは、 国くに之の常とこ立たちの神かみ。［訓常立亦如上。］ 次つぎに豊雲とよくも上野神ののかみ。 此この二柱ふたはしらの神かみ亦も、独神ひとりがみと成なり坐まして、身みを隠かくしき。 次つぎに成なる神かみの名なは、宇比地迩うひぢに上神のかみ。次つぎに妹いも須す比ひ智ち迩に去神のかみ。［此二神名音。］ 次つぎに角杙つのぐひ神のかみ。次つぎに妹いも活いく杙ぐひ神のかみ。［二柱。］ 次つぎに意お冨ほ斗と能の地ぢの神かみ。次つぎに妹いも大おほ斗と乃の弁べの神かみ。［此二神名亦音。］ 次つぎに於お母も陀だ流るの神かみ。 次つぎに阿あ夜や上訶か志し古こ泥ねの神かみ。［此二神名皆音。］ 次つぎに伊い耶ざ那な岐きの神かみ。次つぎに妹いも伊い耶ざ那な美みの神かみ。［此二神名亦以音如上。］ 上かみの件くだりの、国之常立神くにのとこたちのかみより以下しも、伊い耶ざ那な美みの神かみより以前さき、并あはせて神世七代かむよななよと称いふ。 ［上かみの二柱ふたはしらの独ひとり神がみは各おのおの一代ひとよと云いふ。次つぎに双たぐへる十神とはしらのかみは各おのおの二神ふたはしらのかみを合あはせて一代ひとよと云いふ也。］
○国之常立神 「常立」については、「天之常立神」の項（注釈（一））を参照。『日本書紀』では本書・一書一・一書四・一書五で最初に出現する神として「国常立尊」が見える。この神を最初に出現した神とする神話の存在が窺える。「国之」とあるのは、本来この神名が地上世界の土台の出現に関わる名であったことを示すと思われる。『古事記』の場合も、「別天神」を境に「天」と「国」とが対応しているようにも見えるが、伊耶那岐・伊耶那美までの神々は、すべて高天原において出現した神と捉えられる。 ○豊雲上野神 豊は美称でほぼ諸注釈で一致するが、雲野について、宣長は、「雲野は、字は借字にて、久毛は（中略）物の集り凝る意と、初芽す意とを兼たる言」「野はヌと訓みて（中略）沼の意なるべし」と言い、国土となるべき兆しと見る。その他に、「天上と国土の間に介在充満する雲霧の暗示」（全書）、「雲野は、雲の向伏す原野。国土と原野、または国土に関する神」（全註釈）、「ずっと雲のごときものがとろとろと浮動しているさまを暗示」（注釈）、「生気の象徴たる雲がおおう豊かな野の意で、生成の具体的な場」（新全集）、「雲は虚空の象徴。野は台状の大地形成の象徴を神格化」（新版）等諸説が見られる。『古事記』の用例からすれば、「野」は借訓字ではなく、正訓字であろう。天・海を天原・海原等と表現する方法と同じく、雲の広がる様を雲野と表現したものか。語構成としては、「雲」の下に「上」の声注が付されているところから「雲」で切れるのではなく「雲野」と続く、すなわち「豊＝雲野」と解するべきこと、小松英雄に論がある（注釈一「天地初発」参照）。なお『日本書紀』を見ると、本書に「豊斟渟尊」とあり、一書一には「豊国主尊」と記した後に亦名として「豊組野尊・豊香節野尊・浮経野豊買尊・豊国野尊・豊囓野尊・葉木国野尊・見野尊」と多くの名が記されており、神名に揺れのあったことが知られる。 ○宇比地迩上神・須比智迩去神 ウヒヂニノカミ・スヒチニノカミ。ウは「初」（講義）、スは「砂」（講義・新全集）等の説があるが、未詳。ヒヂ・ヒチは泥を意味するという点で諸説一致している。『日本書紀』の表記「埿土煑尊［埿土、此をば于毘尼と云ふ。］沙土煑尊。［沙土、此をば須毘尼と云ふ。］」からするならば、ウヒヂは「泥土」、スヒヂが「沙土」ということになるので、そうした解釈も可能だと思われるが、前項の豊雲野神の場合がそうであるように、『日本書紀』の表記をそのまま神名の原義と見ることには問題がある。「ヒヂ」を名に持つペアの神という以上のことは今のところ不明である。「迩」については、これも土の意と取るものもあるが、『日本書紀』の表記でそう取ると、「土」の意が重なることになる。『日本書紀』の場合、表記の点と、亦名に「埿土根尊・沙土根尊」とあるところからすれば、親称の接尾辞「ネ」と理解しているようである。 『古事記』の場合、「宇比地迩上神次妹須比智迩去神」というように、「迩」の次に「上」「去」とあるのは、音の高低によって男女の性別を区別している可能性が指摘されている（注解）。なお、須比智迩は通常スヒヂニとよまれるが、「智」は通常「チ」の訓であること（修訂）と、「泥［比知利古］（平平平平）」（図書寮本名義抄）」等の例の指摘（注解）により、「スヒチニ」とよむ。この二神から男女対の神として出現している。 ○妹 この「妹」を、文字通り「妹」と取るか、「妻」と取るかで見解が分かれるところである。宣長は夫婦・兄弟・他人に関わらず、男と女と並ぶときにその女を指していう称だという。しかし西郷信綱は、『万葉集』の歌では「妹」は妻・恋人を指すのに対し、題詞では「妹」は文字通り「妹」を指す点からすれば、散文では「妹」は「妹」であるとし、これら二神は兄妹であると捉える。それに対して西宮一民は、『万葉集』の書き分けを『古事記』にも適用することは出来ないと反論し、宣長説と同様の見解を示している（『古事記注釈』書評）。「妹」を兄妹の妹と取るか、男に対する女を示すと取るかは、伊耶那岐と伊耶那美の神話を兄妹婚と取るか否か、延いては、二神による国生み神話を洪水型兄妹始祖神話の範疇に含めて考えるのかという問題と絡むものである。【補注六】兄妹始祖型洪水神話 ○角杙神・活杙神 杙の神格化された神名であろうが、杙の表す意味は必ずしも明確ではない。杙は通常境界に立てられるもの、土地占有の印等の意味を持って立てられることが多い。前項「ウヒヂニ・スヒチニ」から更に進んだ状態としての具体的表象としての杙と捉えられている節があるが、定かではない。「ツノ」は固くしっかりしている（全書）、「イク」は生命力あふれる意（注解）等と説かれる。生命力の芽生えのような意味合いがあるのかも知れないが、前後の神々の持つ意味合いを考慮して考える必要がありそうである。 ○意冨斗能地神・大斗乃弁神 トは所の意と解されるが、その所を「大地」と見る説（新講）、「殿」と見る説（標註）、「居所」と見る説（大系）、「男女の陰部」と見る説（旧全集）等に分かれる。ヂはヒコヂのヂと同じく男性を表す語、対してベは、女性を表す語で、メの転と考えられているが、メに対するのはヲであり、ヂに対するのはハ（オホヂに対してオホバ、チチに対してハハ等）であるという見方から、ハの転とする説（注解）もある。ここまでの神名は、結局のところ神世七代の神名を全体としてどう捉えるかということに関わるので、個々の検討には限界があろう。 ○於母陀流神 『日本書紀』の「面足尊」という表記に神名理解を求める説（宣長）、その「面」を大地と取って、「面足」を、大地の充足・完成の意と見る説（評釈・新講）、顔かたちの充実の意だが、もとは大地の完備を示すと見る説（全講）、人体の完備と取る説（全註釈・新全集）等がある。 ○阿夜上訶志古泥神 アヤは感動詞、カシコは恐れ多いの意の形容詞の語幹であるという点では諸説一致する。しかし前項「オモダル」をどう理解するかによって、何に対して感動しているのかという点には相違が生じている。人間の意識の発生を示すもので、人体が完備し（オモダル）、意識が発生したということを説く見方もある（全註釈）。 ○伊耶那岐神・伊耶那美神 「誘ふ」の語幹「イザナ」を神名としたとする見方、若しくは「イザ」＋「ナ（助詞）」と取る見方もあるが、いずれにしても誘い合う男女神という解釈になる。 ○神世七代 「神世」は人の世に対するもの。『古事記』中では、各天皇の「御世」があるのに対して「神世」という大枠の「世」として認識されているように思われる。上巻においては、天孫降臨条に「御世」の語が見え、これは歴代天皇の御世を指すと見られるが、大国主神の系譜に「十七世」とあるのは、神世を記す上巻にあって異質な感があり、問題を残す（谷口雅博「『古事記』上巻・出雲系系譜記載の意義」『日本神話をひらく』フェリス女学院大学二〇一三・三参照）。「代」は、『古事記』中では神人名・地名、「御名代」「机代」等の例が見出せるが、世代の意で用いられていると見られるのはここのみである点、注意される。【補注七】「神世七代」 ○双 「双神」は先の「独神」に対応する。「独神」は「隠身」した神である。その「独神」に対して、「身」をもって天神の「命以」を遂行するのが、「双神」の完成体である伊耶那岐命・伊耶那美命であると思われる（注釈（一）及び谷口雅博「古事記神話の身を考える」『古代文化研究』三三号二〇一一・三参照）。
天の浮橋に立つイザナキとイザナミの下には、海が広がっており、そこに二人は淤能碁呂嶋をつくり、降り立つ。そして国生みをはじめた。一面海のなかで、二人だけが存在するという状況である。この神話について岡正雄は、洪水神話の痕跡があることを次のように指摘した。 日本神話における種族祖神、イザナギ・イザナミ兄妹神が結婚して、神々を生むという神話は、南中国や、東南アジアの諸種族にしばしば見られる洪水神話の破片である。これらの諸族の神話では、洪水で人類が死に絶え、ただ兄妹の二人が生き残る。兄妹だから結婚できない。そこでこの近親婚の禁止を解く呪的儀礼を行って、兄、妹が他人として結婚し、子孫を生むということが語られている。日本神話では、この神話の洪水の部が脱落しているにすぎなく、内容はディテールにおいて全く同じである。（岡正雄『異人その他』言叢社一九七九・一二、四〇頁） この説を受け、大林太良は、岡説は「事態を著しく単純化して」いるとしながらも、イザナキ、イザナミの神話が、華南や東南アジアの「兄妹始祖型洪水神話」と関係があると認め、さらに詳しい分析を試みた（大林太良『神話の系譜』講談社一九九一・二、二四五―二五六頁）。 彼らが注目している「兄妹始祖型洪水神話」の典型的なものとして、ミャオ族の神話がある。この神話によれば、神の怒りによる大洪水を一組の兄妹だけが生き残った。子孫を残すため、兄が妹と結婚しようとするが、妹は兄弟であることを理由に断る。強いて頼むと、妹は、追いかけて捕まえられたら結婚してもよいという。木のまわりで兄は妹を追いかけるが、なかなか追いつけない。そこで兄が向きを変えて反対に巡ったところ、捕まえることができ、二人は結ばれた。子供が生まれるが、手足もない、肉の塊であったため、細かく刻んだ。それが地に落ち、人間になったという（君島久子『中国の神話』筑摩書房一九八三・一より）。物の周りを巡ることや、最初の子が不具であるなど、イザナキ、イザナミの神話との共通点は少なくない。 洪水神話は世界中ひろい範囲で見いだされるものである。もっとも有名なものは旧約聖書の記されたノアの方舟の物語だろう。この物語も、「ギルガメシュ叙事詩」にあるウトナピシュティムの神話、また「アトラ・ハシース」の神話と酷似しており、西アジアから広がる洪水神話のモチーフの一つである。インドにも「シャタパタ・ブラーフマナ」などに方舟モチーフといわれる神話がある。フレーザーは、『旧約聖書のフォークロア』のなかで、世界の洪水神話と旧約聖書の関係を論じたが、世界に広がる洪水神話が単一の起源を有することについては否定的である。 日本神話についていえば、原初、一面が海であったという状況を洪水モチーフの欠落と解釈することについては異論もあるだろう。洪水に限らず、津波なども含めた自然災害を被ってきた島国の状況が国生みの光景を生み出したとも考えられる。 〔平藤喜久子〕 As described in the following chapter, Izanaki and Izanami, the final pair of the Seven Generations of the Age of Deities, stand on the celestial floating bridge (ame no ukihashi 天の浮橋), under which the ocean spreads broadly. They create Onogoro 淤能碁呂 island, to which they descend and begin the process of procreating the different lands (kuni 国). In this scene they alone exist amid the ocean's broad expanse. Oka Masao 岡正雄(1898–1982), who found in this account traces of a primordial flood myth, described it as follows: Among Japanese myths we can find the story of the divine ancestors Izanaki and Izanami, the brother-and-sister pair who married and gave birth to numerous deities. This myth is a remnant of the flood myths often observed among the tribes of southern China and Southeast Asia. In these narrations humankind becomes extinct as the result of a flood that leaves only two survivors, a brother and a sister. Since they are siblings, they cannot wed. However, they conduct a magic ritual to remove the incest ban, marry as non-kin partners, and bear offspring. In the Japanese myths, although the part with the flood has disappeared, the details of the story's content are exactly the same.(1) Ōbayashi Taryō 大林太良(1929–2001) describes Oka's analysis of the subject as “definitely reductive.” Nevertheless, he accepts that there is a link between the Izanaki and Izanami myth and the “flood-type sibling marriage and first-founder myths” found in southern China and Southeast Asia. On that basis he attempts a more detailed analysis of the matter.(2) As a representative example of these “flood-type sibling marriage and firstfounder myths” that attracted the interest of Oka and Ōbayashi, we can cite the myths of the Miao people in China. According to the Miao myth, a brother and sister are the only humans to survive a great flood caused by the wrath of the gods. The brother tries to wed his sister so as to create progeny, but she refuses on grounds that they are siblings. The brother persists, whereupon she says that if he chases after her and manages to catch her, she will agree to marry him. The brother pursues the sister around a tree, but is unable to catch her. He thus decides to reverse directions and succeeds. The two marry and produce an offspring, but it is only a lump of meat with no arms or legs, so they chop it up in small pieces. Those pieces fall to the ground, and a human being takes shape out of them. (3) This myth has several features in common with the Izanaki and Izanami story, as seen below, such as the act of circling an object or the first child being deformed. Flood myths can be widely found all over the world. Perhaps the most famous is the narrative of Noah's Ark, described in the Old Testament, which is in fact an example of the flood-myth motif that spread from Western Asia. In this regard it resembles closely the myth of Utnapishtim, included in the epic of Gilgamesh, and also the Akkadian myth of Atra-Hasis. The Indian myth of S´atapatha Brāhmaṇa has also been described as an example of the ark motif. In his book Folk-lore in the Old Testament, James G. Frazer takes up the relationship between world flood myths and the Old Testament, but he expresses skepticism that all flood myths throughout the world share the same origin.(4) The Japanese creation myths, where the opening scene is a boundless sea, could be regarded as a flood myth where the step of the flood itself has been omitted. However, the Japanese archipelago has always been exposed not only to floods, but also to various kinds of natural disasters, including tsunami. Hence it might also be hypothesized that it was such environmental conditions as a whole that underlay the following myth of the formation of the land (kuniumi 国生み). Hirafuji Kikuko 平藤喜久子 Endnotes (1)Oka,Ijin sono ta, p. 40. (2)O bayashi,Shinwa no keifu, pp. 245–56. (3)Kimishima, Chūgoku no shinwa, pp. 54–61. (4)Frazer,Folk-lore in the Old Testament, vol. 1, pp. 338–60.
神世七代の構成意識は明確ではない。はじめの「独神」二柱と、後の「双神」五組を併せて「七代」と数えるのは、いかにも不自然である。はじめの五柱と、後の七代とで分ける、所謂中国の聖数に合わせるという意図があったのかも知れないが、やはり国常立神・豊雲野神と、双神五組を併せて七代とするのは不審が残る。それ以前の「別天神」五柱と、後の神々との相違を意識させる書き方ではあるのかも知れない。また、イザナキ・イザナミ以降は、この二神が「生む」ことで国・神を出現させるので、自からそこに世代が生じるわけだが、それ以前に世代を表明するための手段として「七代」という表現が必用とされたのかも知れない。先の「別天神」はそうした世代意識を超越した存在として位置付けられるのであろう。さて、双神十柱の示す意味内容は、『古事記』神話内部における意味合いについて、考えてみる必要がありそうである。『日本書紀』の場合は神名の文字表記に意味を与えており、その意味は『古事記』と意識を共有しているとは言い難い点が見られるからである。宣長は、「国土の初めと神の初めとの形状を、次第に配り当て負せ奉りしものなり」と言い、両義的に解釈をしているようである。先に見た中では、例えば新講などは一貫して大地の生成を示すものと見ているし、大系などでは、建物の形成を背後に見ているようなところがある。しかし、例えば全註釈の理解では、神世七代の神々の意味する内容を、国土の根源→原野の形成→土砂の発生→杙の打込み→居所の完成→人体の完備・意識の発生→夫婦の発生と見ており、首尾一貫性が無い。それに対して金井清一（「神世七代の系譜について」『古典と現代』 49 、一九八一・九。なお注解はこの説を採用する）は、それぞれの神名の意義を、神の原質としての泥と砂↓現れ出ようとする最初の形→男女神の性が形態として表面化したこと→形態の完備を体と用の両面から言ったもの、というように神体の生成（身の生成）に向かう一連の流れとして捉えており、イザナキ・イザナミ二神が身体を伴う行動をこの後とっていくという神話の流れともそれは符号するものとして了解される。 〔谷口雅博〕 The reasoning behind the grouping of “the seven generations of the age of the deities” is not clear. It seems forced to combine the first two solitary deities（独神）with the following five sets of paired deities（双神）so as to add up to seven generations（nanayo）. It is possible that the compilers of the Kojiki divided the first five deities of the first chapter from the next seven generations of the second chapter so as to align them with the so-called sacred numbers found in Chinese works such as the Book of Changes（Yijing 易経）. Yet it remains uncertain why they combined Kuninotokotachi and Toyokumono with the five sets of paired deities to come up with seven generations. Perhaps the intent was to emphasize the distinction between the first five Special Celestial Deities （koto amatsu kami 別天神） and the other deities. Inasmuch as the deities who appear after Izanaki and Izanami are all descended from this couple, they naturally constitute a succession of generations. It may be that the compilers adopted the term “seven generations” to convey the notion that generations existed prior to Izanaki and Izanami as well. The term Special Celestial Deities would then serve to situate the deities so designated as belonging to a category that transcended the notion of generation. As for the meaning of the names of the ten paired deities, this should be considered within the context of the form the myths take in the Kojiki. The Nihon shoki assigns meaning to deity names through the characters it adopts to transcribe these names, but in many cases it cannot be said that the two texts share the same assumptions about this issue. Norinaga appears to take a double standpoint in his interpretation of these names, holding that “［the names of the paired deities］ are ordered by a configuration that assigns them, one after the other, either to the origin of the land or to the appearance of deities.”(1) Kurano Kenji interprets the meaning of the seven generations of deities' names as heterogeneous in nature, moving from the origin of the land to the formation of a primeval terrain to the generation of mud and sand to the planting of stakes to the construction of a dwelling to completion of the body and the emergence of consciousness to the establishment of conjugal relations.(2) By contrast, Kanai Seiichi 金井清一 sees the names as pertaining to the formation of the deities’ bodies, moving step by step from mud and sand as the deities’ original constitution to an emergent primeval form to the concrete appearance of the gender of male and female deities to completion of that form in both shape and function. Kanai sees this process as leading naturally to the next stage of the myth, in which the pair Izanaki and Izanami act making use of their bodies.(3) Ko -noshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori also adopt Kanai’s views in their Kojiki chuūkai.(4) Taniguchi Masahiro 谷口雅博 Endnotes (1)Motoori Norinaga, Kojiki den, MNZ 9, p. 151. (2)Kurano, Kojiki zenchūshaku, vol. 2, pp. 64–70. (3)Kanai, “Kamuyo nanayo no keifu ni tsuite,” pp. 39–46. (4)Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi,Kojiki chūkai, vol. 2, pp. 51–52.
次成神名 国之常立神［訓常立亦如上］ 次豊雲①上野神 此二柱神亦獨神成坐而隠身也 次成神名宇比地迩上神次妹須比智迩去神［此二神名以音］ 次角杙神次妹活杙神②［二柱］ 次意冨斗能地神次妹大斗乃弁神［此二神名亦以音］ 次於母陀流神 次妹阿夜上訶志古泥神［此二神名皆以音］ 次伊③耶那岐神次妹伊耶那美神［此二神名亦以音如上］ 上件自国之常立神以下伊耶那美神以前并稱神世七代 ［上二柱獨神各云一代次雙④十神各合二神云一代也］ 【校異】 ① 真「上」 兼永本以下による。 ② 真「二柱」 道果本以下による。 ③ 真「ナシ」 道果本以下による。 ④ 真「十神十神」 道果本以下による。
次に出現した神の名は、 国之常立神。 次に豊雲野神。 この二柱の神も、性別を持たない神として出現して身体を隠した。 次に出現した神の名は宇比地迩神、次に妹須比智迩神。 次に角杙神、次に妹活杙神。 次に意富斗能地神、次に妹大斗乃弁神。 次に於母陀流神、 次に妹阿夜訶志古泥神。 次に伊耶那岐神、次に妹伊耶那美神。 以上の、国の常立神から以下、伊耶那美神から以前を併せて神世七代という。 ［先の二柱の独神はそれぞれ一代という。次の対として出現した神はそれぞれ二神を合わせて一代という。］
The deity that next came into existence was named Kuninotokotachi no kami 国之常立神. Next appeared Toyokumono no kami 豊雲野神. These two deities also came into existence as solitary deities,and they hid their bodies. Next came into existence a deity named Uhijini no kami 宇比地迩神, and next his sister-spouse, Suhichini no kami 須比智迩神. Next, Tsunogui no kami 角杙神, and next his sister-spouse Ikugui no kami 活杙神. Next, Ōtonoji no kami 意冨斗能地神, and next his sister-spouse Ōtonobe no kami 大斗乃弁神. Next, Omodaru no kami 於母陀流神, and next his sister-spouse Ayakashikone no kami 阿夜訶古泥神. Next, Izanaki no kami 伊耶那岐神, and next his sister-spouse Izanami no kami 伊耶那美神. The deities named above, from Kuninotokotachi no kami to Izanami no kami, are called altogether the Seven Generations of the Age of Deities. Gloss: The first two solitary deities are each called “one generation” （ichidai 一代 ） . Each pair of the next ten paired deities is called jointly “one generation”
Kuninotokotachi no kami（国之常立神） For the digraph tokotachi 常立（“eternal foundation”）,see the entry in the previous chapter for Amenotokotachi no kami 天之常立神.In the main text（honsho 本書） of the Nihon shoki,as well as in the first,fourth,and fifth variants,this deity,identified as Kuninotokotachi no mikoto 国常立尊,is the first mentioned,indicating that there were some versions of the myths in which this deity was the very first to emerge. The element kunino 国之 presumably was intended to convey this deity’s connection to the emergence of the foundations for the earthly world.It may seem that in the Kojiki as well the appearance of the Special Celestial Deities （koto amatsu kami 別天神; see chap.1, note 10）, marks the dividing line between the realms of Heaven （ame 天） and Earth （kuni 国）,but in fact all the deities up to the Izanaki-Izanami pair may be seen as having come into being in Takamanohara. Toyokumono no kami(豊雲上野神) Commentators are largely in agreement that the element toyo 豊(“luxuriant”) is meant as an expression of praise（bishō 美称）. As to the digraph kumono 雲野, Motoori Norinaga 本居宣長 held that the first graph was borrowed for its sound value (shakuji 借字) to convey the word kumo 久毛,which,he said,meant both“gathering and consolidation of matter” and “germinate.”(1) He argued that the second character, no 野, should be read nu ヌ and carried the meaning of numa 沼 (“marshland”).(2) The name of the deity thus portends, in Norinaga’s view, the subsequent emergence of the land of habitation (kokudo 国土). Modern commentaries propose other theories. The commentary to the Nihon koten zensho 日本古典全書 edition of the Kojiki asserts that this deity's name suggests a thick fog pervading the space between Heaven and Earth,(3) while Kurano Kenji 倉野憲司 argues in Kojiki zenchūshaku 古事記全註釈 that kumono refers to an untamed wilderness (gen'ya 原野） wreathed in clouds and that the deity named is related to both the land of habitation (kokudo 国土) and that wilderness or to the land of habitation alone.(4) In Kojiki chūshaku 古事記注釈, Saigō Nobutsuna 西郷信綱 asserts that this compound suggests a scene in which something cloud-like is floating murkily above,(5) whereas the compilers of the Shinpen Nihon koten bungaku zenshū 新編日本古典文学全集 edition of the Kojiki hold that the term means a fertile field covered by clouds that embody vitality and that it implies a concrete site of generation.(6) Nakamura Hirotoshi 中村啓信 argues in the Shinpan Kojiki 新版古事記 edition that the element kumo is a symbolic expression for the void (kokū 虚空), while no represents the apotheosis of the consolidation of the land into a foundation.(7) Judging from its general usage in the Kojiki, the character no 野 is not borrowed for its sound value but rather its meaning of “field.” Just as adding the element “plain” (hara 原) provided a means to express such concepts as “heaven” (天) or “sea” (海) through the compounds amanohara 天原 and unabara 海原,kumono perhaps conveyed the idea of clouds spread out across the sky,likened here to a field. In regard to word structure, Komatsu Hideo 小松英雄 argues that since the character kumo is followed by the phonetic gloss 上 (which is generally held to indicate a high-flat tone),it should not be understood as constituting a separate element but as part of the combination kumono, which is praised as toyo (“luxuriant”).(8) The Nihon shoki lists a large number of alternate names for this deity. The main text has Toyokumunu no mikoto 豊斟渟尊, while the first variant gives Toyokuninushi no mikoto 豊国主尊 followed by the alternate names Toyokumuno no mikoto 豊組野尊, Toyokabuno no mikoto 豊香節野尊, Ukabunonotoyokai no mikoto 浮経野豊買尊, Toyokunino no mikoto 豊国野尊, Toyokuuno no mikoto 豊齧野尊, Hakokunino no mikoto 葉木国野尊, and Mino no mikoto 見野尊. From this we can see that there was considerable fluctuation in the name of this deity. Uhijini no kami and Suhichini no kami(宇比地迩上神・須比智迩去神) Interpretations diverge regarding the meaning of the initial morpheme u of the first deity's name. Yamada Yoshio 山田孝雄 holds that it indicates “first” or “beginning” (ui 初) ,(9) while the compilers of the Shinpen Nihon koten bungaku zenshū 新編日本古典文学全集 edition view its meaning as uncertain.(10) As for the initial su of the second deity's name, both of these commentaries interpret it as “sand,” but the meaning of this element also remains unclear. Commentators are united in interpreting the hiji or hichi element common to both names as “mud.” Such interpretations are possible if one follows the glosses in the Nihon shoki, which state, “The graph 埿土 [should] be read uhijini.... The graph 沙土 [should] be read suhijini.”(11) These glosses suggest that uhiji means “muddy soil” and suhiji “sandy soil.” However, as seen with the case of Toyokumono no kami above, it can be problematic to derive the meaning of a deity’s name directly from that of the graphs used in the Nihon shoki. At present, all that can be said reliably is that this is a pair of deities whose names share the element hiji. As to the morpheme ni 迩, some think this also means “soil.” However, if hiji is interpreted as “soil” in line with the Nihon shoki graphic transcription, this would result in a duplication of elements meaning “soil.” In the case of the Nihon shoki, judging from the graphic transcription and the fact that alternate names for these two deities are given as Uhijine no mikoto 埿土根尊 and Suhijine no mikoto 沙土根尊, it would appear that the text takes ni to indicate familiarity or intimacy in the same manner as the suffix ne. The Kojiki, by contrast, glosses the ni of Uhijini with the graph 上 and the ni of Suhijini with 去 (宇比地迩上神次妹須比智迩去神), indicating that the first should have a high-flat tone and the second a low-flat tone. In their commentary Kojiki chūkai 古事記注解, Kōnoshi Takamitsu 神野志隆光 and Yamaguchi Yoshinori 山口佳紀 suggest that the Kojiki compilers may have intended these differences in tone to distinguish the first deity as male and the second as female.(12) The graphs of the name 須比智迩 have usually been read su-hi-ji-ni. However, as Nishimiya Kazutami 西宮一民 and others have observed, the character 智 is usually read chi.(13) Also, Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi point out in the abovementioned Kojiki chūkai that in its entry for the graph 泥, the Imperial Household Library copy of the Heian dictionary Ruiju myōgi shō 類聚名義抄 provides the reading hi-chi-ri-ko 比知利古, with all four syllables to be pronounced in a flat tone.(14) Accordingly, we have chosen the reading su-hi-chi-ni. From these two deities on, the deities of the seven generations appear as malefemale pairs. Imo(妹) Opinion is divided as to whether the word imo should be taken at face value to mean “sister” or if it should be interpreted as “spouse.” Motoori Norinaga stated that this word is used simply to indicate the woman when referring to a man and a woman jointly, regardless of whether they are spouses, siblings, or unrelated to each other. Saigō Nobutsuna, on the other hand, holds that while in the poems of the Man'yōshū imo may indicate a spouse or lover, the headnotes to the poems use the term to mean “sister”; consequently, he argues, in prose usage imo should be understood as “sister” and this is true as well of these pairs of deities in the Kojiki.(15) Nishimiya Kazutami rejects this interpretation, asserting in a review of Saigō's book that the Man'yōshū usage cannot be applied to the Kojiki and seconding Norinaga’s position on this issue.(16) The question whether to consider imo as meaning specifically the sister in an elder brother–younger sister pair or simply a “woman” in relation to a “man” bears on the issue of whether or not the Izanaki-Izanami myth is to be seen as a marital union of two siblings and, by extension, whether the myth of the creation of the land (kuniumi 国生み) by these two deities falls into the category of myths about siblings consolidating the land following a primordial flood. Further comment Tsunogui no kami and Ikugui no kami 角杙神・活杙神 These seem to be names of stakes (kui 杙) that have been deified, but it is not at all clear what “stake” signifies in this context. Usually a stake marks a border, and stakes often are placed to indicate possession of a piece of land. It appears that the kui in the names of these deities may have been intended to express a further stage of development from that of the preceding pair of deities Uhijini and Suhichini (see text note 3), but this is not a certainty. Interpretations vary regarding tsuno 角 (“horn”) and iku 活 (“vigor”). As for iku, Yamaguchi Yoshinori 山口佳紀 and Kōnoshi Takamitsu 神野志隆光 take it to mean “full of vitality.” Ogihara Asao 荻原浅男 views tsuno as “an omen of germination.”(17) There may be connotations here of a sprout brimming with life force, but it is also necessary to think about these names in relation to the implications of those of the preceding and following deities. Ōtonoji no kami and Ōtonobe no kami 意冨斗能地神・大斗乃弁神 The element to ト is thought to mean “place.” However, opinions are divided as to what this “place” is. For example, Tsugita Uruu 次田潤 (1884–1966) thinks it should be understood as “the earth” (daichi 大地) ,(18) Shikida Toshiharu 敷田年治 (1817–1902) sees it as “a palace” (tono 殿) ,(19) Kurano Kenji 倉野憲司 thinks of it as “a residence” (idokoro 居所),(20) and Ogihara Asao views it as the male and female genitalia.(21) Kōnoshi Takamitsu and Yamaguchi Yoshinori think the morpheme ji expresses the concept “man” as in the word hikoji ひこじ. They hold that the morpheme be is a variation of the more common me and indicates “woman.” They also posit, however, that be may be a variation of ha, their argument being that me is usually paired with o while ha is paired with ji (as seen in such pairs as ōji [“grandfather”] and ōba [“grandmother”], and chichi [“father”] and haha [“mother”]).(22) Ultimately, however, given that such issues are connected to interpretations of the names of the Seven Generations of the Age of Deities as a whole, there are limits as to how far one can go in defining each deity's name on its own. Omodaru no kami 於母陀流神 Motoori Norinaga seeks the meaning of the name of this deity in that of the characters men soku son 面足尊 used for it in the Nihon shoki.(23) Following in the same line, both Nakajima Etsuji 中島悦次(1899–1983) and Tsugita Uruu see the element men/omo 面 as referring to the earth, and the combination men soku/omodaru 面足 as meaning the fullness or completion of the earth.(24) Ozaki Nobuo 尾崎暢殃, meanwhile, argues that although this term carries the sense of a “filledout” face, its original meaning is the “completion” or “perfection” of the land.(25) Kurano Kenji, on the one hand, and Yamaguchi Yoshinori and Kōnoshi Takamitsu, on the other, interpret this two-character compound as meaning the completion or perfection of the human body.(26) Ayakashikone no kami 阿夜上訶志古泥神 All commentators are in agreement that the element aya is an interjection （kandōshi 感動詞） and that the element kashiko 訶志古 is the stem of an adjective meaning “august” or “awe-inspiring.” However, they explain differently the reason for this emotion depending on how they understand the name Omodaru with which Ayakashikone is paired. Kurano Kenji, for instance, argues that the name Ayakashikone indicates the emergence of human consciousness and that it should be understood as conveying the generation of consciousness following the completion or perfection of the human body.(27) Izanaki no kami and Izanami no kami 伊耶那岐神・伊耶那美神 Some commentators hold that these names derive directly from the root izana of the word izanau 誘ふ (“to invite”), while others argue that they come from a combination of the element iza with the auxiliary particle na. In either the case, the names are interpreted to mean a male and female deity who beckon one another. The Seven Generations of the Age of the Deities” (kamuyo nanayo 神世七代） The kamuyo (“realm of the deities”) stands in contrast to the human realm (hito no yo 人の世). It would appear that in the Kojiki this kamuyo was conceived of as a broad realm or age in distinction to the miyo 御世―the “honored realms” (i.e., the reigns)―of each emperor. The digraph 御世, with the reading miyomiyo, occurs in the first volume of the Kojiki in the episode of the descent to earth of Ninigi, the grandson of Amaterasu (tenson kōrin 天孫降臨), in a passage referring to the later relationship of the Sarume 猿女 lineage to the court.(28) There it appears to indicate the reigns or generations of all the successive emperors to come. The term “the seventeen reigns”(tō yo amari nanayo 十七世) can be found in the lineage of the deity Ōkuninushi 大国主. Coming as it does in the first book of the Kojiki, which deals with the age of the deities rather than that of the emperors, it leaves an odd impression and presents problems in interpreting the meaning of this term.(29) As for the character yo 代, numerous examples can be found in the Kojiki where it appears in the names of deities, persons, and places, or in terms such as minashiro 御名代 (a hereditary occupational group attached to the ruler’s consort or a prince), and tsukue shiro 机代 (objects placed as offerings on a stand) . (30) However, kamuyo nanayo is the only instance in all the Kojiki where yo 代 is employed in the sense “generation” （sedai 世代 in modern Japanese）; it hence attracts our attention. Further comment Paired （tagueru 双） The digraph 双神 (paired deity) contrasts with the solitary deities (hitorigami) , who, as explained above, concealed their bodies (mi o kakusu 隠身). Izanaki and Izanami represent the fully realized form of the paired deities with bodies and as such succeed in the following passage in carrying out the command (mikoto mochi 命以) of the celestial deities.(31) Notes (1)Kojiki-den 古事記伝, ed. Ōno Susumu 大野晋 and Ōkubo Tadashi 大久保正, vols.9-12 of Motoori Norinaga zenshū 本居宣長全集 (Chikuma Shobō 筑摩書房,1968-1974),vol.9,p.144. (2)Ibid,p.144. (3)Kanda Hideo 神田秀夫 and Ōta Yoshimaro 太田善麿, eds.,Kojiki 古事記, Nihon koten zensho 日本古典全書 (Asahi Shinbunsha 朝日新聞社, 1962),p.174 n14. (4）Kurano Kenji 倉野憲司, Kojiki zenchūshaku 古事記全註釈,7 vols. (Sanseidō 三省堂,1973-1980),vol.2,pp.56-57. (5)Saigō Nobutsuna 西郷信綱, Kojiki chūshaku 古事記注釈, 4 vols. (Heibonsha 平凡社, 1975-1989), vol.1,p.87. (6)Yamaguchi Yoshinori 山口佳紀 and Kōnoshi Takamitsu 神野志隆光, eds., Kojiki 古事記, vol.1 of Shinpen Nihon koten bungaku zenshū 新編日本古典文学全集 (Shōgakukan 小学館,1997),p.29. (7)Nakamura Hirotoshi 中村啓信, ed., Shinpan Kojiki 新版古事記 (Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan 角川学芸出版, 2009),p.23. (8)Komatsu Hideo 小松英雄, Kokugo shigaku kisoron 国語史学基礎論 (Kasama Shoin,1973),pp.155-60. See also “Studies on the Kojiki,” Kojiki-gaku 古事記学, vol.3(2017),pp.303-304. (9)Yamada Yoshio 山田孝雄, ed., Kojiki jōkan kōgi 古事記上巻講義 (Shiogamachō 塩竈町: Shibahiko Jinja Shiogama Jinja Kojiki Kenkyūkai 志波彦神社塩竈神社古事記研究会,1940),p.70. (10)Kōnoshi Takamitsu 神野志隆光, Yamaguchi Yoshinori 山口佳紀, eds. Kojiki 古事記, Shinpen Nihon koten bungaku zenshū 新編日本古典文学全集 (Shōgakukan 小学館,1994), vol.1,p.29 n16. (11)埿土煑尊〔埿土、此をば干毘尼と云ふ。〕沙土煑尊。〔沙土、此をば須毘尼 と云ふ。 〕 . Kojima Noriyuki 小島憲之 et al., eds. Nihon shoki 日本書紀, vols.2-4 of Shinpen Nihon koten bungaku zenshū (Shōgakukan 小学館,1994-1998), vol.2, p.23. (12)Kōnoshi Takamitsu 神野志隆光 and Yamaguchi Yoshinori 山口佳紀,Kojiki chūkai 古事記注解 (Kasama Shoin 笠間書院,1993), vol.2, p.47. (13)Nishimiya Kazutami 西宮一民, ed. Kojiki shūteiban 古事記修訂版 (Ōfū おうふう,2000), pp.15,34 n1. (14)Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi, Kojiki chūkai, vol.2, pp.47-48. (15)Saigō, Kojiki chūshaku,vol.1, p.90. (16)Nishimiya Kazutami, “Saigō Nobutsuna cho ‘Kojiki chūshaku dai ikkan 西郷信綱著「古事記注釈第一巻」, Bungaku 文学, vol.44-2 (1976), pp. 273-80. (17)Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKZ 1, p. 29; Ogihara, Kojiki, Jōdai kayō, NKBZ 1, p. 31n18. (18)Tsugita, Kojiki shinkō, pp. 25–26. (19)Shikida, Kojiki hyōchū, vol.3, folio 5 recto. (20)Kurano and Takeda,Kojiki,Norito, NKBT 1, p. 51nn23 and 24. (21)Ogihara,Kojiki, Jōdai kayō, NKBZ 1, p. 31n19. (22)Kōnoshi and Yamaguchi,Kojiki chūkai, vol. 2, pp. 48–49. (23)See Kojima et al.,Nihon shoki, SNKZ 2, p. 22n12; Motoori Norinaga,Kojiki den, MNZ 9, pp. 149–50. (24)Nakajima, Kojiki hyōshaku, p. 29; Tsugita, Kojiki shinkō, p. 26. (25)Ozaki, Kojiki zenkō, p. 30. (26)Kurano, Kojiki zenchūshaku, vol. 2, p. 62; Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi, Kojiki, SNKZ 1, p. 30n3. (27)Kurano, Kojiki zenchūshaku, vol. 2, p. 62. (28)Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi,Kojiki, SNKZ 1, p. 120n1. (29)Taniguchi, “‘Kojiki’ jōkan, Izumo kei keifu kisai no igi”, pp. 198–203. (30)See the interpretations given in Yamaguchi and Kōnoshi,Kojiki, SNKZ 1, p. 286n1 and 121n10. (31)Regarding “solitary deity” and the implications of “conceal their bodies,” see Kojiki gaku 3 （2017）, pp. 298–300; Taniguchi, “Kojiki shinwa no mi o kangaeru,” pp. 78–79.