Ame-no-Nuboko

Common card · No. 425863

Ame-no-Nuboko (天沼矛 or 天之瓊矛 or 天瓊戈; "heavenly jewel-spear"), also known simply by the Kan-on reading Tenkei (天瓊; "heavenly jewel"), is the name given to the hoko (lance) used to raise the primordial land-mass, Onogoro Island, from the sea in Japanese religion. It is often represented as a naginata. According to the Kojiki, the gods of creation Izanagi and Izanami were responsible for the kuniumi (creation of land). To achieve this, they received a spear decorated with magatama (curved gems) from the older heavenly gods. The two deities then went to the bridge between heaven and earth, Ame-no-ukihashi, and churned the sea below with the spear. When drops of salty water fell from the tip, they formed into the first island, Onogoro. Izanagi and Izanami then descended from the bridge of heaven and made their home on the island. Yamato Katsuragi Hozan-ki (大和葛城宝山記), a work of Shugendō, explains that the Ame-no-Nuboko is a mystical object generated at the time of the creation of heaven and earth...

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