Japanese Mythology · deity

Kushinada-hime

櫛名田比卖

also: Kushiinadahime · Kushinada-hime

deitythe rescued brideIzumo

The last daughter of the family whose daughters were devoured by Yamata-no-Orochi; rescued and married by Susanoo after he slays the serpent.

Susanoo rescues Kushinada-hime · Toyohara Chikanobu · 1886 · Wikimedia Commons (institution in source file) · Public domain

The account

Who they are

Kushinada-hime ('Comb-Field Princess') is the last of the eight daughters of the family in Izumo whose older sisters had been devoured by the eight-headed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi [S1]. Susanoo, on his way down to the earthly realm, learns of her impending fate, turns himself into a hair-comb, and has her wear it; when the serpent comes for her, he slays it and rescues her, and they marry [S1]. She is thus the 'rescued bride' of the Orochi myth, a figure of deliverance from the monster [S1][S2].

Worth knowing

Last of the eight daughters threatened by Yamata-no-Orochi [S1].
Rescued and married by Susanoo after he slays the serpent [S1].

Uncertainties & variants

The family's identity (the 'parents' and their lineage) and some details of the rescue differ between the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki [S1][S2].

Relationships (2)

Connections

Partners

PARTNER_OFSusanoo — Susanoo marries the rescued Kushinada-hime.[S1] [S2]

PARTNER_OFSusanoo — Kushinada-hime marries Susanoo (symmetric).[S1] [S2]

Local graph

Their corner of the divine world

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hierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side

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Myths featuring Kushinada-hime

1 story

Susanoo Slayes Yamata-no-Orochi

On his way down from the banished heaven to the earthly realm (Izumo), Susanoo meets the weeping parents of a family whose daughters are being devoured by the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi; seven of the eight daughters have already been eaten, and the last, Kushinada-hime, is next [S1]. Susanoo asks for her hand, turns himself into a hair-comb, and has her wear it in her hair [S1]. He prepares eight vats of sweetened sake and sets out eight cutting-stations; when the serpent drinks and comes to drink, Susanoo slays it, and in its tail he finds the sword Kusanagi (Ame-murakumo-no-tsurugi) [S1]. He rescues Kushinada-hime and marries her [S1]. This is the archetypal Japanese monster-slaying myth and the origin of the sacred sword Kusanagi [S1][S2].

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