Yatagarasu is a three-legged crow in Japanese mythology that guided Emperor Jimmu's company from Kumano to Yamato during his eastern campaign. Said to have been dispatched as a divine messenger by Amaterasu (or Takagi-no-Kami), the crow has been revered as a symbol of "guidance" and "opening the way." In later tradition it is also said to be the incarnation of Kamotaketsunumi-no-Mikoto, the ancestral deity of the Kamo clan.
| Divine role | Divine messenger (shinshi) and a numinous bird of guidance. Also regarded as an incarnation of the sun. |
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| Form | A large three-legged crow. "Yata" means "large and broad." |
| Gender | Has no clearly defined gender (existing as a divine messenger and sacred bird). |
| Dispatching deity | In the Nihon Shoki, Amaterasu; in the Kojiki, Takagi-no-Kami (Takamimusubi). |
| Identified with | Kamotaketsunumi-no-Mikoto, the ancestral deity of the Kamo clan, who is said to have taken the form of Yatagarasu. |
| Related parentage | Through Kamotaketsunumi-no-Mikoto, the line continues to his daughter Tamayori-hime-no-Mikoto and his grandson Kamowakeikazuchi-no-Mikoto (enshrined deity of Kamigamo Shrine). |
| Sources | The Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki (the chapters on Jimmu's eastern campaign). |
| Blessings | Guidance, opening the way, victory, traffic safety, protection against unlucky directions, and more. |
| Major shrines | Yatagarasu Shrine (Uda, Nara); the Kumano Sanzan (Kumano Hongu Taisha, Hayatama Taisha, Nachi Taisha); Kamo-mioya Shrine, i.e. Shimogamo Shrine (Kyoto). |
Having set out from Hyuga, the company of Kamuyamato-Iwarebiko-no-Mikoto (the future Emperor Jimmu) was struck down in Kumano by the venomous breath of a wild deity and lost their way in the mountains. It was then that Yatagarasu was sent from heaven. In the Nihon Shoki, Amaterasu appears in Jimmu's dream and announces that she will send the crow; in the Kojiki, Takagi-no-Kami (Takamimusubi) conveys the divine will to Takakuraji and sets the crow as a guide. Yatagarasu led the way along the rugged mountain paths and brought the company safely to the land of Yamato. The difference between the texts as to which deity sent the crow is well known as one of the principal variant accounts of the Yatagarasu tradition.
Yatagarasu is depicted with three legs. These three legs are generally interpreted as representing the three powers of "heaven, earth, and humanity," and, linked to solar worship, the bird is described as a "numinous creature dwelling within the sun." It is thought that the ancient Chinese notion of the three-legged crow (sansoku-u) inhabiting the sun merged with Japanese crow worship. The image symbolizes how the crow was regarded not as an ordinary bird but as a sacred divine messenger conveying the will of heaven to the earthly realm.
The Yatagarasu tradition was originally handed down among the local clans of the Uda region in Yamato, but from the eighth century onward, as the Kamo-no-Agatanushi of Yamashiro (Kyoto) rose to prominence, it came to be told that Kamotaketsunumi-no-Mikoto, the ancestral deity of the Kamo clan, had taken the form of Yatagarasu to guide Emperor Jimmu. Kamotaketsunumi-no-Mikoto is held to belong to the lineage of Kamumusubi, and the line continuing through his daughter Tamayori-hime-no-Mikoto and his grandson Kamowakeikazuchi-no-Mikoto forms the core of the faith of the two Kyoto shrines, Kamigamo and Shimogamo.
Yatagarasu is not a protagonist deity who rules a land or wages war, but a "divine messenger of guidance" who points out the path to be taken. Appearing before those who have lost their direction amid confusion and darkness, it leads them onto the right course. This character overlaps with the figure of an observer who, rather than asserting loudly, perceives the essence of things and quietly illuminates the way. It is also notable that the crow—a bird often regarded as ominous—is told of as a sacred guide, making it a being that symbolizes "an eye that sees through things from outside conventional wisdom." The three legs indicate its role as a mediator linking heaven, earth, and humanity, lending it the character of a bridge between different worlds.
The earliest recorded enshrinement of Yatagarasu as a deity is said to be at Yatagarasu Shrine in Uda, Nara Prefecture; the Shoku Nihongi records that a Yatagarasu shrine was venerated in the second year of Keiun (705), under Emperor Monmu. At the Kumano Sanzan on the Kii Peninsula (Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha), Yatagarasu is fervently revered as the divine messenger of the great Kumano deities and is widely used as a symbol of Kumano on shrine banners and amulets. Kamo-mioya Shrine (Shimogamo Shrine) in Kyoto enshrines Kamotaketsunumi-no-Mikoto, regarded as the incarnation of Yatagarasu. As a symbol of "guidance" and "victory," the three-legged crow has also been adopted as the emblem of Japan's national soccer team, keeping it familiar in the present day.
AmaterasuThe sun goddess who, in the Nihon Shoki, dispatched Yatagarasu to Emperor Jimmu.
SarutahikoThe deity who guided the heavenly descent. Overlaps with Yatagarasu in the role of "guide."
TsukuyomiA deity who quietly observes the scene. Resonates in the character of observation and contemplation.
OmoikaneA deity who determines the course through wisdom. Close in the sense of an eye that perceives the essence.