Umisachi and Yamasachi is a Japanese myth about two brothers: the elder, Umisachi-hiko, skilled in fishing, and the younger, Yamasachi-hiko, skilled in hunting. After losing his brother's fishhook, Yamasachi-hiko visits the palace of the sea god Watatsumi, weds his daughter Toyotama-hime, and obtains the fishhook along with two jewels that command the tides. Returning to the land, he subdues his brother. Their descendants lead to Emperor Jimmu, said to be the first emperor, making this tale a core part of the "Himuka myths" that recount the origins of the imperial house.
| Category | Japanese mythology / Himuka myths (the story following the descent of the heavenly grandson) |
|---|---|
| Principal sources | Kojiki, Vol. 1 / Nihon Shoki, Age of the Gods (Part 2) |
| Main setting | The shores of Himuka (Miyazaki and Kagoshima) and the palace of the sea god Watatsumi (an undersea palace) |
| Main deities | Yamasachi-hiko (Hoori), Umisachi-hiko (Hoderi), Watatsumi, Toyotama-hime, Tamayori-hime |
| Key objects | The fishhook; the tide-raising jewel (shiomitsutama) and the tide-ebbing jewel (shiofurutama) |
| Genealogical significance | Yamasachi-hiko is said to be the grandfather of Emperor Jimmu |
The children of the heavenly grandson Ninigi and Konohanasakuya-hime included the elder brother Hoderi (Umisachi-hiko, "the luck of the sea") and the younger brother Hoori (Yamasachi-hiko, "the luck of the mountains"). Umisachi-hiko excelled at catching fish in the sea, while Yamasachi-hiko excelled at hunting game in the mountains. One day Yamasachi-hiko proposed that they trade their tools, and after persuading his reluctant brother, he borrowed the fishhook. Not only did he fail to catch a single fish, but he lost the precious fishhook in the sea. Yamasachi-hiko broke down his own sword to forge many new hooks in recompense, but his brother would accept nothing but the original and reproached him harshly. Note that the texts differ in names and details: the Kojiki records the elder brother as Hoderi, while the Nihon Shoki calls him Hosuseri.
As Yamasachi-hiko stood at a loss, Shiotsuchi-no-Oji, the deity who governs the tideways, appeared and instructed him to go to the palace of the sea god Watatsumi. Guided there, Yamasachi-hiko reached a magnificent palace beneath the sea, where he met Toyotama-hime, the sea god's daughter, who had come to draw water, as he sat in a tree beside a well. The two were instantly drawn to each other, and with Watatsumi's blessing they were wed. Yamasachi-hiko spent three years in the palace, but eventually he remembered the purpose for which he had come. When Watatsumi gathered the fish and questioned them, the lost fishhook was found in the mouth of a sea bream that had been suffering with something caught in its throat.
When returning the fishhook, Watatsumi gave Yamasachi-hiko two jewels: the tide-raising jewel (shiomitsutama), which makes the tide flood, and the tide-ebbing jewel (shiofurutama), which makes it recede. He further taught Yamasachi-hiko to recite a curse as he returned the hook to his brother, and to use the jewels to command the tides and chastise his brother should he attack. Once back on land, Yamasachi-hiko did exactly as instructed. His brother Umisachi-hiko grew steadily poorer and at last attacked the younger brother. Yamasachi-hiko raised the tide with the tide-raising jewel to drown him, then saved him with the tide-ebbing jewel, repeating this until Umisachi-hiko surrendered and vowed to serve his younger brother forever as his guardian.
In time, the pregnant Toyotama-hime came to the land, saying that a child of the sea should be born on the shore, and she built a birthing hut thatched with cormorant feathers. She asked Yamasachi-hiko not to look upon her as she gave birth, but when he peeked, he saw his wife giving birth in the form of a giant wani (a sea creature; a dragon in the Nihon Shoki). Ashamed that her true form had been seen, Toyotama-hime returned to the sea in shame, and the two parted. Because the child was born before the thatching of the birthing hut was finished, he was named Ugayafukiaezu. Later, this child was wed to Tamayori-hime, Toyotama-hime's younger sister, who had been sent to raise him, and one of their children was Emperor Jimmu, said to be the first emperor. In this way Yamasachi-hiko is counted among the ancestral deities of the imperial house.
WatatsumiThe deity who governs the sea. Lord of the undersea palace, he weds his daughter Toyotama-hime to Yamasachi-hiko and grants him the fishhook along with the two tide jewels.
KonohanasakuyaSaid to be the mother of Yamasachi-hiko and Umisachi-hiko, and the consort of Ninigi. Konohanasakuya-hime.
OyamatsumiThe deity of the mountains. Father of Konohanasakuya-hime, making him the maternal grandfather of the two brothers.