In the
Kojiki, the god is known as Takemikazuchi-no-o no kami (建御雷之男神 – "Brave Mighty Thunderbolt Man"). He also bears the alternate names and .
Birth of the gods In the
Kamiumi ("birth of the gods") episodes of the
Kojiki, the god of creation
Izanagi severs the head of the fire deity
Kagu-tsuchi, whereupon the blood from the sword (
Totsuka-no-Tsurugi) splattered the rocks and gave birth to several deities. The blood from the sword-tip engendered one triad of deities, and the blood from near the base of the blade produced another triad that included Takemikazuchi (here given as "Brave-Awful-Possessing-Male-Deity" by Chamberlain). (Accordingly, Takemikazuchi is referred in some passages as the child of Itsu-no-o habari. See
next section). The
Nihon Shoki gives the same episode in the same general gist, albeit more vaguely regarding this deity.
Quelling of the Middle Country depicting Takemikazuchi riding the catfish. Above is a depiction of the kaname-ishi'', the rock used to subdue the fish In the episodes where the gods of the heavenly plains (
Takama-ga-hara) contemplate and execute the conquest of the terrestrial world known as Middle Country (
Ashihara no Nakatsukuni), Takemikazuchi is one of the chief delegates sent down to subjugate the terrestrial deities (
kuni-tsu-kami). In the
Kojiki (Conquest of
Izumo chapter), the heavenly deities
Amaterasu and
Takamusubi decreed that either Takemikazuchi or his father
Itsu-no-ohabari ("Heaven-Point-Blade-Extended") must be sent down for the conquest. Itsu-no-ohabari (who appeared previously as a ten-fist sword) here has the mind and speech of a sentient god, and he volunteered his son Takemikazuchi for the subjugation campaign. Takemikazuchi was accompanied by "Deity Heavenly-Bird-Boat" (which may be a boat as well as being a god) The two deities reached the land of
Izumo at a place called , and stuck a "ten-fist sword" (
Totsuka-no-Tsurugi) upside-down on the crest of the wave, and sat atop it, while demanding the local god
Ōkuninushi to relinquish the Izumo province over to them. Ōkuninushi replied he would defer the decision to his child deities, and would follow suit in their counsel. One of them,
Kotoshironushi or Yae-Kotoshironushi ("Eight-Fold-Thing-Sign-Master") who had been out fishing, was easily persuaded to forfeit his authority and retire into seclusion. The other,
Takeminakata would not concede without testing his feats of strength against Takemikazuchi. When the challenger grabbed Takemikazuchi's hand it turned as if into an icicle and then a sword, making him cringe. Takemikazuchi then grabbed Takeminakata's hand, crushing it like a young reed. The
Nihon Shoki names a different partner for Takemikazuchi in the task of conquering lands of the Middle Country. That partner is his brother
Futsunushi (a god who goes unmentioned in the
Kojiki in the gods' birth episode Just as Takemikazuchi was chief deity of
Kashima Shrine, this Futsunushi was the chief of the
Katori Shrine. In the early centuries, when the Yamato rulers campaigned in the
Kantō and
Tōhoku regions, they would pray to these two war gods for military success, so that subsidiary shrines of the two gods are scattered all over these regions. The wrestling match with Takeminakata is missing. In the end, Ōanamuchi/Ōkuninushi gave sign of his obedience by presenting the broad spear he used to pacify the land with. Appended to the two passages is the mention of a star deity named
Amatsu-Mikaboshi who resisted till the end, and whom Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi were particularly eager to vanquish. The latter passage states that the being who subdued the star god, referred to as is enshrined at Katori, hinting that it might be Futsunushi. However, the earlier passage says a god named was the vanquisher of the star god.
Emperor Jimmu's conquest of the East Takemikazuchi's sword aided
Emperor Jimmu in his subjugation of the east. At
Kumano, the Emperor and his troops were either struck unconscious by the appearance of a bear (
Kojiki) or severely debilitated by the poison fumes spewed out by local gods (
Nihon Shoki). But a man named Takakuraji presented a gift of a sword, the emperor awoke, and without him hardly brandishing this weapon, the evil deities of Kumano were spontaneously cut down. When Jimmu inquired, Takakuraji explained that he had a vision in a dream where the supreme deities
Amaterasu and
Takamusubi were about to command Takemikazuchi to descend to earth once again to pacify the lands, this time to assist the emperor. However, Takemizuchi replied that it would be sufficient to send down the sword he used during his campaigns, and, boring a hole through Takakuraji's storehouse, deposited the sword, bidding the man to present it to Emperor Jimmu. That sword bore the names of , , and . This sword is the main dedication (
goshintai) kept at
Isonokami Shrine. ==Commentary==