Futsunushi

A warrior god in Yamato mythology, also known under the epithet Katori Daimyōjin after his shrine Katori Jingū, he is often revered alongside Takemikazuchi (the god of Kashima Shrine), with whom he is closely associated. He is regarded as a legendary ancestor of the Mononobe clan, and like Takemikazuchi is one of the tutelary deities of the Fujiwara clan.

Divine Domains

• Travel [Exploration]
• War [Duels, Tactics]

Favored Weapon

Any Sword-type weapon

Tenets of Faith

Futsunushi's priests are forbidden from using any weapon that isn't classified as some sort of sword (such as katana, longswords, or falchion), dagger, or crossbow. The vast majority of his priests are neutral, for those with adherence to any other alignment are seen as having no regard for his teachings.
Priests of Futsunushi practice their sword skills assiduously and spend much of their time teaching others. They work to support the cosmic Balance, making temporary alliances with groups of every alignment and breaking the alliances when they are no longer perceived as being needed.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Both Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi are closely associated with the 'transfer of the land' (kuni-yuzuri) myth cycle, which relates how the deities of Takamagahara (the 'Plain of High Heaven') sent various messengers down to earth, to Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni (the 'Central Land of Reed-Plains,'), in order to demand that its inhabitants submit to their rule.

The main narrative of the second volume of the Nihon Shoki relates that after the failure of the earlier messengers, Ame-no-Hohi and Ame-no-Wakahiko, to perform their mission, the gods of heaven headed by the primordial deity Takamimusubi decide to send Futsunushi, the son of Iwatsutsuno'o and Iwatsutsunome, as their new emissary. Hearing this, the god Takemikazuchi - here identified as the son of Hihayahi - indignantly protests that he is also a stalwart warrior like Futsunushi; the gods then agreed to assign him as Futsunushi's companion. The two then make their way to the shores of Itasa in the land of Izumo, demanding that the earthly deity Ōkuninushi, the ruler of Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, relinquish his authority. At the counsel of his son, Kotoshironushi, Ōnamuchi agrees to cede the land and withdraws into invisibility. After this, Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi proceeded to slay all those who refused to submit to them. A variant account adds that the two finally dispatched the god of weaving, Takehazuchi-no-Mikoto, to subdue the last remaining rebel, the star god Kagaseo. With all resistance gone, the two gods went back to heaven to report the success of their mission.

Divine Classification

Okami

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Katori Daimyōjin