is a Japanese deity (kami) of physical strength who appears in Japanese mythology. Ame-no-tajikarao is written as 天æÂÂÃ¥ÂÂç·祠in Kojiki, and 天æÂÂÃ¥ÂÂéÂÂ祠in Nihon Shoki. Tajikarao's name means sky-hand-power-male.
Another name is Oosugutama-no-mikoto or Takuzutama-no-mikoto (å¤Âä¹ è±ÂéÂÂå½), as Ama-no-Iwatowake-no-kami (天ç³éÂÂå¥ç¥Â) other names is Ookuzutama-no-mikoto (大å½æ ÂçÂÂå½) and Tachikarao-mikoto (大åÂÂè¾ÂéÂÂå½).
At the event of Ama-no-Iwato (天岩æ¸, literally "heavenly rock cave"), Ame-no-tajikarao waited at the cave's door to pull out (in the Nihon Shoki and the Kogo Shà «i, 'to pull open') Amaterasu (天砧) from the cave, and thus return light to the world.
During the Tenson kà Ârin, Amaterasu had Omoikane, Ame-no-tajikarao, and Ama-no-iwato-wake-no-kami accompany the Imperial Regalia of Japan when it went to the Ise province to be enshrined at Ise Grand Shrine.
In the genealogy of Mochizuki (æÂÂæÂÂæ°Â) clan, he is the grandson of deity Kamimusubi (ç¥Âç£巣æÂÂ¥) and the ancestor of a clan of the ancient kingdom of Ki-no-kuni-miyatsuko (ç´Âå½é ), which is modern-day Wakayama Prefecture, which in the Shinsen Shà Âjiroku (æ°æ°å§Âæ°Âé², "New Selection and Record of Hereditary Titles and Family Names").
However, in another genealogical text, Ame-no-Tajikarao appears to be the child of Ame-Yagokoro-Omoikane-no-mikoto (天堫æÂÂæÂÂå ¼å½ - another name of the deity Omoikane (æÂÂå ¼ or æÂÂéÂÂ), which is the honored distant ancestor of the Achinohà Âri clan. Although in relation to this clan, inscribed in another text, the child of the deity Omoikane, Ame-no-Uwaharu-no-mikoto (天表æÂ¥å½), the name of Ame-no-Tajikarao is nowhere to be seen in the genealogy tree.
His own Shinto priests think he was originally a protector of agriculture (maybe because he brought back sunlight to the world, or maybe because peasants need fitness to work in the fields). Strangely, this god is often in association with Sugawara no Michizane, as the god Tenjin.
The name Ame-no-tajikarao carries the connotation of a male god with extreme and surmounting physical brute strength. The Japanese company, Tachikara, which specializes in sports equipment, is named after the god, because he is "known historically as the 'god of power' in Japanese folklore."
Ame-no-tajikaro is believed to be a god of sports and physical power, and is enshrined at shrines associated:
At the Togakushi Shrine there's a legend that says that the cave door that Ame-no-tajikarao threw away landed on Togakushi mountain (æ¸é 山) in Shinano Province (ä¿¡æ¿Âå½).