=Ohonamochi.=—One of Susa no wo’s children was an Earth-god named Ohonamochi (great-name-possessor), who is at this day a very important deity. The _Kojiki_ relates his adventures at great length. He was badly treated by his eighty elder brothers, but assisted by a hare to whom he had rendered service. He went down to the land of Yomi, where he married the daughter of Susa no wo. Susa no wo imposed tasks upon him which by his wife’s assistance he performed successfully, and ultimately made his escape, taking her with him. The Yomi of this narrative has little that is characteristic of the abode of the Dead. Ohonamochi is frequently referred to as the ‘God who made the land,’ and his various names show that he is an Earth-god. He was assisted in reducing the country to order by his own _mitama_ or double, and by a dwarf-god called Sukuna-bikona, who came from beyond the sea and is credited with having instructed mankind in the arts of medicine and brewing. Ohonamochi had a numerous progeny by various mothers. Among them were the Harvest-god and the Food-goddess. The _Kojiki_ gives a genealogy of them and their descendants, most of whom are wholly unknown to us. =Ninigi.=—Meanwhile the Sun-Goddess became desirous of establishing the rule of her own grandchild Ninigi, son of Masaya a katsu, in Japan. After several fruitless attempts to prepare the country for his reception by purging it of the swarms of evil deities which infested it, two gods named Take-mika-tsuchi (Thunder?) and Futsunushi (Fire?) were sent to summon Ohonamochi to yield over his authority. After some demur he did so, and Ninigi was accordingly despatched to earth, accompanied by a long train of attendants who provide further material for the genealogists. They descended on a mountain in Kiushiu. Here Ninigi took to wife a Mountain-god’s daughter, named Konohana Sakuya-hime (the lady who blossoms like the flowers of the trees), rejecting as too ugly her elder sister Iha-naga-hime (the rock-long-lady). The latter, indignant at this slight, uttered a curse:—‘The race of visible men shall change swiftly like the flowers of the trees, and shall decay and pass away.’ Hence the shortness of human life. By Konohana Ninigi had three children. The eldest, Ho no Susori, became a fisherman, the second son, Hohodemi, a hunter. Ho no Susori once proposed to his brother to exchange their respective callings. Hohodemi accordingly gave over to his elder brother his bow and arrows and received a fish-hook in return. But neither of them profited by the exchange, so Ho no Susori gave back to his brother the bow and arrows and demanded from him the fish-hook.