=Take-mika-dzuchi and Futsunushi=.--There is much confusion as to the character and functions of these two deities. They are associated in myth and in worship.[126] Their two oldest shrines at Kashima and Kadori are close to one another, and they are worshipped together at Kasuga and other places. Indeed Hirata argues that they are one and the same deity. He points out that Futsunushi is not mentioned in the _Kojiki_ story of the pacification of Japan in preparation for the advent of Ninigi, and that the same authority gives Toyo-futsu no Kami and Take-futsu no Kami as alternative names of Take-mika-dzuchi. On the other hand, the Jimmu legend calls Futsu no mitama,[127] apparently a variant of Futsunushi, the sword of Take-mika-dzuchi, and ascribes a different parentage to these two deities. There are other features in the _Nihongi_ myths which are inconsistent with the theory that they are identical. Take-mika-dzuchi means "brave-dread-father." His name is frequently written with Chinese characters which imply that he is identical with Ika-dzuchi, or the Thunder-God. This is probably correct, although it is to be remembered that Ika-dzuchi had in more ancient times the more general signification "dread father," and is applied to other than thunder deities. In Futsu-nushi the latter element admittedly means "master." But I cannot accept Motoöri's explanation of _futsu_ as an onomatopoetic word expressing the sound made when a thing is cleanly cut or snapped off. The following facts suggest a different derivation:-- 1. The Sun-mirror (_hi-kagami_, which may also mean "fire-mirror") is called in one writing[128] the Ma-futsu no kagami (true-fire-mirror). 2. Ama no hihoko is said to have brought over with him from Korea a _hi-kagami_. 3. _Futsu_ is the regular Japanese phonetic equivalent of the Korean _pul_, "fire." In Furu-no mitama and Furu-musubi (for Ho-musubi) we have an intermediate form between _futsu_ and _pul_. There is a God called Saji-futsu or Satsu-futsu, for which the Korean phonetic equivalent would be _Sal-pul_. This would mean "living fire" (Cicero's "ignis animal"). I have no doubt that Saji-futsu is an _alias_ of Futsu-nushi. 4. Futsunushi was produced from the blood of Kagu-tsuchi, the God of Fire, when the latter was slain by Izanagi. The inference from these data is that Futsunushi is a Fire-God of Korean origin.[129]