Ukemochi and picking a gods' gender
When choosing for any god, I look at all the research I can before picking and choosing what works best for both me and my readers.
There are many many Shinto gods, moreso than I ever imagined, and every time I do research I learn of even more. The last website I looked into listed 120! And so with a whole list of gods to choose from, and also so many variations between different legends and books, how did I pick?
Beneath Tsukuyomi was easy enough, as when I was planning out the story I needed a connection with the moon, so I just went and did research in the moon god. There wasn’t a lot of information I found to begin with, so I kept him simple. Male god and one who prefers to work and be alone.
Then along came Survival. I wanted to follow on from the threads I put in Beneath Tsukuyomi and build on it. And of course I needed to know where Tsukuyomi was, and if he was ignoring Hotaka or couldn’t answer him. This lead me to bringing in a new god, and with my research I found a wonderful story about Ukemochi preparing a feast, and how it was brought forth disgusted Tsukuyomi so much, he killed them. And I absolutely love legends such as these as I find them fascinating and endearing in a wild way. So I had to use that. Therefore Ukemochi became my antagonist. Now just like Tsukuyomi, there isn’t a lot of information on Ukemochi either, and to make it harder, not everyone agrees on if Ukemochi is a god or goddess.
In Japanese the word for a god/dess is kami and it’s a neutral word. Ukemochi’s full title is 保食神 Ukemochi-no-kami (translation: "Goddess Who Protects Food") but the translation could easily also be god who protects food. To make things harder, Ukemochi goes by another name, although there are theories they aren’t the same person. The second name is Ōgetsu-hime (大宜都比売神/ / Ohogetsu-hime-no-kami), and the hime-no-kami is what makes the distinction here as it means goddess. Ōgetsu-hime is also married to another agriculture god named Hayamato, whereas Ukemochi is told to me married to Inari.
So I had the choice on which to pick, and I decided to go with female presenting, but with gender neutral pronouns (they/them) both to represent what I’d learnt and to add more queer representation. Alongside this, I picked Ukemochi by themselves, not a combination of Ukemochi and Ōgetsu-hime, to try and simplify things. Also, it felt like if I was to ever have them in the same scene, it’d be easier having two different pronouns, as two of the same can get so tricky!
Concerning Inari, Ukemochi in some legends is the wife of Inari, and in others they are Inari. This is one of the problems with mythologies, there is so much overlap and change dependant on so many things such as locations, time, and where it was written. And for my readers I need it to be super clear who is who and to make sure each character is different from the next. Therefore to keep them distinct, I kept away from mentioning Inari in Survival so readers could focus on one new kami.
In later stories I brought in Inari, as she was hard to keep away from. The more I read about her, the more I had to include her. For her presentation, I decided to go with part of what she is goddess of and bring that into her personality.
Inari Ōkami (稲荷大神), also called Ō-Inari (大稲荷) or simply Inari, is goddess of foxes, fertility, agriculture (including rice, tea, and sake), industry, and general prosperity. She is also a patron of blacksmiths, swordsmiths, merchants and warriors. Just like Ukemochi, Inari is represented both as female and male. I chose female presenting, and she/her pronouns, as I imagined her in extravagant kimono, her whole look oozing prosperity and good fortune, but not in a negative way. To me, Inari has all this wealth and wants to share it, wants to bless everyone, and is not selfish at all.
Susanoo (Susanoo-no-Mikoto 須佐之男命) is another god who I brought into my stories, known for his violent outbursts and quick temper. I wanted to show his uncertain side, alongside the acts he is known for. He, alongside the other gods Fuujin and Raijin, are always shown as male, so choosing their presentation was easy enough.
When choosing for any god, I look at all the research I can before picking and choosing what works best for both me and my readers. Sometimes it works out well too, such as when I was working out Tsukuyomi’s personality I made him proud and strong. Later on I stumbled over some new information I hadn’t found before and that worked well with what I’d picked, and I also found out he was a brother-husband to Amaterasu too. It’s very common in mythologies for incestuous relationships, however I think it is one I’ll leave behind as at least for my stories, it doesn’t add anything much.
Hopefully, those who know more about the Shinto gods will enjoy the choices I have made, and those who don’t enjoy the gods I have carefully crafted. I’m having so much fun with each of them, and their godly antics.