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Ebisu (mythology)


Ebisu (恵比須, 恵比寿, 夷, 戎?), also transliterated Yebisu (ゑびす?, see historical kana orthography) or called Hiruko (蛭子?) or Kotoshiro-nushi-no-kami (事代主神?), is the Japanese god of fishermen and luck. He is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune (七福神 Shichifukujin?), and the only one of the seven to originate purely from Japan without any Hindu or Chinese influence.

In medieval times, Ebisu's origin came to be tied together with that of Hiruko - the first child of Izanagi and Izanami, born without bones (or, in some stories, without arms and legs) due to his mother's transgression during the marriage ritual. Hiruko struggled to survive but, as he could not stand, he was cast to the sea in a boat of reeds before his third birthday. The story tells that Hiruko eventually washed ashore—possibly in Ezo (蝦夷?, ancient Hokkaidō)—and was cared for by the Ainu Ebisu Saburo (戎三郎?). It is however believed that Ebisu first arose as a god among fishermen, and that his origin as Hiruko was a much later conception, after the worship of him had spread to merchants and others. It is also theorized that he was originally a god known as "Kotoronushi no Mikoto", son of Ōkuninushi.


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