Amatsu-Mikaboshi (天津甕星), also called Ame-no-Kagaseo (天香香背男) or Hoshi-no-Kami Kagaseo (星神香香背男), is a god of stars who appears in Japanese mythology. No reference to Mikaboshi is made in the Kojiki; however, he plays a minor role in the Nihon Shoki as a deity insubordinate to the amatsukami during the latter's subjugation of the land.
Name The deity is referred to as both Ama-tsu-mika-hoshi (天津甕星; "August Star of Heaven" or "Dread Star of Heaven") and Ama-no-kagase-o (天香香背男; "Brilliant Male of Heaven" or "Scarecrow Male of Heaven") in the Nihon Shoki. With the name Kagaseo theorized to come from the word kagayaku (輝く; "to shine").
Furthermore, the component mika (written using the kanji 甕; "earthenware pot"), from Mikaboshi, is interpreted as being derived from ika (厳; "imposing" or "austere"), which prompted the kokugaku scholar Hirata Atsutane to identify Amatsu-Mikaboshi with the planet Venus.
Mythology
In the Nihon Shoki, during the amatsukami's conquest of the Central Land of Reed-Plains, Mikaboshi (referred to as Kagaseo) is mentioned in passing as a rebellious kunitsukami who is subdued by at the behest of Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi:
A second account provided in the Nihon Shoki instead presents Mikaboshi as an amatsukami, who is slain by Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi before their descent to earth:
These are virtually the only passages in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki that deal with a kami of stars, and, uniquely, present the deity as antagonistic towards the amatsukami. Worship The in Hitachi (Ibaraki Prefecture) enshrines Mikaboshi-Kagaseo (甕星香々背男) as a jinushigami alongside Takehazuchi-no-Mikoto (武葉槌命). Additionally, a "spirit-housing stone" (宿魂石, Shukukonseki) within the shrine's precincts is believed to contain Mikaboshi's ara-mitama.
Mikaboshi is also enshrined at various (星神社; "star shrine") and (星宮神社; "star palace shrine") throughout Japan.
In popular culture Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the Chaos King, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The Mikaboshi (箕加星) are an ancient fictional sorcery clan appearing in Kagurabachi published by Weekly Shonen Jump.
See also Futsunushi Kuni-yuzuri List of Japanese deities Takemikazuchi
References
Bibliography