Ta-no-Kami

Key takeaways

Ta-no-Kami belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ta-no-Kami to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ta-no-Kami from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ta-no-Kami (田の神) is a kami who is believed to observe the harvest of rice plants or to bring a good harvest, by Japanese farmers. Ta in Japanese means "rice fields". Ta-no-Kami is also called Noushin (kami of agriculture) or kami of peasants. Ta-no-Kami shares the kami of corn, the kami of water and the kami of defense, especially the kami of agriculture associated with mountain faith and veneration of the dead (faith in the sorei). Ta-no-Kami in Kagoshima Prefecture and parts of Miyazaki Prefecture is unique; farmers pray before Ta-no-Kami stone statues in their communities.

Agricultural kami In Japan, there are agricultural deities or kami. In the Japanese documents, Nihon Shoki and Kojiki, there were kami of rice plants, Ukano Mitama, Toyouke Bimeno Kami, and kami of corn, Ootoshino Kami. Of them, Toyouke Bimeno Kami was written also in Engishiki, and is considered to be a female kami. Generally speaking, in the Tohoku area of Japan, agriculture-related kami is Nougami (agriculture kami), in the Koshin area, it is Saku Gami, in the Kinki area, it is Tsukuri Gami, in the Tajima and Inaba areas, it is kami of 亥(i),(On the day of i, the fields are struck; which is considered to give peace on the harvest ground). In the Chugoku and Shikoku areas, it is Sanbai Sama, in Setonaikai, it is the local kami. In Eastern Japan it is associated with the Ebisu faith, and in Western Japan it is associated with the Daikoku faith.

Festivals or ceremonies

According to their agricultural calendars, farmers observe kami ceremonies related to Ta-no-Kami in the spring and autumn. These include the ceremony of the beginning of a year, beginning of farming in early spring, the start of rice plant farming, rice plant transplantation (accepting kami at the start of transplantation, called Saori) (sending kami at the end is called Sanaburi) and harvest time. They also pray for the elimination of disasters or harmful insects. Finally, they conduct the ceremony of thanking kami for a good harvest, The real ceremonies and their names differ from place to place, although dancing, eating a special dish or rice cakes, or visits to the community kami, and burning ceremonies are some of them. Scarecrows are variations of Ta-no-Kami, since they are expected to prevent bad spirits of animals and birds. Niinamesai is one of the festivals of the Japanese Imperial family, the eating of freshly harvested rice with kami, a variation of the festivals of Ta-no-Kami. Previously it had been a national holiday.

Fox and inari shrine

In many parts of Japan, there are Kitsune tsuka (small fox shrine); the fox was considered to be a messenger of Ta-no-Kami. Inari Shrines originated from Kitsune tsuka, and faith in Inari Shrines spread throughout Japan.

Ta-no-Kami of Kagoshima and Miyazaki Prefectures In almost all areas of Japan, the real picture of Ta-no-Kami remains unclear, with the single exception of Tanokansaa in Kagoshima Prefecture and parts of Miyazaki Prefecture. Tanokansaa is the dialect of Ta-no-Kami in these prefectures. In their communities, peasants place Tanokansaa stone statues, either of the buddha type and shinto priest type (with or without a mace), or of the peasant type (with or without a pestle). It was started in the 18th century in the Satsuma han. In Miyazaki Prefecture, Ta-no-Kami is seen only in areas governed by Satsuma han. After the meiji era, this custom spread in accordance with the movements of its inhabitants.

Folklore Saotome (早乙女), or rice planting women, played a religious role in ancient times, rice growing was considered a religious act, and there were many taboos that had to be observed. The inadama was the spirit of the rice plant. Since World War 2 rice planting has become mechanized.　

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ta-no-Kami

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ta-no-Kami claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ta-no-Kami before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ta-no-Kami ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ta-no-Kami

In research: Ta-no-Kami appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ta-no-Kami in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ta-no-Kami is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Agricultural deities, Culture in Kagoshima Prefecture, Culture in Miyazaki Prefecture, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ta-no-Kami outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Ta-no-Kami in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ta-no-Kami means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ta-no-Kami out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ta-no-Kami in simple terms?

Ta-no-Kami (田の神) is a kami who is believed to observe the harvest of rice plants or to bring a good harvest, by Japanese farmers. Ta in Japanese means "rice fields".

Why does Ta-no-Kami matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ta-no-Kami?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ta-no-Kami.