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singular-yike · 1 year ago

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Yago Ametsukana (Revisited)

My analysis on Yago Ametsukana was the first post I've ever made here, and while I still think it holds up to scrutiny 100%, I've since found a comfortable format in which to write these, so think it'd be nice to revisit and expand on it~!

And so, here's

A Thousand Blades and a Thousand Arms — Yago Ametsukana

Name: Yago Ametsukana

Given Name: Yago

Their given name, Yago (ヤゴ), is the Japanese word for dragonfly larvae, nymphs and naiads.

This is reinforced by its official Chinese rendering as 水蠆, which is also the Japanese kanji for the word and refers explicitly to the same things.

Family/God Name: Ametsukana

Their family name, Ametsukana (天目津金) is modelled after the names of Shinto deities, like those one would find in the Kojiki or Nihon Shoki, thus it takes a bit to analyse.

This name can be sub-divided into 3 parts:

First is "ame" (天目), the pronunciation along can refer to "the heavens", though further dissecting the name reveals that "a" is assigned specifically to 天, which means "heaven(ly)".

This can be deduced from the fact that "me" is a standard reading of 目, which means "eye". Taken as a whole, "ame" here combines to give "heavenly eye".

Secondly is "tsu" (津), the word literally means "harbour", though its often used in Shinto deity names for its pronunciation alone as an attributive particle, in other words, it means "of".

Finally is "kana" (金), which could mean "gold, metal or money", though considering Yago's occupation and domain likely means "metal"

Putting the three parts together, the name probably means something along the lines of "metal of the heavenly eye".

Curiously, this surname actually seems to be moreso Yago's title as a god rather than their name, as we see Yago invite Sukune to "become the next Ametsukana" in BPoHC.

Mythological Inspiration

Like a good chunk of Len'en characters, Yago is based on Japanese mythology, not just one such figure, but three! Let's quickly go over them here:

Shinto Deity: Ame-no-Mahitotsu-no-Kami

Firstly and most majorly, Yag is based on the Shinto god Ame-no-Mahitotsu-no-Kami (天目一箇神 lit. "Heavenly one-eyed god").

Below: The Usuno Hitotsume Shrine (薄野一目神社), one of the places where Mahitotsu is enshrined. (I couldn't find a traditional depiction of him so have this instead.)

Mahitotsu's Domain & Story

He is a god of metalworking and blacksmithing, of metalworkers and miners, mirrored by Yago's own domain of blacksmithing.

A god closely associated with him is Amatsumara (天津麻羅). He appears in the Kojiki, where he helps forge the mirror Yata no Kagami, used to lure the sun goddess Amaterasu out of hiding.

In fact, in the Kogo Shūi (古語拾遺), Mahitotsu is said to in fact have assumed the identity of Amatsumara during those events, and are thus the selfsame entity.

Perhaps this very event is what lead to Yago's contributions being acknowledged and their subsequent promotion to godhood.

The Hyottoko Mask

Also, Mahitotsu is sometimes said to be the origin of an archetypal character known as the Hyottoko (火男 lit. "fire man"), often acting as a comedic character during shrine festivals and other festivities.

Below: A typical hyottoko mask.

We see Yago themself wear the hyottoko mask on their head, as well as wearing the same headscarf a typical hyottoko mask wears over their eyes.

The 5-7 Paulownia Shrine Crest

As a final note, the most common shrine crest for shrines where Mahitotsu is worshipped is the 5-7 paulownia crest (五七桐紋), named so for the number of flowers on each cluster.

A stylised version of this crest is found in Yago's spell card background as well, no doubt a reference to their irl sites of worship.

Below: One of the layers of Yago's spell card background, featuring the stylised crest (most prominent to the left of Yago's head), with the standard version of the crest in the bottom-left corner.

Youkai: Ippon-datara

Yago is also based on the youkai ippon-datara (一本踏鞴 lit. "one-legged bellows"), who is often times said to in fact be the corrupted form of Mahitotsu after he fell from grace.

Below: An ippon-datara talisman, the specialty of Mastumoto Studio (松本工房), said to protect travellers, especially on mountains.

While tales and descriptions related to the ippon-datara vary greatly from region to region, they all generally agree that it is a fearsome being with a single leg, on which an eye as large as a dish sits.

Varieties aside, it's agreed upon that the "datara" in the name refers to tatara-shi (タタラ師), a type of blacksmith that works with Japan's historical tatara furnaces.

Based on this connection, the origins of the ippon-datara's two most consistent traits can be deduced:

It only has one eye as blacksmiths would've constantly kept one eye on the furnace, leading to its deterioration.

It only has one leg, as the other would've gone bad from working the bellows for so long.

This, by the way, would also be the same reason Mahitotsu is the "one-eyed" god of blacksmithing.

These are referenced in Yago's design as well, their left eye covered by a piece of headscarf and left foot modified to accommodate for how it had "gone bad from an occupational disease".

Shinto Deity: Kanayago-no-Kami

Finally, we come to their last basis, the Shinto goddess Kanayago-no-Kami (金屋子神 lit. "child-god of the metal house").

Right off the bat, we already note the inclusion of "yago" in her name, which is already interesting, but there is of course more~.

Below: A hanging scroll depicting Kanayago.

Kanayago is not the most consistent deity, at least in terms of her character details. She is most often said to be female, but is also occasionally cited as male.

She is sometimes said to be the same as Kanayamahiko-no-Kami (金山彦), or Kanayamahime-no-Kami (金山媛), or even Mahitotsu, all gods of mines and metalworking. Yet is other times simply a god that somehow relates to them, without explicitly being them.

What is consistent about her, is that she is a blacksmith, and is specifically a goddess of tatara furnaces, blacksmithing, fire and iron-making. These of course line up with Yago's domain quite well.

Kanayago is perhaps not as notable compared to Mahitotsu or the Ippon-datara, though I'm fairly sure that a connection exists regardless, if only a faint one.

Who knows? Maybe one day this connection will get expanded upon, and I'll get to tell you more about this goddess. (She's a very fascinating figure indeed, but that falls outside of our scope today.)

Sword: Sugari no Ontachi

Yago's goal in life is to one day make a weapon that's a perfect match for themself, but despite being a master at doing this for others, he simply cannot do so for himself.

Until that day finally comes, he instead uses the "Crested Ibis Sword", Sugari no Ontachi (須賀利御太刀).

Curiously, Yago's Sugari no Ontachi is said to be "the counterpart of another sword from the outside [world], and has lost its original owner and purpose".

We, of course, know nothing about its original owner or purpose, though the first part about it being a "counterpart of a sword from the outside" is indeed notable.

Counterpart Candidate #1: The Sugari no Ontachi

One candidate for this counterpart, is indeed, the Sugari no Ontachi itself.

Below: The real Sugari no Ontachi

That's right, the Sugari no Ontachi is not an original invention by JynX, but actually exists in reality.

The sword is one of the sacred treasures of the Ise Grand Shrine's Inner Shrine, in fact one of the most extravagant and important treasure of the shrine.

JynX titles it the "Crested Ibis Sword" (朱鷺剣) in Yago's spell Crested Ibis Sword "Sugari no Ontachi" because the sword is famous for having two crested ibis feathers decorating its hilt.

Below: A close up of the sword's hilt, showing off the pinkish red feathers of the crested ibis tied to it.

Despite the sword's sacred status, the ones you see in the above image is not actually the original sword.

You see the shrine has a tradition of being taken down and rebuilt every 20 years on an adjacent piece of land under the same exact specifications, based on the idea that new objects have greater divine power.

The Sugari no Ontachi is part of this tradition, ritualistically reforged every 20 years to retain its divine might. This would of course mean that the sword we have now is not the original, perhaps the original lies with Yago still?

Notably, the sword contains elements of its design that are anachronistic to when it should've first been forged, indicating that it must've received a redesign during one of these reforgings.

I do not know whether this should just be attributed to JynX not bothering to or not being able to copy the sword's design 1-to-1, but the sword in Yago's hand indeed features a slightly different design to the Sugari no Ontachi of our world, perhaps another point to Yago's being the original.

Counterpart Candidate #2: The Tamamaki no Ontachi

This is the other candidate for an outside world counterpart to Yago's Sugari no Ontachi, the Tamamaki no Ontachi (玉纏御太刀).

Below: The Tamamaki no Ontachi.

As you can see, the two swords are extremely similar in appearance, and are thus often considered a pair. In fact, the Tamamaki no Ontachi is also a sacred treasure of the Ise Grand Shrine's Inner Shrine and is similarly reforged every 20 years.

There's not much more tying the two swords together, but it doesn't take much investigation to see why this could be the counterpart to Yago's sword.

Yago as a God

Finally, I want to devote a small section to Yago's status as a god, as they're one of the few windows into what godhood is like in Mugenri (alongside Souko, of course).

Powers After Becoming a God

We know that Yago (and Souko too) didn't start off as gods, but instead as a "human-like" being (which I theorise to be the race that split into humans and non-humans in the future, like Hoojiro mentions).

Instead, they became gods after their contributions in certain fields got acknowledged, by a group of yet-unknown people, and they got promoted to godhood.

Alongside this, they gained incredible longevity, but is this the only power they gained as a god?

Curiously, Yago seems keenly aware of Suzumi messing with time during the evens of BPoHC, and is even able to hear the voice of Ardey, and deduce that there are two souls inside Suzumi.

It is curious that they are seemingly unable to detect the presence of Benny, perhaps it is simply because they didn't speak during that conversation, or perhaps there is something more here.

Whether this is something inherent to Yago or something that they learnt after becoming a god (personally I lean towards the later), it is still a very interesting tidbit.

Godly Spell Card Backgrounds

Now for a much more lighthearted one, Yago actually shares part of their spell card background with Souko, likely symbolising their equal status as gods.

Below: Yago's spell background (left) with Souko's overlaid on top (right).

Clouds shaped like these have long been a popular motif for wood carvings decorating Japanese Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, and so it's not surprise at all that Yago and Souko, gods themselves, would reference this pattern as well.

Below: A carving of a dragon surrounded by such clouds at the Suga Shrine (須賀神社), Yabu city, Hyōgo prefecture.

Ending

And that, I believe, concludes my revisit to Yago Ametsukana, my favourite Len'en character of them all.

I decided to really lean on the mythology side of things with this analysis, since it's what made me fall in love with Yago in the first place. Though I really enjoy them as a character too! Perhaps I'll write about that some other day~.

In any case, and as usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

#len'en #len'en project #len'en lore #yago ametsukana #honestly so glad to have done this #I feel like I really eclipse the original with this one #still gonna keep that one around though #it is my first analysis after all #and no reason to get rid of it when it's not wrong or anything

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