#aramisaki

[a-dream-seeking-light]

" 48th Type 1 Aramisaki "　(Produced by u-sk/nu) Frame Arms Contest Technique Award Winner

CREATION OF THE WORLD II Kagayaki Variation Contest The "48th Type 1 Aramisaki" made by u-sk/nu is a product that focuses on the perfection of its craftsmanship and finish. In the Technique Award, he was recommended by both Itoyama and Kuwamura of the prototype team involved in the design, and was an impressive winner. Another key point is the craftsmanship that clearly conveys the concept of the original setting. (Yuzuki)

source info + slightly higher res repost of this post seen @endangeredentity

[lostpeace]

Zealots.

[eirikrjs]

You wouldn't happen to know anything about Aramisaki, do you? I've always wanted to know why is she made of lava... And while I'm on the subject...Would you happen to know anything about Kinmamon at all? XD

Not very much. Both are so obscure probably your only shot is in Japanese-language materials.

However, a long time ago I got a friend to translate a little bit of info about Kinmamon from a Japanese book, and it’s been on Giant Bomb. Here it is:

Also known as “the God from Beyond the Sea, Marebito”, Kinmamon is an enigmatic and mysterious deity of Ryukyu Shinto, a branch of Shinto obviously practiced in the Ryukyu islands. His/her connections with sea travel and the implication that he/she brought “life” to the Ryukyu islands are thought to imply it was an introduced figure and was quite possibly Amaterasu who was introduced and then changed through lack of continual contact at the time. The kanji used for Kinmamon’s name, “  君真物 ” literally meaning “the true one”, are also thought to have been used as an honorific title for miko (shrine maidens); consequently, there is also a belief that perhaps Kinmamon is simply the evolution of the deification of miko. In addition, the kanji “ 君” is often used to write “ 神女”, megami or “goddess”, in the local Ryukyu dialect which causes even further gender confusion!Bibliography:   『琉球神道記』  袋中著    宜野座嗣剛  訳  東洋図書出版   “Records of Ryukyu Shinto” by  Hiroshi Azuma.  Orient Books Publications/Shorin Ronshu, 2001.  ISBN-10: 4947667737

I’m pretty sure we looked into this around the time of Strange Journey’s release to try and find an explanation for the Amaterasu quest where she takes the guise of Kinmamon. This seems to explain that! 

For Aramisaki, her name in kanji is 荒御前. Among her enshrinements is one at Shirayama-Hime Shrine in Ishikawa, where Shirayama-hime is another name for Kikuri-hime. But we shouldn’t ignore the important clues already in Aramisaki’s demon profile, which I think spells out basically everything that needs it:

“A violent goddess known as the Ara Mitama of the Sumiyoshi gods.When Empress Jingu went to Shinra, Aramisaki was sent by Amaterasu to protect the ship she was on. She is also a jealous god, and is known as a goddess of separation as Aramisakihime." 

First, the Sumiyoshi are sea and sailing gods. Next, the Empress Jingu goes to “Shinra”–aka “新羅“ or Silla, the ancient Korean kingdom. The legend of Empress Jingu’s invasion of Silla is recounted in both the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, where she is said to have overwhelmed Silla’s armies by “supernatural control of the tide.” Since I have the Kojiki handy, here’s a passage of interest after her conquest:

Then [Empress Jingu] stood her staff at the gate of the king of Silla and worshipped the “rough spirit” (ara-mitama) of the great deities of Sumiyoshi, whom she made tutelary deities of the land. Then she crossed back over [the sea]. Kojiki, 94:7

While it doesn’t mention Aramisaki’s name, if you go by the SMT profile, the “ara-mitama” is a more or less direct reference to the god. So if Aramisaki is the ara-mitama of the Sumiyoshi gods, that’s at least a partial explanation for her design, as, according to Philippi’s footnotes in the Kojiki here, the ara-mitama we are more familiar with is the “active, dynamic aspect of a deity”–or violent. Imagine Empress Jingu having summoned Kaneko’s fiery Aramisaki on her voyage. 

But what’s strange about Aramisaki, and what this doesn’t explain, is how she seems to have become a separate deity. Same for her purported “jealousy.” I can’t think of another instance of a mitama spirit being considered separate from its divine possessor. The gods’ mitama can certainly be enshrined separately, as I was excited to find in Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto a shrine for Susanoo’s ara-mitama. If I had to make an educated guess though, I’d wager that the separate Aramisaki tradition is newer than the Kojiki or Nihon Shoki sources, with perhaps more relevant information hiding behind that Shirayama-Hime Shrine link.