Who is Kuebiko?
Kuebiko is the Japanese god of knowledge, agriculture, and wisdom, in particular that of the earth used for agriculture.
He is typically depicted as a scarecrow, and in this capacity Kuebiko he watched over farmer’s fields, and protected them from hungry birds or the ravages of weather.
Over time, Kuebiko came to represent the agricultural cycle itself, alongside the natural rhythm of the earth.
Kuebiko is a Shinto kami
Kuebiko is part of the Shinto religion, the native religion of Japan. Shinto deities, known as kami, inhabit all things, including living beings, inanimate objects, or even phenomena.
From the Shinto perspective, Kuebiko, even though a kami, would not necessarily be worshiped as a powerful deity of the fields, but more as a respected spirit that resides in farmer’s fields and could, at times, lend the farmer a helping hand.
Kuebiko cannot walk, so he observes
Kuebiko’s great wisdom of the earth comes from the fact that he cannot walk, so he quietly observes and learns all the mysteries of the land.
The name “Kuebiko” can be translated into a variety of ways, with most suggesting some form of inability to move:
- “disabled prince”
- “long stretch help old”
- “broken down young man”
- “sun child”
These names hint at the fact that his typical form is that of a scarecrow, which is unable to walk, so it spends its time contemplating the world.
Kuebiko is omniscient
The religious symbolism of Kuebiko is that quiet contemplation and simple awareness of the world around you can lead to the acquisition of great wisdom.
The idea is that by being in one place, Kuebiko is privy to everything that happens around him, accumulating wisdom and knowledge that transcends the boundaries of his physical form.
In this sense, Kuebiko reminds of Buddhist teachings, where long periods of meditation are required for many people to reach the ultimate state of enlightenment, Nirvana.
In a more practical sense, Kuebiko represented the fate of the Japanese medieval farmers who were legally tied to the land of their daimyo lord, condemned, in a sense, to work the land all their lives.
Just like Kuebiko, the farmers were stuck to their land and so contemplated and learned its ways, day in and day out, but were unable to move or escape.
Kuebiko is a minor Japanese deity
Kuebiko is one of the lesser deities in the Japanese Shinto pantheon. This means there is very little literature written about him.
Not only that, but there are very few shrines dedicated to him compared to more central kami like Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, or Izanagi, the Creator God.
Kuebiko’s short role in Japanese mythology
Kuebiko plays a minor role in Japanese mythology, which mostly functions as a way to highlight Kuebiko’s most important functions:
- Kuebiko is omniscient.
- Kuebiko is a scarecrow.
- Kuebiko is unable to move.
The specific story in the “Nihon Shoki” that mentions Kuebiko goes as follows:
Okuninushi, the god of nation-building, one day came across a tiny dwarf, no bigger than a thumb. Okuninushi gently picked up the dwarf, who indignant, bit Okuninushi’s cheek.
Okuninushi then asked the dwarf to reveal its name, but the dwarf remained silent. At that moment, a friendly toad suggested to Okuninushi to find a kami called Kuebiko, who was said to know everything, including the dwarf’s name.
Okuninushi traveled the land far and wide until he found Kuebiko. He then asked the scarecrow god who the little dwarf was.
Kuebiko answered that the little dwarf’s name is Sukuna-biko-na, the son of a powerful creator goddess called Kamimusubi.
Okuninushi then returned the dwarf Sukuna-biko-na to his mother. However, she urged Okuninushi and her son Sukuna-biko-na to work together to build up the lands beneath the heavens.
And so Okuninushi and Sukuna-biko-na toiled day and night until they created the land of Japan.
From there on out, the wisdom and all-knowing knowledge of Kuebiko became legend, even among the gods themselves.
Other Japanese mythological deities
Konohanasakuya-hime: Tale of Japanese Goddess of Mount Fuji
Minamoto no Yorimitsu or Raiko: Legendary Demon Slayer
References:
- The Mythology of all races – Japanese by Louis Herbert Gray and Masahuru Anesaki
- Legend in Japanese Art by Henry L. Joli
- Kojiki
- Manyoshu
- Nihongi
- Myths of China and Japan by Donald Alexander Mackenzie
- Myths and legends of Japan by F. Hadland Davis
- Old-world Japan : legends of the land of the gods by Frank Rinder
- Gods and heroes of old Japan by Violet M Pasteur & Ada Galton
- Ancient Tales & Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith
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