Chapter 27: The Mystery Behind the Overwhelming Approval Ratings for Nikujaga at Omiai

A certain day, Amaterasu-sama gave it thought.

About how she can be more respected by people.

It’s a worry that her younger brother Tsukuyomi-sama would definitely laugh at if he hears of it, but for the Amaterasu-sama who has been somewhat treated as a hetare recently despite being the chief goddess, it is a matter of extreme gravity.

Above anything else, her pride as the elder sister would not allow her to forgive herself for being physically flung around by Susanoo-sama and being rolled around within Tsukuyomi-sama’s palm.

Younger brothers need to listen to their older sisters properly.

“For now, eat up and regain your spirits. Here you go, this it all of the side dishes.”

The one who’s listening to Amaterasu-sama’s worries while letting them flow over her head is Amaterasu-sama’s kitchen maid aka the goddess of abundant harvest aka Toyoukehime-sama.

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She can be considered as Izanami-sama’s grandchild, and is the goddess over all food, often seen in the same light as Uke Mochi (goddess of food) and Uka-no-Mitama (god of harvests).

Incidentally, she was called over to the Grand Shrines of Ise because Amaterasu-sama was like “but food isn’t delicious when eaten alone.”

Due to this, and also what happened with Ame-no-Uzume-sama, there are people who suspect Amaterasu-sama of being yuri, but let’s not go there today.

“Toyo-chan, isn’t the amount of meat today a bit less than usual?”

“You already ate a lot of meat recently, didn’t you? It’s not exactly a substitute, but there’s aburage¹ in the miso soup. I also made these pickles by hand. Here you go, aaa—n.”

“Aaa—n.”

“…… What are you two doing?”

The one looking on speechlessly at Toyoukehime-sama spoon feeding Amaterasu-sama is none other than Tsukuyomi-sama.

Incidentally, Tsukuyomi-sama has the black record of previously cutting down and killing Uke Mochi, another goddess who is sometimes seen in the same light as Toyoukehime-sama.² But in the Kojiki, even this role was stolen by Susanoo-sama³, which further contributed to Tsukuyomi-sama’s lack of presence.

He’s the god of the moon, after all. It can’t be helped, yep.

“Oh my, Tsukuyomi-sama. Are you perhaps feeling jealous?”

“What nonsense.”

“Tsukuyomi really does love Toyo-chan a lot. Why don’t you two just get married already.”

“Oh don’t tease, Amaterasu-sama.”

“……”

Suddenly made the topic of a girls’ talk, the usually calm and yuri-loving Tsukuyomi-sama looks like he just bit a bitter bug.

Despite his history with Uke Mochi, ever since Toyoukehime-sama has been enshrined at the Grand Shrines of Ise, he’s been visiting her place every single night.

That is the reason why the roading connecting Tsukiyomi no Miya, where Tsukuyomi-sama is enshrined, and the Outer Shrine, Gekuu, where Toyoukehime-sama is enshrined, is called Kamiji Doori, Road of the Gods.⁴

Incidentally, there is a story of a man who derided this myth and brazenly stood in the middle of the the road to block Tsukuyomi-sama’s passage. Apparently, the very next morning he went crazy and then died shortly after.

Tsukuyomi-sama is seriously ruthless.

“Oh dear, are you angry, Tsukuyomi-sama? Here, I’ll give you a tamagoyaki that I made, so cheer up.”

“…… Alright then.”

Though his face looks begrudging, he is still obediently accepting the tamagoyaki.

Today, too, Takamagahara is at peace.

¹ Aburage: deep-fried slices of tofu (ie what they use to make inari sushi)

² Wikipedia has a slightly more detailed telling of this story.

³ The same story is told of Ougetsuhime and Susanoo in the Kojiki, and as it says even in the Wikipedia page linked above, many consider Uke Mochi and Ougetsuhime to be the same god.

⁴ Naturally, as is the case with most mythological references in this work, this is a very colored interpretation. However, at least the physical description of this road is indeed real. People walk at the edge of this road, so as to not be in the way of any passing gods.