Iwanaga-hime (イワナガヒメ)
Iwanaga-hime is a goddess that appears in Japanese Mythology (Shinto religion). "Kojiki " (Records of Ancient Matters) writes her name "石長比売" in Chinese characters and "Nihonshoki" (Chronicles of Japan) and "Sendai kujihongi"(Ancient Japanese History) is written as "磐長姫."
Mythological description
She was the daughter of Oyamatsumi and the elder sister of Konohanano sakuya bime.
Both Iwanaga-hime and Konohanano sakuya bime were given in marriage to Tenson Ninigi, the grandson of Sun Goddess Amaterasu-Omikami but Iwanaga-hime was sent back to her father because she was ugly. This angered Oyamatsumi who said that he had pledged and given Iwanaga-hime to make Tenson's life eternal like a rock and given Konohanano sakuya bime to make Tenson thrive like a flower. He also said that Tenson's life span would become shorter because he had sent Iwanaga-hime back.
According to the "Nihonshoki" Chronicles, Iwanaga-hime put a curse on the pregnant Konohanano sakuya bime, which caused human life to become shorter.
Some suggest that Iwanaga-hime is a different name of Konohanano sakuya bime who is described in "Kojiki" as a daughter of Oyamatsumi who married Susano's son, Yashimajinumi no kami in "Kojiki" (the same deity as Konohanano sakuya bime) (Iwanaga-hime was the saime deity as Konohanano sakuya bime).
Explanation
Iwanaga-hime represents the eternity of a rock. The story of Konohanano sakuya bime and Iwanaga-hime is a distorted myth called a Banana myth. In the story, a stone is transformed into a woman whose name includes the character for stone.
Based on the story above, she is worshipped as a deity of eternal youth and immortality. Izu-jinja Shrine (Gifu City) is cited as an example of the small number of shrines that are dedicated only to Iwanaga-hime. Sengen-jinja Shrines all over the country are dedicated to Iwanaga-hime together with Konohanano sakuya bime. Iwanaga-hime is enshrined in Kumomi Sengen-jinja Shrine (Matsuzaki-cho, Kamo gun, Shizuoka Prefecture) and Sengen-jinja in the Mt. Omuro (Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture) but this enshrinement was intended to make her confront Mt. Fuji's Konohanano sakuya bime.
In sympathy with Iwanaga-hime, who was alienated by Ninigi for being ugly, superstition in the Izu region, Shizuoka Prefecture has it that praising the beauty of Mt. Fuji, a manifestation of Konohanano sakuya bime, may result in an injury or a poor catch of fish.
Yui-no-yashiro Shrine of Kibune-jinja Shrine is dedicated to her as the god of marriage (matchmaking), Cupid. There is Iwanagahime-jinja Shrine in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, which is related to Kifune-jinja Shrine and has a short history.
Gassuiseki-jinja Shrine in Mt. Tsukuba (Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture) is secreted to Iwanaga-hime. Iwakura (dwelling place of a god, usually in reference to a large rock), on which Iwanaga-hime is believed to have died, is enshrined in Gassuiseki-jinja Shrine.