Takakuraji (高倉下)
Takakuraji is a person who appears in Japanese mythology. In an oracle received in a dream, Takakuraji was told he was to receive a sacred sword known as Futsu no mitama, which he was to present to Emperor Jinmu.
Description in mythology
The Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) and the Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan)
According to the "Kojiki" and the "Nihonshoki," while Emperor Jinmu and his army were advancing eastward, they were overcome by a noxious gas emitted by evil kami at Kumano, and rendered unconsious. However, when given the sword by Takakuraji, they recovered his senses. Takakuraji came to have the sword as follows.
In a dream Takakuraji sees Amaterasu Omikami (the Sun Goddess) and Takamimusubi ask Takemikazuchi no kami for his assistance in subduing the Central Land of Reed Plains, but Takemikazuchi no kami replies that 'rather than go myself, as I have the sword that subdued the country, if I can send it to the Central Land of the Reed Plains, that will suffice.'
Turning to Takakuraji Takemikazuchi no kami says as follows:
I will open a hole in the his storehouse, and drop in this sword, when you wake in the morning, then give this sword to the child of the heavenly gods.'
At that point Takakuraji awoke, and when he looked in the storehouse, he found the sword was actually there, so he presented it to Emperor Jinmu. This sword is called Sajifutsu no kami, as well as Mikafutsu no kami and Futsu no mitama, and it is enshrined at Isonokami-jingu Shrine.
Sendai Kujihongi (Ancient Japanese History)
The fifth scroll of the "Sendai Kujihongi," which presents an account of the lineages of the Mononobe and Owari clans, contains a note stating that Takakuraji no mikoto was a child of the purported ancestral kami of the Mononobe clan, Nigiyahi, the ancestral kami of the Owari clan, Amanokaguyama no mikoto (the diety enshrined at Iyahiko-jinja Shrine), that he was also called by the name Takurihiko no mikoto when he descended from heaven. The subsequent account is the same as that found in the "Nihonshoki."
Analysis
The name 'Takakuraji' means 'owner of a high storehouse.'
The shrine at which Futsu no mitama is enshrined, Isonokami-jingu Shrine, is a shrine with deep connections to the Mononobe clan.
The Futsu no mitama sword is enshrined at the Takakura-jinja Shrine of Nishi-takakura, Iga City, Mie Prefecture (the former Ueno City), and other shrines.
Note that, Hiroshi KURITA states on page 38 of of his book, "Kokuzo Hongi Ko" (a study on the original record of provincial governors, 1903), that he does not believe that Takakuraji no mikoto is Amanokaguyama no mikoto.