Ugajin
A harvest and fertility kami of Japanese mythology with the body of a snake and the head of a bearded man, for the masculine variant or the head of a woman, for the female variant.
↻ synthesized from 4 sources
When
- First attested
- 500 CE
- Attested period
- 500 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Depicted as human-headed white snake appearing with Benzaiten in Uga Benzaiten form.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Ushi-oni, Zhuyin, Ōkuninushi, Benzaiten, Ebisu, Kotoshironushi, Acala, Sukunabikona, Isana, Mahākāla-Daikokuten, Ichiji Kinrin, Vaiśravana-Bishamonten, Kenrō Jijin, Durga, Saraswati, Kisshōten, Amaterasu, Ichikishima-hime, Shinra Myōjin, Gozu Tennō, Matarajin, Sekizan Myōjin, Atargatis, Cetus, Draconcopedes, Gajamina, Merlion, Nure-onna, Tam Đầu Cửu Vĩ, Ông Lốt
- allied with
- Benzaiten
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“Ugajin - A harvest and fertility kami of Japanese mythology with the body of a snake and the head of a bearded man, for the masculine variant or the head of a woman, for the female variant.”
#4767 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Over time, Benzaiten became identified with the Japanese snake kami Ugajin. She is also believed by Tendai Buddhists to be the essence of the kami Ugajin, whose effigy she sometimes carries on her head.”
#29110 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Daikokuten was also linked or identified with other deities such as Ugajin, Benzaiten (the Buddhist version of Sarasvatī), Vaiśravana-Bishamonten, the earth god Kenrō Jijin (derived from the Indian earth goddess Pṛthivī, though the deity is also portrayed in Japan as male), or the wisdom king Acala (Fudō Myōō in Japanese).”
#34463 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Sujung Kim compares the character of Sekizan Myōjin to figures such as Gozu Tennō, Matarajin, Shinra Myōjin and Ugajin”
#39757 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5