Amulets
Yutsu Tsuma Kushi Comb Amulet
1000 yen each
Origin Story
This amulet draws on the story of Yamata no Orochi from Japanese mythology.
The Myth of Yamata no Orochi
The deity Susanoo no Mikoto descended from Takamanohara high in the heavens to the province of Izumo (present-day Shimane Prefecture) down on earth, where he encountered the husband-and-wife deities Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi and their daughter Kushiinada-hime no Mikoto. Seeing how they wept, he asked why and was told that a monster named Yamata no Orochi was coming to devour the young woman.
Yamata no Orochi was a giant serpent-like creature with eight heads, red eyes, and a moss- and tree-encrusted body stretching across eight valleys and eight mountains. Having learned of Kushiinada-hime no Mikoto’s plight, Susanoo no Mikoto devised a plan to save her.
He told the others to prepare sake and fill it in eight vats in time for the monster’s arrival. Lured by the scent, Yamata no Orochi guzzled the liquor and fell asleep intoxicated.
Once Kushiinada-hime no Mikoto saw that their plan had safely come to pass, she next set about aiding Susanoo no Mikoto by turning herself into a comb called the Yutsu Tsuma Kushi. With the comb in his hair, Susanoo no Mikoto went to confront the monster.
Thus armed with Kushiinada-hime no Mikoto’s kushimitama—her “wondrous soul,” or great supernatural powers—Susanoo no Mikoto successfully vanquished Yamata no Orochi. From one of its tails emerged a fine sword, the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi (also Kusanagi no Tsurugi), which would later become one of the Three Sacred Regalia of the Japanese imperial house.
Afterward Susanoo no Mikoto built a palace in Izumo and married Kushiinada-hime no Mikoto in what was the first wedding ceremony in Japanese mythology. At that time he composed this poem:
Like the eightfold clouds
Of the land of Izumo
To let my beloved dwell
I will fashion an eightfold fence
Oh, an eightfold fence
This verse expressing the god’s love of his wife is said to be the origin of waka, or poetry in the Japanese style.
The Yutsu Tsuma Kushi amulet encapsulates the divine virtues and powers of Kushiinada-hime no Mikoto illustrated in this story. Kept on one’s person, it will deflect misfortune and calamity and bring divinely bestowed relationships. Given by a woman to a man, it will endow him with spiritual power and aid him in surmounting challenges. Given by a man to a woman, it will serve as a token of how precious and special she is to him.
