Also known as "the God from Beyond the Sea, Marebito", Kinmamon is an enigmatic and mysterious deity of Ryuku shinto, a branch of shinto obviously practiced in the ryukyu islands. His/her connections with sea travel and the implication that he/she brought "life" to the ryukyus are thought to imply it was an introduced figure and was quite possibly Amaterasu who was introduced and then changed through lack of continual contact at the time. The kanji used for Kinmamon's name, " 君真物 " literally meaning "the true one", are also thought to have been used as an honorific title for miko (shrine maidens); consequently, there is also a belief that perhaps kinmamon is simply the evolution of the deification of miko. In addition, the kanji " 君" is often used to write " 神女", megami or "goddess", in the local ryukyuan dialect which causes even further gender confusion!
Bibliography: 『琉球神道記』 袋中著 宜野座嗣剛 訳 東洋図書出版
"Records of Ryukyu Shinto" by Hiroshi Azuma. Orient Books Publications/Shorin Ronshu, 2001.
ISBN-10: 4947667737
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