The Deities of Aso Shrine
Two sides: One benign, one malign
Twelve deities are enshrined in Aso Shrine. Of the 12, three are of particular importance: Takeiwatatsu no Mikoto, his wife Asotsuhime no Mikoto, and their grandchild Hikomiko no Kami.
Japanese deities typically have a good side and a bad side: they are responsible both for nature’s bounty and for natural disasters. In the case of the deities of Mt. Aso, their good side is expressed in the bountiful rice harvests of the Aso caldera, while their bad side takes the form of destructive volcanic eruptions.