Skip to content
EntityQ11071206· pop 5· linked from 4 articles

Oshira-sama

Sign in to save

Also known as Radish Spirit

Oshirasama (Japanese: おしら様, おしらさま, お白様, オシラ様, or オシラサマ, Hepburn: oshira-sama) is a tutelary deity of the home in Japanese folklore. It is believed that when Oshirasama is in a person's home, one cannot eat meat and only women are allowed to touch it. Born from a stallion and human woman, "images of this god [Oshira] are usually composed of the faces of a horse and a maiden."

Wikidata facts

Image
Oshira-sama-replica.jpg
Show 3 more facts
indigenous to
Tōhoku region
time of earliest written record
1525-00-00
Commons category
Oshira-sama
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~3 min read

Encyclopedic overview

4 sections
Contents
  • Legend
  • Ritual practice
  • In popular culture
  • References

Oshirasama (Japanese: おしら様, おしらさま, お白様, オシラ様, or オシラサマ, Hepburn: oshira-sama) is a tutelary deity of the home in Japanese folklore. It is believed that when Oshirasama is in a person's home, one cannot eat meat and only women are allowed to touch it. Born from a stallion and human woman, "images of this god [Oshira] are usually composed of the faces of a horse and a maiden."

The festival day for Oshirasama is called meinichi (命日, or a death anniversary). It is held on the 16th day of the first, third, and ninth month of the Japanese lunar calendar.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Oshira-sama” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Available in 4 languages

via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0