Which food goddess was slain by the moon god Tsukuyomi?
Answer
Ukemochi
Answer
Ukemochi
Which food goddess was slain by the moon god Tsukuyomi? Ukemochi was slain by Tsukuyomi.
In the version recorded in the Nihon Shoki, Amaterasu sends her brother and consort Tsukuyomi to visit Ukemochi. The food goddess welcomes him by producing a feast from her body: rice comes from her mouth, fish and seaweed from her mouth after facing the ocean, and game from her body after facing the forest. Tsukuyomi is disgusted by this method and kills her.
After Ukemochi dies, useful plants and animals emerge from her corpse, including rice, millet, wheat, beans, cattle, horses, and silkworms. The myth links violence with the origins of agriculture and food production.
A common mix-up comes from a related Kojiki story. There, Ōgetsu-hime, another food-producing goddess often identified with Ukemochi, is killed by Susanoo rather than Tsukuyomi. The question’s specific pairing of Ukemochi with the moon god points to the Nihon Shoki tradition.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026