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So to the end Kotoshironushi-no-Kami remained exceedingly faithful to the Imperial cause, and therefore according to some Japanese commentators he was afterwards looked up to as one of the guardian spirits of the Imperial House.
58. I.e., the Goddess of Food; hence some of the Japanese commentators have identified her with Toyouke-no-Hime or Toyouke-Daijin of the Outer Shrine at Ise.
59. I.e., the Shinto Priestesses at the Court who were attached to the Jingikan or Department for the Worship of the Shinto Gods.
60. Kushi-Iwamado-no-Kami (supra note 25), the Wonderful God of the Strong Gate, i.e., the Divine-Wonderful-Strong-Gate-Keeper. Toyo-Iwamado-no-Kami (super[errata 1] note 24), the Powerful God of the Strong Gate, i.e., the Divine-Abundant-Strong-Gate-Keeper. Moto-ori suggests that either name is used to indicate one and the same God, Ame-no-Iwatoake-no-Kami, in the Kojiki (Moto-ori, the Kojikiden or Commentary on the Kojiki, Vol. XV,[errata 2] Collected Works, Japanese edition, Vol. I, p. 877). Both Gods are divine guardians of the Imperial Gates, according to one of the Shinto Rituals of the Engishiki or Institutes of the Engi Period (A.D. 901–923). As regards the eight deities enshrined at the Jingikan, i.e., the Department for the Worship of the Shinto Gods, Sir Ernest Satow’s learned comments deserve our attention (Vide T.A.S.J., Vol. VII, p. 109, pp. 120–123).
61. What “the God of Ikushima” really means is not very clear, but it appears to be the chief local guardian spirit by whose virtue the locality or country (region or island) exists.
