結びの神

Japanese

Kanji in this term
結	神
むす Grade: 4	かみ Grade: 3
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
結びの神 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Originally 産霊 (musuhi, “motive force, life force”) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 神 (kami, “god, spirit”). The musuhi portion is itself a compound of 産す (musu, “to happen, to develop, to grow”) + 霊 (hi, “mystical power”).

Musuhi no Kami is one of the kami of creation, responsible for producing heaven and earth and all things. The musuhi (“mystic power of growth”) eventually changed into musubi (“tying together”). The 結び spelling for this portion is an example of ateji. In popular culture, this kami is now responsible for romantic matchmaking.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) むすびのか​み [mùsúbí nó káꜜmì] (Nakadaka – [5])
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ᵝsɨᵝbʲi no̞ ka̠mʲi]

Proper noun

結(むす)びの神(かみ) • (Musubi no Kami) 

1. (pop culture): the Japanese god of matchmaking, love and marriage
2. a euphemism for a romantic matchmaker
3. (Japanese mythology, Shinto): one of the Japanese gods of creation

   ⇒ 産霊(むすひ)の神(かみ) (Musuhi no Kami)

Usage notes

Although Musubi no Kami and Musuhi no Kami are essentially regarded as typographical differences in the context of Shinto, the Musubi name appears to be generally reserved for the pop-culture romantic matchmaking senses, while the Musuhi name is generally used to indicate the kami responsible for producing all of existence.