is the generic name for the three Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 gods Sokotsutsu no O no Mikoto (底筒男命), Nakatsutsu no O no Mikoto (中筒男命), and Uwatsutsu no O no Mikoto (表筒男命). The Sumiyoshi sanjin are regarded as the gods of the sea and sailing. They are sometimes referred to as the .

The Sumiyoshi taisha

Sumiyoshi Taisha

, also known as Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine, is a Shinto shrine in Sumiyoshi ward in the city of Osaka, Japan. It is the main shrine of all the Sumiyoshi shrines in Japan...

 has four buildings dedicated to four kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

-- the three Sumiyoshi brothers and Empress Jingū who is also enshrined.

According to Japanese mythology as written in works such as the Kojiki

Kojiki

is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four home islands of Japan, and the Kami...

 and Nihon Shoki

Nihon Shoki

The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...

, the Sumiyoshi sanjin were born together with the Watatsumi

Watatsumi

was a legendary Japanese dragon and tutelary water deity. In Japanese mythology, is another name for the sea deity Ryūjin 龍神; and the ruling the upper, middle, and lower seas were created through the divine progenitor Izanagi's ceremonial purifications after returning from Yomi "the...

 Sanjin (綿津見三神) when Izanagi

Izanagi

is a deity born of the seven divine generations in Japanese mythology and Shinto, and is also referred to in the roughly translated Kojiki as "male-who-invites" or Izanagi-no-mikoto. It is also pronounced Izanaki-no-Okami....

 performed a purification ceremony after returning from Yomi

Yomi

, the Japanese word for the underworld in which horrible creatures guard the exits; according to Shinto mythology as related in Kojiki, this is where the dead go to dwell and apparently rot indefinitely. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is impossible to return to the land of the living...

.

Originally the Sumiyoshi sanjin and Watasumi sanjin were the same gods, but when, in ancient times, the throne was moved east from Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

 to the area now known as Kinki, it was the Sumiyoshi sanjin that supposedly served an important role. In other words, the Watatsumi sanjin stayed in Kyūshū and the Sumiyoshi sanjin moved to Kinki.

Of the Shinto Shrines that enshrine the Sumiyoshi sanjin the oldest are Sumiyoshi jinja in Hakata-ku

Hakata-ku, Fukuoka

is one of the seven wards of Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is best known as the location of Fukuoka's main train station, Hakata Station.-Geography:...

, Fukuoka

Fukuoka, Fukuoka

is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...

 city, Fukuoka prefecture

Fukuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The capital is the city of Fukuoka.- History :Fukuoka Prefecture includes the former provinces of Chikugo, Chikuzen, and Buzen....

, Sumiyoshi jinja in Iki

Iki, Nagasaki

is a city located at Iki Island in Nagasaki, Japan. It is located approximately 80 kilometers northeast of Fukuoka on mainland Kyūshū. The city consists of five inhabited and 17 uninhabited islands, and its entire area is within the Iki-Tsushima Quasi-National Park...

 city, Nagasaki prefecture

Nagasaki Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.- History :Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki...

, and Moto Sumiyoshi jinja in Kobe

Kobe

, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

, Hyōgo prefecture

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

. However, it is not known which one of these is the oldest.

The tsutsu part of the names of the three gods has a connection to the planets, and there is a theory suggests the Sumiyoshi sanjin are the deification of the three main stars in the Orion constellation. In the olden days the Orion constellation was used for navigational purposes so it was perhaps for this reason that they were deified. Also, the locations of Tsutsu on Tsushima Island

Tsushima Island

Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese Archipelago situated in the middle of the Tsushima Strait at 34°25'N and 129°20'E. The main island of Tsushima was once a single island, but the island was divided into two in 1671 by the Ōfunakosiseto canal and into three in 1900 by the Manzekiseto canal...

, Tsutsuki on Iki Island

Iki Island

Iki Island is an island lying between the island of Kyūshū and the Tsushima islands in the Tsushima Strait, the eastern channel of the Korea Strait. It is currently part of Nagasaki Prefecture of Japan. The city of Iki is the centre of the local government. The island has three ports.The island’s...

, Tsutsuki in Itoshima, Fukuoka prefecture are in the arrangement of these three Orion stars.