Tōno

Oshirado in Tōno City, Japan

Even in Japan, home of the Eight Million Gods, Oshira-sama is an oddity. A tutelary deity of silk, horses, and agriculture, the god continues to be worshipped mainly in rural villages in the northern regions and is typically represented by a pair of mulberry-wood dolls wearing rag hoods. According to the standard myth, Oshira-sama is a pair of male and female deities, the former often taking th…