Key Points

- Dragon Princess, daughter of the dragon god Wadatsumi

- Abandoned husband and child when he broke his oath not to spy on her while giving birth

Brief Bio 

Toyotama-hime, also known as Otohime, is a significant figure in Japanese mythology, specifically known as the daughter of the sea god Watatsumi (also known as Ryujin). She is a powerful goddess, often depicted as a beautiful maiden but with the ability to transform into a dragon. She is most famously known for her marriage to Hoori, a human prince. Her most important part in the mythology happens while her husband fights with his brother.

During this time Toyotama hime became pregnant with Hoori’s child. When her delivery grew near, she and her sister Tamayori hime came to the surface world on the back of a giant turtle to give birth. She asked Hoori to build her a birthing hut thatched with cormorant feathers along the shore, but she went into labor before he was able to complete it. Toyotama hime entered the hut. She informed Hoori that to give birth she must return to her natural form, and she asked him not to look upon her while giving birth. But Hoori could not resist. He peeked in on her and saw his wife in the form of an enormous wani, eight leagues long, creeping and writhing about on her belly.

Toyotama hime was ashamed at having her true form revealed. Although she desired to remain on the land, she returned to Ryūgū, leaving her newborn child behind. When she left, she closed the path that linked the land and sea kingdoms, forever separating them. Toyotama hime felt angry and betrayed, but she still loved Hoori. So she asked Tamayori hime to care for the child in her place. Tamayori hime nursed and raised her nephew, who came to be known as Ugayafukiaezu. When he grew up, he married Tamayori hime. They had four children together, one of whom became the legendary Emperor Jimmu, first emperor of Japan.