Ame-no-Tajikarao

In the Ama-no-Iwato (heavenly rock cave) episode of Shinto myth, Ame-no-Tajikarao stands at the cave's door and, in accounts such as the Nihon Shoki and the Kogo Shūi, 'pulls open' or pulls Amaterasu out of the cave, effecting the return of light to the world. Genealogical materials variously place him in heavenly lineages—some traditions link him to Omoikane or make him an ancestor of certain clans—and some texts report that he accompanied the Imperial Regalia during the Tenson kōrin (the heavenly descent) to Ise.

The cited sources provide no detailed physical or iconographic description. His name (literally rendered as 'sky/Heaven - hand - power - male') emphasizes a male deity defined by hand-strength, but any muscular or corporeal imagery is inferential from his name rather than derived from descriptive texts.

Mythically, he is credited with exceptional physical strength, demonstrated by pulling Amaterasu from the heavenly rock cave and thereby restoring sunlight. In narrative context he accompanies other heavenly deities and, in some accounts, the Imperial Regalia to Ise. Cultically he is associated with physical power and athletic prowess; some shrine priests have regarded him (speculatively in the sources) as originally a protector of agriculture because of his role in restoring sunlight or because physical fitness benefits fieldwork.