Kamuy Fuchi

Kamuy Fuchi is the Ainu kamuy (goddess) of the hearth. Her full name is Apemerukoyan-mat Unamerukoyan-mat (Rising Fire Sparks Woman/ Rising Cinder Sparks Woman), and she is also known as Iresu Kamuy (People Teacher). She is among the most important kamuy of Ainu mythology, serving as keeper of the gateway between the world of humans and the world of kamuy.

Depiction

Kamuy Fuchi is a woman who lives in the hearth. Her position is so important that she never leaves her home. Accordingly, the fire in a hearth must never be completely extinguished.

Mythology

There are a few myths of Kamuy Fuchi's origins. In the most common, she descends from the heavens, accompanied by Kanna Kamuy, the kamuy of thunder and lightning. In another version, she was born from the fire-producing drill and is the sister of Hash-Inau-uk Kamuy, the goddess of the hunt. A third holds that she is the daughter of an elm tree by the prime originator Kandakoro Kamuy.

Kamuy Fuchi instructed Ainu women in the making of kut (sacred girdles). For this gift she earned the name Iresu Kamuy (People Teacher).