Amaterasu
Amaterasu Ōmikami (天照大御神, 天照大神), often called Amaterasu for short, also known as Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (大日孁貴神), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (kami) of the Shinto pantheon,[1][2][3] she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the Kojiki (c. 712 CE) and the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with her siblings, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm god Susanoo, she is considered to be one of the "Three Precious Children" (三貴子, mihashira no uzu no miko / sankishi), the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi.
Amaterasu's chief place of worship, the Grand Shrine of Ise in Ise, Mie Prefecture, is one of Shinto's holiest sites and a major pilgrimage center and tourist spot. As with other Shinto kami, she is also enshrined in a number of Shinto shrines throughout Japan
The Sun, Moon, and Storm
The origins of the Sun and the Moon are accounted for in Japanese mythology through the myth of Izanagi's return from Yomi.[1] After spending so much time in Yomi, Izanagi cleansed himself with a purification ceremony.[10] As Izanagi cleansed himself, the water and robes that fell from his body created many more gods.[10][1] Purification rituals still function as important traditions in Japan today, from shoe etiquette in households to sumo wrestling purification ceremonies.[10] Amaterasu, the Sun goddess and divine ancestor of the first Emperor Jimmu, was born from Izanagi's eye.[1] The Moon god and Susanoo the storm god were born at the same time as Amaterasu, when Izanagi washed his face.[1]
Myths related the Sun, the Moon, and the Storm kami are full of strife and conflict.[10] The Sun goddess and her sibling the moon god's interpersonal conflicts explain, in Japanese myth, why the Sun and the Moon do not stay in the sky at the same time — their distaste for one another keeps them both turning away from the other.[1] Meanwhile, the sun goddess and the storm god Susanoo's conflicts were intense and bloody.[10] Various accounts of Susanoo's temper tantrum in Amaterasu's home depict a variety of disgusting and brutal behaviors (everything from smearing his feces across her home's walls to skinning her favorite horse alive and throwing it at her maid and killing the maid) but it is usually, in depictions of this particular myth, Susanoo's behavior that scares Amaterasu into hiding in a cave.[15][10][1][9][16] It would take the combined efforts of many other kami, and the erotic dance of a particular goddess named Ame no Uzume, to lure Amaterasu from the cave again.[15] Ame no Uzume exposed herself while dancing and created such commotion that Amaterasu peeked out from her cave.[16] The myth of Amaterasu's entering and emerging from a cave is depicted in one of the most iconic images of Japanese mythology which is shown to the right.
The sun goddess Amaterasu's importance in Japanese mythology is two-fold. She is the sun, and one of Izanagi's most beloved of children, as well as the ancestor of the Japanese imperial line, according to legend.[9][15] Her status as a sun goddess had political ramifications for the imperial family, and the Yamato state most likely benefited from the myth when dealing with Korean influences because Korea also had myths of sun god ancestors for the Korean imperial family.[16]
First Emperor Jimmu
Jimmu Tennō
The tale of first Emperor Jimmu is considered the origin of the Imperial family.[1] Emperor Jimmu is considered to be the human descendant of Amaterasu the Sun goddess.[1][8] His ascension to the throne marked the "Transition from Age of the Gods to Human Age".[17] After taking control of Yamato province, he established the imperial throne and acceded in the year of kanototori (conventionally dated to 660 B.C.).[3] At the end of the seventh century, the Imperial court finally moved from where Emperor Jimmu was said to have founded it in Yamato.[1]
Ninigi otokawa, great-grandfather of Jimmu Tennō
The importance of this myth in particular is that it establishes the origins, and the power, of the Japanese imperial family as divine.[8][3] Although some scholars believe that the myths found in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki are meant to give authority to the imperial family, others suggest that the myths in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki are unique accounts meant to give authority to the mythic histories in themselves.[8] The Nihon Shoki and Kojiki have varying accounts of the mythic history of Japan, and there are differences in the details of the origins of the imperial family between the two texts.[8] The Yamato Dynasty still has a role as a public symbol of the state and people, according to the current constitution of Japan.[18][19]
The Japanese pantheon
Japanese gods and goddesses, called kami, are uniquely numerous (there are at least eight million) and varied in power and stature.[1] They are usually descendants from the original trio of gods that were born from nothing in the primordial oil that was the world before the kami began to shape it.[1][9] There are easily as many kami in Japanese myth as there are distinct natural features, and most kami are associated with natural phenomena.[1] Kami can take many shapes and forms, some look almost human in depictions found by archaeologists; meanwhile, other kami look like hybrids of humans and creatures, or may not look human at all. One example of a kami who looks almost human in depictions is the ruler of the Seas Ryujin.[1] On the other hand, kami like Ninigi and Amaterasu are often depicted as human in their forms.[1]
Shinto originated in Japan, and the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki tell the tales of the Shinto pantheon's origins.[1] Shinto is still practiced today in Japan. In Shinto belief, kami has multiple meanings and could also be translated as "spirit" and all objects in nature have a kami according to this system.[1] Myths often tell stories of particular, local deities and kami; for example, the kami of a mountain or a nearby lake.[1] Most kami take their origins from Shinto beliefs, but the influence of Buddhism also affected the pantheon.[1] Contact with other cultures usually had some influence on Japanese myth. In the fourteenth century, Christianity found its way to Japan through St. Francis Xavier and there was also contact with westerners.[1] However, during the Tokugawa shogunate Christians were executed in Japan.[1] Twenty Christians were crucified before that while Toyotomi Hideyoshi was consolidating his power after the assassination of Oda Nobunaga.[1] Christianity was banned in Japan until well into the nineteenth century.
