Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

chronology Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , ''-logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of even ...

, the is the period preceding the accession of

Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the '' Nihon Shoki'' and '' Kojiki''. His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture"Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

. The kamiyo myths are chronicled in the "upper roll" (''Kamitsumaki'') of the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and in the first and second chapters of the '' Nihon Shoki''. The reigns of Emperor Jimmu and the subsequent Emperors are considered the .

Origin

According to early mythology, the Japanese islands were created by

Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally known as , is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the last of the seven generations ...

and

Izanami , formally known as , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested ...

, meaning "he who invites" and "she who invites". They find themselves on a heavenly golden bridge staring down at earth and its oceans. With their jeweled spear, called ''

Amenonuhoko is the name given to the spear in Shinto used to raise the primordial land-mass, '' Onogoro-shima'', from the sea. It is often represented as a naginata. According to the Kojiki, Shinto's genesis gods Izanagi and Izanami , formally known a ...

'', given by the gods or kami before them, they dip the spear into the ocean, creating the islands of Japan,

Onogoro Island Onogoroshima ('' Kojiki'': ''Onogoro-shima''; '' Nihon Shoki'': ''Onogoro-jima'') is an important island in Shinto. ''Onogoro'' literally means "''muddy sea has the ability to bind rocks and stones accumulated to form a bridge''". Shinto accou ...

(“spontaneous-congealed island”). Descending down from the skies, Izanagi and Izanami create their home and create a central Heavenly August pillar. Deciding to populate the land, Izanagi circles the left side of the pillar while Izanami circles the right. Meeting each other on the other side of it, Izanami greets her love "oh, what a comely young man." Izanagi replies with "How delightfully, I have met a lovely maiden." Izanami being a woman speaking first to a man, the gods looked at this as inappropriate and cursed the couple by the children they bore. Their first child

Hiruko , also transliterated or called or , is the Japanese god of fishermen and luck. He is one of the , and the only one of the seven to originate purely from Japan without any Buddhist or Taoist influence. Origins as Hiruko In medieval times, Ebi ...

was born hideous and cast out for its atrocity. Trying and trying again, they fail to conceive a proper child. The gods explain to them both about their curse and decide to give them another chance. Once again Izanagi and Izanami circle the pillar just as before, only Izanagi speaks first. Their mating now was fruitful. Izanami gave birth to the islands of '' Awaji'', ''Iyo'' (later

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

), '' Oki'', ''Tsukushi'' (later

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

), '' Iki'', '' Tsushima'', '' Sado'', and finally ''Yamato'' (later

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island sepa ...

), the largest. They named the land ''Oyashimakuni'', the Land of Eight Great Islands. After that, Izanami gave birth in quick succession to the other minor islands that surround the main ones, and to the main kami of sea and harbor, of wind, trees, mountains, and so on. Many other kami were born from Izanami’s womb such as

Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the '' K ...

, the Sun Goddess. She was known as "Heaven-Illumine-of-Great-Deity”, and the Moon God,

Tsukuyomi , or simply or , is the moon god in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the Old Japanese words and . The '' Nihon Shoki'' mentions this name spelled as , but this ''yumi'' is likely a variation i ...

. His silver radiance was not so fair as the golden effulgence of his sister, the Sun Goddess. While both sit atop the heavens, they begin their sibling rivalry, quarreling and fighting, they decide they can no longer see each other face to face, thus creating day and night, separating the two. The last kami conceived was the fire god,

Kagutsuchi Kagutsuchi (カグツチ; Old Japanese: ''Kagututi''), also known as Hi-no-Kagutsuchi or Homusubi among other names, is the kami of fire in classical Japanese mythology. Mythology Kagutsuchi's birth burned his mother Izanami, causing her dea ...

. During birth, Kagutsuchi severely burned Izanami and eventually slipped away into the Land of

Yomi is the Japanese word for the land of the dead (World of Darkness). According to Shinto mythology as related in '' Kojiki'', this is where the dead go in the afterlife. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is (mostly) impossible to retur ...

, the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...

. "The tears Izanagi shed at the death of his wife brought forth further deities. Angered by the sight of the newly born fire kami who had been the cause of Izanami’s death, Izanagi drew his sword and decapitated the infant. The blood coalescing on the sword brought forth eight martial kami, including the important ''

Takemikazuchi is a deity in Japanese mythology, considered a god of thunder and a sword god. He also competed in what is considered the first sumo wrestling match recorded in history. He is otherwise known as "The ''kami'' of Kashima"" (Kashima-no-kami), th ...

-no-kami'' and his peer, '' Futsunushi-no-kami''. Eight more fierce kami of mountains and iron emerged from the infant’s body and limbs."Frederick Hadland Davis, 2007 In his anguish, Izanagi followed her to the underworld to rescue her and soon discovered the awful truth. Nothing remained of his beloved Izanami but a rotting living-dead corpse. As Izanagi runs away in horror, Izanami shrieks in anger for her loves abandonment, "Every day I shall kill one thousand people in the lands we created". Izanagi replies "Every day I shall create one thousand five hundred people".

In popular culture

In episode "Kirinmaru of the Dawn" of '' Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon'', Kirinmaru tells Moroha the quarter demon that "Akuru is a spirit who has been around since the Age of the Gods".

References

Bibliography

* Ashkenazi, Michael. ''Handbook Of Japanese Mythology''. ABC-CLIO, 2003. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 28 Mar. 2012. * S.H.D.D. "Izanagi And Izanami." Calliope 8.7 (1998): 12. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2012 *

Origin

In popular culture

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading