Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of ye ...

, the are the seven generations of ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

'' that emerged after the formation of heaven and earth. According to 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 ...

, these deities appeared after the Kotoamatsukami. The first two generations were hitorigami while the five that followed came into being as male-female pairs of ''kami'': male deities and sisters that were at the same time married couples. In total the ''Kamiyonanayo'' consist of 12 deities in this chronicle. In contrast, the chronicle Nihon Shoki, points out that this group was the first to appear after the creation of the universe. It also states that the first three generations of deities were ''hitorigami'' and that the other generations of deities were pairs of the opposite sex. Finally the Nihon Shoki uses a different spelling for the names of all deities. The last generation formed 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 ...

were the couple that would be responsible for the creation of the Japanese archipelago (''

Kuniumi In Japanese mythology, is the traditional and legendary history of the emergence of the Japanese archipelago, of islands, as narrated in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. According to this legend, after the creation of Heaven and Earth, the kami, gods Iz ...

'') and would engender other deities (''

Kamiumi In Japanese mythology, the story of the occurs after the creation of Japan (''Kuniumi''). It concerns the birth of the divine (''kami'') descendants of Izanagi and Izanami. Story According to the Kojiki, various gods were born from the relation ...

List of deities

See also

References

Bibliography