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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 years of contact with Korea, Ainu, and Okinawan myths are also key influences in Japanese mythology. Japanese myths are tied to the topography of the archipelago as well as agriculturally-based folk religion, and the Shinto pantheon holds countless '' kami'' ( Japanese for " god(s)" or "spirits"). This article will discuss cosmogony, important deities, modern interpretations, cultural significance, and the influence of these myths. Two important sources for Japanese myths as they are recognized today are the '' Kojiki'' and the '' Nihon Shoki''. The ''Kojiki'', or "Record of Ancient Matters," is the oldest surviving account of Japan's myths, legends, and history. Additionally, the ''Shintōshū'' describes the origins of Japanese de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Archipelago
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine Seas in the southwest along the Pacific Ocean coast of the Eurasian continent, and consists of three island arcs from north to south: the Northeastern and Southwestern Japan Arcs, and the Ryukyu Island Arc. The Kuril Island Arc, the Daitō Islands, and the Nanpō Islands are not parts of the archipelago. Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the fourth-largest island country in the world with . It has an exclusive economic zone of . Terminology The term "mainland Japan" is used to distinguish the large islands of the Japanese archipelago from the remote, smaller islands; it refers to the main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. From 1943 until the end of the Pacific War, Karafuto Prefe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spelling Of Proper Nouns
Spelling is a set of conventions that regulate the way of using graphemes (writing system) to represent a language in its written form. In other words, spelling is the rendering of speech sound (phoneme) into writing (grapheme). Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element. Spellings originated as transcriptions of the sounds of spoken language according to the alphabetic principle. They remain largely reflective of the sounds, although fully phonemic spelling is an ideal that most languages' orthographies only approximate, some more closely than others. This is true for various reasons, including that pronunciation changes over time in all languages, yet spellings as visual norms may resist change. In addition, words from other languages may be adopted without being adapted to the spelling system, and different meanings of a word or homophones may be deliberately spelled in different ways to differentiate them vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empress Genshō
was the 44th monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 元正天皇 (44)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Her reign spanned the years 715 through 724. Genshō was the fifth of eight women to take on the role of empress regnant, and the only one in the history of Japan to have inherited her title from another empress regnant rather than from a male predecessor. The four female monarchs before Genshō were Suiko, Kōgyoku, Jitō and Genmei; the three women sovereigns reigning after her were Kōken, Meishō, and Go-Sakuramachi. Traditional narrative Before her ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, her personal name (''imina'') was Hidaka''-hime''. Genshō was an elder sister of Emperor Monmu and daughter of Prince Kusakabe and his wife who later became Empress Genmei. Therefore, she was a granddaughter of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō by her father and a granddaughter of Emperor Tenji through her mother. Events of Genshō's life ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empress Gemmei
, also known as Empress Genmyō, was the 43rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 元明天皇 (43) retrieved August 22, 2013. according to the traditional order of succession. Genmei's reign spanned the years 707 through 715 CE. In the history of Japan, Genmei was the fourth of eight women to take on the role of empress regnant. The three female monarchs before Genmei were Suiko, Kōgyoku/Saimei, and Jitō. The four women sovereigns reigning after Genmei were Genshō, Kōken/Shōtoku, Meishō, and Go-Sakuramachi. Traditional narrative Before her ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, her personal name (''imina'') was Abe''-hime''.Brown, p. 271. Empress Genmei was the fourth daughter of Emperor Tenji; and she was a younger sister of Empress Jitō by a different mother. Her mother, Mei-no-Iratsume (also known as Soga''-hime''), was a daughter of ''Udaijin'' Soga-no-Kura-no-Yamada-no-Ishikawa-no-Maro (also known as Soga Yamada-no Ō-omi). Events of G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hieda No Are
is primarily known for being instrumental to the compilation of the Japanese text '' Kojiki'' in 712. While birth and date are unknown, Are was active during the late 7th and early 8th century. Background Very little is known about Are's background. A passage in the ''Seikyūki'' (西宮記) suggests that Are belongs to the Sarume-no-kimi family, who trace their ancestry back to the goddess Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto.Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten Henshū Iinkai (1986:1518) Scholars such as Kunio Yanagita and Saigō Nobutsuna theorize that Are was a woman. Are was given the title of , which is typically a male title.Kurano (1958:46–47) However, members of the Sarume-no-kimi family are renowned as shrine maidens to the court, a female institution. In addition, a number of passages within the ''Kojiki'' appear to have been written by a woman. Kojiki During the 7th century, Emperor Tenmu set about to correct inconsistencies within the national history contained in the various ''Tei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Tenmu
was the 40th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. Tenmu's reign lasted from 673 until his death in 686. Traditional narrative Tenmu was the youngest son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Kōgyoku, and the younger brother of the Emperor Tenji. His name at birth was Prince Ōama (大海人皇子:Ōama no ōji). He was succeeded by Empress Jitō, who was both his niece and his wife. During the reign of his elder brother, Emperor Tenji, Tenmu was forced to marry several of Tenji's daughters because Tenji thought those marriages would help to strengthen political ties between the two brothers. The nieces he married included Princess Unonosarara, today known as Empress Jitō, and Princess Ōta. Tenmu also had other consorts whose fathers were influential courtiers. Tenmu had many children, including his crow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninigi-no-Mikoto
is a deity in Japanese mythology. Grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, Ninigi is regarded according to Japanese mythology as the great-grandfather of Japan’s first emperor, Emperor Jimmu. The three sacred treasures brought with Ninigi from Heaven and divine ancestry established the Japanese Imperial Family. The three generations of ''kami'' starting with Ninigi are sometimes referred to as the three generations of Hyūga, they are said to represent a transitional period between the heavenly ''kami'' and the first emperor. Name and etymology Ninigi-no-Mikoto (瓊瓊杵尊), means "The Great God Ninigi." Another name of his is Ame-nigishi-kuni-nigishi-amatsuhiko-hiko-ho-no-ninigi-no-Mikoto (天邇岐志国邇岐志天津日高日子番能邇邇芸命) or "The Great God Ninigi, of the Imperial State, The Child of the Sun of Many Talents." Ninigi is speculated to be translated as "beloved jeweled mallet." Myths Birth Ninigi was born from Ame-no-oshihomimi and Taku ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 '' 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" (, ), 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. Name The goddess is referred to as 'Amaterasu Ōmikam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yamato State
The was a tribal alliance centered on the Yamato region (Nara Prefecture) from the 4th century to the 7th century, and ruled over the alliance of noble families in the central and western parts of the Japanese archipelago. The age is from the 4th to the 7th century, later than the Yamatai Kingdom. After the Taika Reform, the ōkimi as an emperor, at that time, was in power, and the Yamato period ended. The time period is archaeologically known as the Kofun period. Regarding its establishment, due to the relationship between Yamatai and Yamato's succession to the king's power, there are very different views on it. The Yamato Kingship refers to the regime that emerged in the Nara region ( Yamato region) since the 4th century. But the term does not imply the origin of Japan, which is disputed in Japanese history. At the same time as the rise of the , there were probably several or even dozens of power centers in the Japanese archipelago. This is an issue that Japanese acad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
8th Century
The 8th century is the period from 701 ( DCCI) through 800 ( DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic Arab domination. The westward expansion of the Umayyad Empire was famously halted at the siege of Constantinople by the Byzantine Empire and the Battle of Tours by the Franks. The tide of Arab conquest came to an end in the middle of the 8th century.Roberts, J., ''History of the World'', Penguin, 1994. In Europe, late in the century, the Vikings, seafaring peoples from Scandinavia, begin raiding the coasts of Europe and the Mediterranean, and go on to found several important kingdoms. In Asia, the Pala Empire is founded in Bengal. The Tang dynasty reaches its pinnacle under Chinese Emperor Xuanzong. The Nara period begins in Japan. Events * Estimated century in which the poem Beowulf is composed. * Classical Maya civilization begins to decline. * The Kombumerri burial grounds are fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistory
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared 5000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. In the early Bronze Age, Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilisation, and ancient Egypt were the first civilizations to develop their own scripts and to keep historical records, with their neighbors following. Most other civilizations reached the end of prehistory during the following Ir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
