, or simply or , is the

moon god A lunar deity or moon deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be foun ...

in Japanese mythology and the

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 ''Shintois ...

religion. The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the

Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial. Old Jap ...

words and .1988, ''国語大辞典（新装版） ''(Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese),

Tōkyō Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the H ...

The '' Nihon Shoki'' mentions this name spelled as , but this ''yumi'' is likely a variation in pronunciation of ''yomi''. An alternative interpretation is that his name is a combination of and . There is so little known about Tsukuyomi that even their sex is unknown. Still, in '' Man'yōshū'', Tsukuyomi's name is sometimes rendered as , implying that they are male.c. 759: '' Man'yōshū'', volume 7, poem 1372; in

. Text available onlin
here
Tsukuyomi was the second of the born when Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the god who created the first land of

Onogoroshima 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 account ...

, was cleansing himself of his sins while bathing after escaping 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 underwor ...

and the clutches of his enraged dead sister, Izanami-no-Mikoto. Tsukuyomi was born when he washed out of Izanagi's right eye. However, in an alternative story, Tsukuyomi was born from a mirror made of white copper in Izanagi's right hand. Tsukuyomi angered Amaterasu when he killed

Ukemochi , commonly known as , the daughter of the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami, is a goddess of food in the Shinto religion of Japan. In some differing interpretations, Ukemochi is referred to as both male and female. When shown in other forms, U ...

, the goddess of food. Amaterasu once sent Tsukuyomi to represent her at a feast presented by Ukemochi. The goddess created the food by turning to the ocean and spitting out a fish, then facing a forest and spitting out game, and finally turning to a rice paddy and coughing up a bowl of rice. Tsukuyomi was utterly disgusted by the fact that, although it looked exquisite, the meal was made in a disgusting manner, and so he killed her. Amaterasu learned what happened and she was so angry that she refused to ever look at Tsukuyomi again, forever moving to another part of the sky. This is the reason that day and night are never together. This is according to one of the accounts in the '' Nihon Shoki''. Tsukuyomi does not have such significance in the '' Kojiki'', in which there is a similar tale about Susanoo-no-Mikoto killing a similar food goddess named

Ōgetsuhime , commonly known as , the daughter of the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami, is a goddess of food in the Shinto religion of Japan. In some differing interpretations, Ukemochi is referred to as both male and female. When shown in other forms, U ...

, who is often conflated with Ukemochi.

Gallery

File:Tsukiyomi-no-miya(Naiku) 02.JPG, The Betsugu Tsukiyomi-no-miya Sanctuary of Kotaijingu (Naiku) at Ise city File:Tsukuyomi shrine Kyoto.jpg, A shrine to Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto at

Matsunoo-taisha , formerly , is a Shinto shrine located at the far western end of Shijō Street, approximately 1.3 kilometers south of the Arashiyama district of Kyoto. It is home to a spring at the base of the mountain, Arashiyama, that is believed to be blesse ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

References

External links

* *Tsukiyomi on th
Japanese History Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsukuyomi-No-Mikoto Japanese deities Lunar gods Shinto kami Personifications

Gallery

See also

References

External links