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Izanagi-no-Mikoto
Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally referred to with a divine honorific 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 of primordial deities that manifested after the formation of heaven and earth. Izanagi and Izanami are held to be the creators of the Japanese archipelago and the progenitors of many deities, which include the sun goddess Amaterasu, the moon deity Tsukuyomi, and the storm god Susanoo. He is a god that can be said to be the beginning of the current Japanese imperial family. Name His name is given in the () both as ''Izanagi-no-Kami'' (伊邪那岐神) and ''Izanagi-no-Mikoto'' (伊邪那岐命), while the ''Nihon Shoki'' (720 AD) refers to him as ''Izanagi-no-Mikoto'', with the name written in different characters (伊弉諾尊). The names ''Izanagi'' (''Izanaki'') and ''Izanami'' are often interpreted as being ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Izanami
, formally referred to with the honorific , 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 after the formation of heaven and earth. Izanami and Izanagi are held to be the creators of the Japanese archipelago and the progenitors of many deities, which include the sun goddess Amaterasu, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the storm god Susanoo. In mythology, she is the direct ancestor of the Japanese imperial family. In Shinto and Japanese mythology, Izanami gave humans death, so Izanami is sometimes seen as a shinigami. Name Her name is given in the () both as ''Izanami-no-Kami'' (伊弉冉神) and ''Izanami-no-Mikoto'' (伊邪那美命), while the (720 AD) refers to her as ''Izanami-no-Mikoto'', with the name written in different characters (伊弉冉尊). The names ''Izanagi'' (''Izanaki'') and ''Izanami'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsukuyomi
, or simply or , is the moon kami 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 in pronunciation of ''yomi''. An alternative interpretation is that his name is a combination of and . ''-no-Mikoto'' is a common honorific appended to the names of Kami; it may be understood as similar to the English honorific 'the Great'. In ''Man'yōshū'', Tsukuyomi's name is sometimes rendered as , implying that he is male. Myth Tsukuyomi was the second of the born when Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the kami who created the first land of Onogoroshima, was cleansing himself of his kegare while bathing after escaping the underworld 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 imperial line. It is claimed in its preface to have been composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Genmei in the early 8th century (711–712), and thus is usually considered to be the oldest extant literary work in Japan. The myths contained in the as well as the are part of the inspiration behind many practices and unified "Shinto orthodoxy". Later, they were incorporated into Shinto practices such as the purification ritual. Composition It is believed that the compilation of various genealogical and anecdotal histories of the imperial (Yamato) court and prominent clans began during the reigns of Emperors Keitai and Kinmei in the 6th century, with the first concerted effort at historical compilation of which we have record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kotoamatsukami
In Shinto, is the collective name for the first gods which came into existence at the time of the creation of the universe. They were born in Takamagahara, the world of Heaven at the time of the creation. Unlike the later gods, these deities were born without any procreation. The three deities that first appeared were: * - Central Master * - High Creator * - Divine Creator A bit later, two more deities came into existence: *Umashiashikabihikoji Japanese Wiki (Corpus). - Energy * (天之常立神) Japanese Wiki (Corpus). - Heaven The next generation of gods that followed was the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kami
are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, beings and the qualities that these beings express, and/or the spirits of venerated dead people. Many ''kami'' are considered the ancient ancestors of entire Japanese clans, clans (some ancestors became ''kami'' upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of ''kami'' in life). Traditionally, great leaders like the Emperor of Japan, Emperor could be or became ''kami''. In Shinto, ''kami'' are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, and good and evil characteristics. They are manifestations of , the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. ''Kami'' are believed to be "hidden" from this world, and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Mythology
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contact with Chinese and various Indian myths (such as Buddhist and Hindu mythology) are also key influences in Japanese religious belief. Japanese myths are tied to the topography of the archipelago as well as agriculturally-based folk religion, and the Shinto pantheon holds uncountable ''kami'' (" god(s)" or "spirits"). Two important sources for Japanese myths, as they are recognized today, are the and the . The , 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 deities from a Buddhist perspective. One notable feature of Japanese mythology is its explanation of the origin of the Imperial Family, which has been used h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamiyonanayo
In Japanese mythology, the are the seven generations of ''kami'' that emerged after the formation of heaven and earth. According to the Kojiki, these deities appeared after the Kotoamatsukami, which appeared at the time of the creation of the universe. 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 heaven and earth. 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 and Izanami were the couple that would be responsible for the creation of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Archipelago
The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest along the Pacific coast of the Eurasian continent, and consists of three island arcs from north to south: the Northeastern Japan Arc, the Southwestern Japan Arc, and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu Island Arc. The Daitō Islands, the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc, the Kuril Islands, and the Nanpō Islands neighbor the archipelago. Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the list of island countries, fourth-largest island country in the world with . It has an Exclusive economic zone of Japan, 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 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historical Kana Orthography
The , or , refers to the in general use until orthographic reforms after World War II; the current orthography was adopted by Cabinet order in 1946. By that point the historical orthography was no longer in accord with Japanese pronunciation. It differs from modern usage ('' Gendai kana-zukai'') in the number of characters and the way those characters are used. There was considerable opposition to the official adoption of the current orthography, on the grounds that the historical orthography conveys meanings better, and some writers continued to use it for many years after. The historical orthography is found in almost all Japanese dictionaries, such as '' Kōjien.'' In the current edition of the ''Kōjien,'' if the historical orthography is different from the modern spelling, the old spelling is printed in tiny ''katakana'' between the modern ''kana'' and ''kanji'' transcriptions of the word. Ellipses are used to save space when the historical and modern spellings are id ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanji
are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequently-derived Syllabary, syllabic scripts of and . The characters have Japanese pronunciations; most have two, with one based on the Chinese sound. A few characters were invented in Japan by constructing character components derived from other Chinese characters. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan made its own efforts to simplify the characters, now known as , by a process similar to China's simplified Chinese characters, simplification efforts, with the intention to increase literacy among the general public. Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has published character lists periodically to help direct the education of its citizenry through the myriad Chinese characters that exist. There are nearly 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sendai Kuji Hongi
, or , is a historical Japanese text. It was generally believed to have been one of the earliest Japanese histories until the middle of the Edo period, when scholars such as Tokugawa Mitsukuni and Tada Yoshitoshi successfully contended that it was an imitation based on the , the and the ''Kogo Shūi''. Scholarship on the generally considers it to contain some genuine elements, specifically that Book 5 preserves traditions of the Mononobe and Owari clans, and that Book 10 preserves the earlier historical record the '' Kokuzō Hongi''. Ten volumes in length, it covers the history of ancient Japan through Empress Suiko, third daughter of Emperor Kinmei. The preface is supposedly written by Soga no Umako (+626). While it includes many quotes from (712) and (720), volumes five and ten contain unique materials. The overall composition is considered as having been compiled between 807 and 936. The contains 10 volumes, but there are 3 false documents also called , produced in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
