is a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

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 contac ...

. 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 ...

'' (''Records of Ancient Matters'') and the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'', the bad behavior of Susano'o, the Japanese god of storms, drove his sister

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

into the Ama-no-Iwato cave. The land was thus deprived of light.Philippi, Donald L. 1968/1969. ''Kojiki''. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press and Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. In order to get Amaterasu out of the cave, all the other eight million gods threw a party outside with wisdom of Omoikane. The goddess Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto performed a lewd dance, eliciting laughter. Amaterasu grew curious about the source of amusement and peeked out of the cave entrance. She became fascinated by her own reflection in the mirror Yata no Kagami which the other gods had crafted and hung before the cave for that purpose, and stood transfixed. Ame-no-Tajikarao then forced the cave open and the world was bathed in light once again. As Amaterasu stepped out of the cave, a holy seal was applied to it so that she could never go back into hiding.

Higashihongu

The main shrine called Higashihongu (east hall) and a hall of worship called Nishihongu (west hall) face each other across the Iwato River gorge. The Ama-no-Iwato cave is an object of worship in festivals and is a rock cave on the other side of the Iwato River from Nishihongu. You can see the cave from Nishihongu after participating in a Shinto ritual for purification. Photography of any kind is prohibited. The grounds contain many plants and old trees. There are also rare ancient

ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the English common name. The order to which the genus belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, , and ''Ginkgo'' is n ...

and '' Magnolia compressa'' trees, which have been considered sacred in Japan since ancient times.

References

Places in Japanese mythology Japanese gods Shinto kami {{Japan-myth-stub

Higashihongu

See also

References