is, in

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 ...

, the world between

Takamagahara In Japanese mythology, , also read as Takaamanohara, Takamanohara, Takaamagahara, or Takaamahara, is the abode of the heavenly gods (''amatsukami''). Often depicted as located up in the sky, it is believed to be connected to the Earth by the bridge ...

(

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

) and

Yomi is the Japanese language, Japanese word for the underworld, land of the dead (World of Darkness). According to Shinto mythology as related in ''Kojiki'', this is where the dead go in the afterlife. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is ...

(

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

). It was created by the god

Susanoo-no-Mikoto __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (, ; Historical kana orthography, historical orthography: , ), often referred to by the honorific title Susanoo-no-Mikoto (), is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical an ...

, after he was driven out of Takamagahara by the gods for his violent actions. In time, the term became another word for the country or the location of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is mentioned in both 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 ...

'' and the ''Nihon Shoki'' in the land-ceding myth about Ōnamuchi. The term can be used interchangeably with Toyoashihara no Nakatsukuni (豊葦原中国). There is a great dispute among historians about where exactly in Japan the term originally referred to. Perhaps the term was considered appropriate to describe Japan because the land was damp and covered with

reeds Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

(葦) in ancient times. The meaning of 中 (middle) in the word 中つ国 is based upon the world view of ancient peoples, where 中つ国 indicates the real world or country between

in the heavens and Yomi no kuni in the netherworld.

References

Bibliography

* Names of Japan Places in Japanese mythology {{Shinto-stub

See also

References

Bibliography