Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

chronology Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...

, the is the period preceding the accession of

Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the and . His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture"Emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...

. The kamiyo myths are chronicled in the "upper roll" (''Kamitsumaki'') of 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 in the first and second chapters of 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 reigns of Emperor Jimmu and the subsequent Emperors are considered the .

Origin

According to early mythology, the Japanese islands were created by

Izanagi 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 ...

and

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 ...

, meaning "he who invites" and "she who invites". They find themselves on a heavenly golden bridge staring down at earth and its oceans. With their jeweled spear, called ''

Amenonuhoko , also known simply as the , is the name given to the spear in Shinto used to raise the primordial land-mass, '' Onogoro-shima'', from the sea. It is often represented as a naginata. According to the ''Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or ...

'', given by the gods or kami before them, they dip the spear into the ocean, creating the islands of Japan, Onogoro Island (“spontaneous-congealed island”). Descending down from the skies, Izanagi and Izanami create their home and create a central Heavenly August pillar. Deciding to populate the land, Izanagi circles the left side of the pillar while Izanami circles the right. Meeting each other on the other side of it, Izanami greets her love "oh, what a comely young man." Izanagi replies with "How delightfully, I have met a lovely maiden." Izanami being a woman speaking first to a man, the gods looked at this as inappropriate and cursed the couple by the children they bore. Their first child

Hiruko , also transliterated or called or , is the Japanese god of fishermen and luck. He is one of the , and the only one of the seven to originate purely from Japan without any Buddhist or Taoist influence. Origins as Hiruko In Feudal times, Ebisu' ...

was born as leech-like entity, had atrophic limbs, cast out by his parents via a boat of reeds down the river. Trying and trying again, they fail to conceive a proper child. The gods explain to them both about their curse and decide to give them another chance. Once again Izanagi and Izanami circle the pillar just as before, only Izanagi speaks first. Their mating now was fruitful. Izanami gave birth to the islands of '' Awaji'', ''Iyo'' (later

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

), '' Oki'', ''Tsukushi'' (later

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

), ''

Iki IKI may refer to: * Internationales Kulturinstitut, in Vienna * Iodine potassium-iodide, a chemical compound * Russian Space Research Institute, originally known as IKI RAN * Iki Airport, IATA code Iki or iki may refer to: * Iki Island, a Japane ...

'', '' Tsushima'', '' Sado'', and finally ''Yamato'' (later

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

), the largest. They named the land ''Oyashimakuni'', the Land of Eight Great Islands. After that, Izanami gave birth in quick succession to the other minor islands that surround the main ones, and to the main kami of sea and harbor, of wind, trees, mountains, and so on. Many other kami were born from Izanami’s womb such as

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 () ...

, the Sun Goddess. She was known as "Heaven-Illumine-of-Great-Deity”, and the Moon God,

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 ...

. His silver radiance was not so fair as the golden effulgence of his sister, the Sun Goddess. While both sit atop the heavens, they begin their sibling rivalry, quarreling and fighting, they decide they can no longer see each other face to face, thus creating day and night, separating the two. The last kami conceived was the fire god, Kagutsuchi. During birth, Kagutsuchi severely burned Izanami and eventually slipped away into the Land of

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 ...

, 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 underworld. ...

. "The tears Izanagi shed at the death of his wife brought forth further deities. Angered by the sight of the newly born fire kami who had been the cause of Izanami’s death, Izanagi drew his sword and decapitated the infant. The blood coalescing on the sword brought forth eight martial kami, including the important ''

Takemikazuchi is a deity in Japanese mythology, considered a god of thunder and a sword god. He also competed in what is considered the first sumo wrestling match recorded in history. He is otherwise known as "The ''kami'' of Kashima" (Kashima-no-kami), the ...

-no-kami'' and his peer, '' Futsunushi-no-kami''. Eight more fierce kami of mountains and iron emerged from the infant’s body and limbs." In his anguish, Izanagi followed her to the underworld to rescue her and soon discovers nothing remained of his beloved Izanami but a rotting living-dead corpse, writhing with maggots, because of her partaking of the food of Yomi. Izanagi runs away in horror as Izanami shrieks in anger, sending hags of the underworld after him for his abandonment of her. Izanagi blocks the entrances of Yomi, proclaiming the end of their marriage. Izanami threatens him with, "Every day I shall kill one thousand people in the lands we created". Izanagi replies "Every day I shall create one thousand five hundred people".

In popular culture

In episode "Kirinmaru of the Dawn" of '' Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon'', Kirinmaru tells Moroha the quarter demon that "Akuru is a spirit who has been around since the Age of the Gods".

References

Bibliography

* Ashkenazi, Michael. ''Handbook Of Japanese Mythology''. ABC-CLIO, 2003. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 28 Mar. 2012. * S.H.D.D. "Izanagi And Izanami." Calliope 8.7 (1998): 12. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2012 *

Origin

In popular culture

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading