1. Japanese Mythology
Textbook pg. 110

2. Historical Background
10,000 BCE – Earliest known pottery vessels made in Honshu
660 BCE – Jimmu-tenno (“Divine Warrior Emperor”) is the legendary first human emperor of Japan
500 BCE – Rice cultivation spreads to Japan from China
57 CE – Ambassador from king of Nu is recognized by China’s Han emperor.
247 CE – Civil war between rival kingdoms tears Japan into regional powers.
260 CE – Temple of Amaterasu founded in Ise, the most sacred and revered shrine of the Shinto religion.

3. History Cont. 478 CE – First Shinto shrine appears
538 CE – Buddhism reaches Japan via China and Korea
592 CE – Conflict between clans over Buddhism and local deities leads to execution of the emperor.
685 CE – Buddhism becomes state religion of Japan
741 CE – Buddhist temples are established throughout the land by government decree.
January 1, 1946 CE – Emperor Hirohito denied in own divinity thus ending the official state Shinto.

4. Shinto Shinto means “way of the gods.”
No written record of Shinto’s origin exists.
Shinto is the acknowledgement of the force of the gods, known as Kami.
Applied to such processes as creativity, disease, growth, and healing.
Emphasized rituals over philosophy.
Pays little mind to life after death.
State religion from

5. Shinto Cont.
Shinto emphasized rigorous moral standards of honesty, kindness, and respect for one’s elders and superiors.
According to Shinto mythology, the sun goddess Amaterasu was the ancestor to Japan’s imperial family.
In the late 1800s, the Japanese government invented state Shinto, which stressed patriotism and the divine origins of the Japanese Emperor.
After World War II, the emperor denied that he was divine thus abolishing the state Shinto.

6. Creation Myth Before there was heaven and earth, there was darkness.
In the midst of this darkness was a swirling mass in the shape of an enormous egg (or jellyfish depending on the translation) that contained all things.
Over the centuries the lighter and purer part drew itself away from the heavier, denser part.
The heavy material (IN or Yin) settled to form the earth.
The lighter rose to form the Heavens (YO or Yang)

7. Primal Couple
IN (feminine) and YO (masculine) were opposites, but one could not exist without the other, because all things in the world have the properties of one of these two forces.
From the separation of IN and YO the first beings appeared, Izanagi (“The August Male”) and his sister Izanami (“The August Female”).

8. Creation of the World
Izanagi and Izanami found themselves on the floating bridge of heaven and peered down into the darkness below.
Below them was only water, so Izanagi thrust his jewel-tipped spear into the waters and when he drew it up again the drips of water formed the island of Onogoro (“Created Land”).
The two gods descended to this island to live as husband and wife and to build the lands together.

9. Ancient Sex Ed.
Izanami, the IN force, believe that there was a part of her body that was empty.
Izanagi, the YO force, believe that there was a part of his body that was too much.
Therefore they completed each other and became one as husband and wife.
Their first children were seven islands, which together with the island already created formed the “Great Eight Island Country” (Japan).

10. Offspring
Izanami gave birth to the sun goddess, Amaterasu, who was so radiant that they sent her to rule in heaven.
The next child, Tsuki-Yomi, (The Moon god) was made to be Amaterasu’s consort and to rule by her side in heaven,
Izanagi and Izanami had several other children who became gods or the elements but not much is documented about them.
Izanami’s last child, Homusubi, was the god of fired and burned Izanami’s genitals so badly that she fell sick and died.
Izanami was taken to the underworld (Yomi), while Izanagi left all of their children and grew old on a lonely far away island.

11. Yomi: Land of Darkness
Yomi was the Japanese equivalent to the underworld.
Dead bodies were placed in stone-lined tombs with boulders or rocks sealing the entrance.
The idea was once the soul of the departed ate the food of the underworld, they became part of the underworld in the form of a demon and the tomb sealed them up away from the living.

12. Amaterasu Most significant deity. Goddess of the sun.
Drove away evil force with her heavenly light.
Believed to be the ancestor of Jimmu, the legendary first emperor of Japan.
This perpetuated the belief that the Japanese emperors were themselves divine.

13. Benten Goddess of luck and wealth
Also associated with music and elegance.
Painfully shy
Married a dragon prince from the dragon people that surrounded Japan.
Dragon is revolting but she married him out of a sense of duty.

14. Hachiman
God of War
Protector of the nation of Japan, and the guardian of children.
Over a third of the shrines in Japan were dedicated to Hachiman.

15. Inari God of rice and farmers
Often depicted on a sack of rice and flanked by two foxes who are his messengers.
Generous god.
Oversees wealth and merchants

16. O-Kuni-Nushi God of Medicine and Sorcery
Invented medicine and healing and passed it on to humanity.
Knows everything that is happening in the world.

17. O-Wata-Tsumi God of the Sea Often depicted as a dragon
Considered to also be an ancestor of Japan’s first legendary emperor, Jimmu.

18. Susano God of Storms Divine embodiment of Disorder
Sometimes took the form of a dragon to create disorder and chaos.
Thought to be inspiration for the classic movie monster, Godzilla.

19. Tsuki-Yomi God of the moon Entrusted with the realms of the night.
Guardian of the dead.
Yomi, Japanese underworld, is in his name.

20. Uke-Mochi Goddess of Food Food spewed from his mouth constantly.
Associated with the harvest and the hunt.

21. Demons
Those who sin in Japanese mythology are sent to Jigoku, the Japanese hell.
Souls trapped in Jigoku are transformed into Oni.
Oni are demons that are responsible for all sorts of misery, including disease and famine.
Oni are also capable of stealing souls of the living and possessing innocent people.