Japanese Mythology

According to Japanese mythology, the world begins with the birth of seven deities. These seven deities arise and then pass away in what the Japanese call the, "plain of high heaven." After this, five more couples were born, the last named, Izanagi and Izanami, who were ordered by their peers to consolidate the earth, which at this point was a chaos of muddy water. Izanagi and Izanami stood on the bridge of high heaven, thought to be the rainbow, and dipped their jeweled spear in the murky water below. When pulling the spear out of a piece of mud dropped of the tip and is said to have formed the island of Onogoro.

Izanagi and Izanami then moved down to the island, built a house and consummated a child. The first child was born a misfit and was abandoned in a boat in the reeds. Their second child, the island of Awa, was considered to be a misfit also. Soon the couple learnt what was being done form the other deities and reckoned their problems, Izanagi spoke first, then gave birth to the eight main islands of Japan.

This couple had many more children till Izanami died while giving birth to her last child, The God of Fire. More bodies sprang up from her decomposing body, and even more sprung up from Izanagi's tears of sorrow. So mad, Izanagi cut off the God of Fire's head, and from the blood and limbs, sprung yet more divine beings.

Meanwhile, Izanami had gone to the underworld, where her husband called for her return, she told Izanagi to wait in patience, but he could wait no more and went to Hades. He found his wife, a hideous rotten heap, and fled from the underworld, blocking the entrance with a rock.

Once out of the Underworld Izanagi felt he had to wash his body from the impurities of the underworld. In a river he washed himself, from his clothes were born more deities. The God of Wind, Susa-no-wo, sprang from his nose, from the right eye came the God of the moon, and from his left eye, Amaterasu Omikami, the Sun Goddess, was born who is the principle deity of Japan and is said to be a direct ancestor of the Imperial House.

The Sun Goddess and her brother

Susa-no-wo had refused to obey his father and was banished from the high heavens. Before leaving he wanted to say goodbye to his sister, The Sun Goddess. His sister was very untrustful of her brother and asked Susa-no-wo to prove his good faith in her. He offered to bring forth male deities by a miracle; if they should turn out to be female, then she could consider him insincere. Susa-no-wo then produced five males from a string of jewels, which his sister had given to him earlier. While this was happening Amaterasu Sun-Goddess) took her brother sword broke it in three and crunching these in her mouth, spat out three goddesses. These five males and eight females become to be known as the ancestors of the highest Japanese nobility.

So excited over his success, Susa-no-wo became to commit various acts of mischief, and at one point finally scared his sister, the Sun Goddess. Amaterasu so scared retired herself to a cave on earth, thus depriving the world of light.

All the gods were in despair. They put together a strategy to get her out of the cave by arousing her curiosity by a comic dance and a mirror, which finally lured her from the cave. Susa-no-wo was punished for what he had down and was banished from heaven, again. Before he finally left he killed the Goddess of Food, whose limbs are said to have been turned into the seeds of useful plants.

Once out of the heavens, Amaterasu began to pacify the celestial realm. Once concluding this she turned to the earth, the Islands of Japan. After three absorptive attempts to establish her rule she sends her grandson Ninigi down with eight of his companions to assume the power on earth. Ninigi descended to Kyushu and married a beautiful girl there. He had with him three sacred insignia of imperial power, given to him by Amaterasu: the mirror, Kagami, the sword found by Susa-no-wo in a serpent's belly, and the Jewel of Yasaka.

Major Gods and Goddess

Susano, the storm God

In English his name translates into, Ð''Swift-Impetuous-Deity' and also known as the Ð''Impetuous Male.' His role also is note entirely limited to his role as a storm god. Amaterasu banished him from her celestial country and he went to live on the Province of Izumo on the coast of the Sea of Japan in Honshu. Here he is said to have planted the forests of Korea from his beard and therefore he is always associated with forests in general. He is depicted as being heavily bearded and is perhaps connected with the hairy Ainu. (Piggott, 15)

Susano's grandson is also part of Susano's inheritance. It is said that his grandson wanted to extend the territory of the province. He changed the coastline to its present shape of today it is said by dragging towards him pieces of land from Korea and also certain islands off the Izumo coast by means of ropes connected to a mountain. These portions all-together form the peninsula of Izumo.

Inari, the Rice God

Inari, the God of Rice is sometimes shown as a bearded man, but there seems to be some confusion about his sex, because sometimes he is shown as a goddess. The messenger of Inari is the fox and therefore, he is sometimes depicted as a fox also. Inari is regarded as the patron of sword smiths and in recent times, or traders generally.

It is said that the God of the Rice Fields comes down from his mountain in the spring and returns to it in the autumn, this may have some connections with the old Shinto beliefs that the mountains possess the spirits of gods. (Piggott, 58)

The Seven Gods of Luck

The seven Gods of Luck or Good Fortune are naturally very popular among the Japanese.

Ð"? Hotei is a peculiarly Buddhist one. His distinguishing feature is a huge stomach, below which his garments sag. He is a symbol of good nature and his protruding abdomen is believed to be symbolic of his large soul.

Ð"? Jurojin is the god of longevity. He is always shown in the company of a crane, a tortoise or a stag. He has a white beard and is usually carrying a shaku (sacred staff) on to which is fastened a scroll containing the wisdom of the world. Jurojin also enjoys sake, but in moderation. He is never ever a drunkard

Ð"? Fukurokuju has a long and very narrow head, and the luck he has combines longevity and wisdom. His body is very short and his head is often shown being longer than his legs. He is said to have actually originated form China since in his mortal life he was a Chinese philosopher and prophet.

Ð"? Bishamon

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