DeLancey 1 Kayla DeLancey Professor Stephenson REL 2300 Word Count: 635 January 20, 2013 Amaterasu: The

Sun Goddess

Shinto is a religion of Japan that worships the power of nature and spirits in equal harmony. Shinto believes deities, or spirits, called kami represent all elements of nature, but there is one deity that plays a more powerful role than them all, Amaterasu. Amaterasu is the female spirit of the sun and is significant to the Japanese myth relating to Heaven. There is a Shinto legend that tells the story about the origins of their religion and of Amaterasu. The myth of Amaterasu is an intriguing story that tells how she came into being, her important role in Japanese history, and how her importance is still renewed today. The birth of Amaterasu began with two deities named Izanami and Izanagi. Izanami and Izanagi are the twin creator deities of Japanese myth and created the first islands of Japan. Izanami and Izanagi gave birth to many deities, but the last deity was a fire god and sent Izanami to her death into the underworld. Izanagi tried bringing Izanami back from the underworld, but he was too late. On returning from the underworld Izanagi had to bathe himself in the sea to purify from the pollutions that were upon him. The Sun-Goddess was born from the washing of his left eye...i

DeLancey 1 Amaterasu came into being from Izanagi cleansing himself in the seas. Amaterasus birth begins a whole new importance in the legends of Shinto religion. Next starts the important role that Amaterasu plays in Japanese history. According to legend, To the Sun-Goddess Izanagi gave charge the Plain of HighHeaven...ii Amaterasu provides growth and purity to the world, but her brother Susa no wo provides the complete opposite. In this story Susa no wo is characterized as chaos and disorder and causes Amaterasu to retreat into a cave.iii When the sun goddess goes into hiding this brings about chaos because there is no sun to keep growth and purity; everything became dead and polluted. This shows the true importance of Amaterasu showing that when the sun hides, darkness is the result. Another interesting importance Amaterasu plays in the story is when she comes out of hiding. The sun goddess, Amaterasu, was curious of the noise outside the cave and popped her head wondering why the other gods were so jolly when the world was in complete darkness. Amaterasu restores all that was polluted and dead and from coming out of hiding and she is expected to continue this important role in Japanese history. Lastly Amaterasus importance of growth and renewal in Japanese history is still honored today at the shrine buildings at Ise. Today the Shinto shrines at Ise embody some of the most treasured aesthetic values associated with Japan.iv The sun goddess was said to be too powerful to be worshiped within the palace grounds and that the shrine to the sun goddess herself must be moved; in which her shrine did get moved to Ise. This started the continued renewal process of the shrine structures at Ise. The first rebuilding occurred in 690 C.E., and with the exception of

DeLancey 1 a few hiatuses, the principal shrine structures have been rebuilt approximately every twenty years up to the present day v The architecture is one with nature and is still being restored to this day just like Amaterasu restored life in Japanese history. In Japan, Shinto is still believed in today and the powers of nature are still just as strong. Purification and cleanliness is still a key to order and nature. The shrines of Ise show that the Japanese legend of Amaterasu is of great importance in Japanese history and to Shinto. This all relates back to how intriguing the myth of Amaterasu is because it tells how she came into being, her important role in Japanese history, and how her importance is still renewed today.

i ii

W. G. Aston, Japanese Myth, Folklore 10.3 (1899): 302. Aston, 302.

Alan L. Miller, Ame No Miso-Ori Me (The Heavenly Weaving Maiden): The Cosmic Weaver in Early Shinto Myth and Ritual, History of Religions 24.1 (1984): 31.
iii

Jonathan M. Reynolds, Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition, The Art Bulletin 83.2 (2001): 316.
iv v

Reynolds, 316-317.

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Works Cited

Aston, W. G. Japanese Myth. Folklore 10.3 (1899): 294-324. Web. 30 Jan. 2013. Miller, Alan L. Ame No Miso-Ori Me (The Heavenly Weaving Maiden): The Cosmic Weaver in Early Shinto Myth and Ritual. History of Religions 24.1 (1984): 27-48. Web. 30 Jan. 2013. Reynolds, Jonathan M. Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition. The Art Bulletin 83.2 (2001): 316-341. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.