Japanese Mythology: Did you mean...?

The “Ancient Japan” initiative at Ancient History Encyclopedia arose as there is a dearth of open access and digitally curated information concerning early Japanese history available online and in English. East...

In Japanese folklore the Shichifukujin are the Seven Lucky Gods who may also be known as the Seven Gods of Happiness or the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. The seven gods are in fact of diverse origin as some are originally from Buddhism...

The Meiji Restoration was a political event that took place in Japan in 1868. In it, the Tokugawa family, a warrior clan that had ruled Japan for more than 260 years, was overthrown by a group of political activists who proclaimed...

Wako (aka wokou and waegu) is a term used to refer to Japanese (but also including Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese) pirates who plagued the seas of East Asia from Korea to Indonesia, especially between the...

Japanese troops enter French Indochina and head towards Lang Son in what is northern Vietnam today. During 1940, Japan began to encroach on French Indochina so that they could cut off the supplies that were...

This ancient Japanese incense burner has a lion-shaped weight at the end of its handle. It was cast in bronze and dates from the 8th century CE during the Nara period in Japanese history. (Tokyo National Museum)

Drawing of a Japanese kappa, supposedly caught in 1801 in Mito domain. Illustration from an 1836 copy by Reikai of Suiko Kōryaku by Koga Tōan. The inscription reads: Height 3.5 shaku, weight 12 kamme. The chest protudes...

A drawing of a kappa, a Japanese mythological water sprite, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) as part of his wider work, the Hokusai Manga, which he began publishing in 1812.

This is a portion of the "Bussetsu zoho ketsugi kyo," which was a sutra copied by hand in ink on paper in 12th-century CE Japan. (Tokyo National Museum)

This is one of 60 scrolls from a transcription of the "Avatamsaka Sutra." Ruled lines in gold pigment segment the paper, which is decorated with flakes of god. At some point, the top and bottom of this scroll...