Search Results: Amaterasu

Amaterasu Omikami ('the Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven') is the sun goddess and most important deity of the Shinto religion. Amaterasu is the ruler of Takama no Hara (the High Celestial Plain), the domain of the kami or spirits. The most...

A print by Utagawa Toyokuni III showing the sun goddess Amaterasu, the most important deity of the Japanese Shinto religion. Here she emerges from self-exile in a cave. The figure on the right is most probably the god Ame-no-tajikara-wo.

Shinto means 'way of the gods' and it is the oldest religion in Japan. Shinto's key concepts include purity, harmony, family respect, and subordination of the individual before the group. The faith has no founder or prophets and there is...

The Ise Grand Shrine or Ise Jingu, located in the heart of a sacred forest in the Mie Prefecture of Japan, is the most important Shinto shrine in the country and is dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu with a separate shrine dedicated to...

Ninigi-no-Mikoto, or simply Ninigi, is the grandson of the supreme Shinto deity Amaterasu, the sun goddess. He is the son of Ama-no-Oshiho-mimi and, descending to earth as the first just ruler, he brought with him gifts from Amaterasu as...

Take-haya-Susa-no-wo or Susanoo is the storm god of the Shinto religion. He is the younger brother of the sun goddess Amaterasu and infamous for his mischievous and sometimes destructive behaviour. Consequently, Susanoo has a reputation for...

The emperor of Japan is a position as the head of state which traditionally dates back to the 7th century BCE and the legendary figure of Emperor Jimmu (r. 660-585 BCE). Emperors came to be known as the Tenno or 'heavenly sovereign' in reference...

An 1857 CE print by Utagawa Toyokuni III showing the sun goddess Amaterasu, the most important deity of the Japanese Shinto religion. Here she emerges from self-exile in a cave. The figure on the right is most probably the god Ame-no-tajikara-wo...

The architecture of the 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan varies depending on geographical location, the deity worshipped, and the date of foundation. The earlier Shinto shrines tend to be simpler and less decorative affairs than those which...

Yomi, or Yomi-tsu-kuni, is the underworld of the Shinto religion, even if it forms no part of Shinto theology and appears only in ancient myths as told in the 8th-century CE Kojiki, notably the story of the creator gods Izanami and Izanagi...