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AMATERASU ŌMIKAMI
天照大御神
Sun Goddess
Amaterasu Ō-mikami is the Sun Goddess in Shinto folklore. According to legend, Amaterasu was destined to rule the Takamaga-hara (Plain of High Heaven). For companionship, the Sun Goddess had a group of maidens, who joined her in weaving, tending the heavenly rice fields, and other pursuits.
The Sun Goddess also had a younger brother, Susanowo, who had a decidedly vicious streak. Susanowo tromped through his sister’s rice paddies and made obscene gestures at the Sun Goddess’s maidens. He committed his worst affront when he butchered the colt of Heaven, flayed it, and threw the skin into the room where his sister and her maidens were working.
For this outrage Susanowo was banished; but Amaterasu was so disturbed that she hid herself away in a cave. Without the Sun Goddess, the universe fell under a spell of darkness. Traumatized by this state of affairs, a group consisting of both people and gods gathered outside the cave in which the Sun Goddess was hiding, and tried to coax her to come out. However, Amaterasu would not be persuaded. Finally, one of the other goddesses disrobed and performed a risqué dance. This apparently did the trick. The Sun Goddess returned to the plain of High Heaven, and the universe was restored to its normal state.
Six generations later, Amaterasu’s descendent, Jinmu, became the first emperor of Japan. This legend establishes the divinity of the emperor according to the tenets of the Shinto faith. Shinto became the official state religion in 1868, when Emperor Meiji took the throne.
