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Table illustrating the kami that appeared during the creation of Heaven and Earth according to Japanese mythology.

In Japanese mythology, the Japanese Creation Myth (天地開闢, Tenchi-kaibyaku, Literally "Creation of Heaven & Earth") is the story describes the legendary creation of the world. The central characters of the myth are Izanami and Izanagi who create the Japanese archipelago and give birth to various kami.[1][2]

The myth tells the origins of harae.[1]

The primary sources for the myth come from the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki.[3] Which differ from each other in various ways.[4]

The myth has elements from Chinese philosophy and Korean mythology.

Myth[edit]

At the beginning the universe was immersed in a beaten and shapeless kind of matter (chaos), sunk in silence. Later there were sounds indicating the movement of particles. With this movement, the light and the lightest particles rose but the particles were not as fast as the light and could not go higher. Thus, the light was at the top of the Universe, and below it, the particles formed first the clouds and then Heaven, which was to be called Takamagahara (高天原, "High Plain of Heaven"). The rest of the particles that had not risen formed a huge mass, dense and dark, to be called Earth.[5]

When Takamagahara was formed, the first three gods appeared:[6]

Then these gods:

These five deities, known as Kotoamatsukami, appeared spontaneously, did not have a definite sex, did not have partners (hitorigami) and went into hiding after their emergence. These gods are not mentioned in the rest of the mythology.[6]

Kamiyonanayo[edit]

Main article: Kamiyonanayo
Izanagi and Izanami giving birth to Japan

Then two other gods arose:[7]

These gods also emerged spontaneously, did not have a defined sex, did not have a partner, and hid at birth.[7]

Then, five pairs of gods were born (for a total of ten deities), each pair consisting of a male deity and a female deity:[7]

  • Uhijini [ja] (宇比地邇神) and his younger sister (and wife) Suhijini [ja] (須比智邇神),
  • Tsunuguhi (角杙神) and his younger sister (and wife) Ikuguhi (活杙神),
  • Ōtonoji (意富斗能地神) and his younger sister (and wife) Ōtonobe (大斗乃弁神),
  • Omodaru (於母陀流神) and his younger sister (and wife) Aya-kashiko-ne (阿夜訶志古泥神) and
  • Izanagi (伊邪那岐神) and his younger sister (and wife) Izanami (伊邪那美神)

All deities from Kuni-no-koto-tachi to Izanami are collectively called Kamiyonanayo (神世七代, "Seven Divine Generations").[7]

Following the creation of Heaven and Earth and the appearance of these primordial gods, Izanagi and Izanami went on to create the Japanese archipelago (Kuniumi) and gave birth to a large number of gods (Kamiumi).[8]

Kuniumi[edit]

Main article: Kuniumi

Kamiumi[edit]

Main article: Kamiumi

Anaylsis[edit]

According to David Leeming the story is distinctly Japanese in it’s importance on formality, the relationship between the sexes, and the presence of taboos.[9]

Elements from other cultures[edit]

Izanami and Izanagi are the personification of yin and yang.[3] Parts of the myth have similarities to that of Korean myths.[10]

Themes[edit]

A fundamental theme to the story is the creation of order out of chaos and the uncertainty of death.[11]

Incest[edit]

Scholars of Japanese mythology have noted the incestuous themes of the creation myth as represented in the Kojiki, and the first scholar to write about Izanagi and Izanami as siblings was Oka Masao.[12] Izanami is referred to in the Kojiki as Izanagi's imo (meaning both wife or little sister in Japanese) and other scholars dispute that the pair were siblings.[12] Hattori Asake, another scholar, argued that Oka was correct because he drew evidence from another myth about humans who had incestuous relations because of a great flood wiping out the rest of the human population.[12] Essentially, Hattori said the myth Oka used as evidence was too different to be the origin of the Izanagi and Izanami myth.[12] In the Man'yōshū, Izanami is also referred to as imo by the compiler, suggesting that the compiler believed that Izanami was Izanagi's sister.[12] While scholars disagree about the nature of Izanami and Izanagi's relationships, the gods Amaterasu and Susanoo, children of Izanagi, were sibling gods who created children together in a contest preceding Susanoo's desecration of Amaterasu's home which leads to her hiding in a cave.[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Izanagi and Izanami | Japanese mythology, creation myth, Kami | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  2. ^ Leeming 2009, p. 155-157.
  3. ^ a b Leeming 2009, p. 155.
  4. ^ Frydman 2022, pp. Chapter 2.
  5. ^ Chamberlain 2008, pp. 67–70
  6. ^ a b Chamberlain 2008, p. 71
  7. ^ a b c d Chamberlain 2008, p. 72
  8. ^ Chamberlain 2008, pp. 73–86
  9. ^ Leeming 2009, p. 157.
  10. ^ Beasley 2000, p. 11.
  11. ^ Prentiss 2003, p. 155-157.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Murakami, Fuminobu (1988). "Incest and Rebirth in Kojiki". Monumenta Nipponica. 43 (4): 455–463. doi:10.2307/2384797. ISSN 0027-0741. JSTOR 2384797.

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

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