Ama-Tsu-Mara. The Japanese Shinto god of smiths. Together with Ishi-Kori-dome this cyclopean blacksmith god made the solar mirror which was used in enticing Amaterasu out of the cave in which she had been hiding.
Amaterasu. The Japanese Shinto sun goddess, ruler of the Plain of Heaven, whose name means 'shining heaven' or 'she who shines in the heavens'. She is the central figure in the Shinto pantheon and the Japanese Imperial family claims descent from her 1. She is the eldest daughter of Izanagi. She was so bright and radiant that her parents sent her up the Celestial Ladder to heaven, where she has ruled ever since. When her brother, the storm-god Susanowa, ravaged the earth she retreated to a cave because he was so noisy. She closed the cave with a large boulder. Her disappearance deprived the world of light and life. Demons ruled the earth. The other gods used everything in their power to lure her out, but to no avail. Finally it was Uzume who succeeded. The laughter of the gods when they watched her comical and obscene dances aroused Amaterasu's curiosity. When she emerged from her cave a streak of light escaped (a streak nowadays people call dawn). The goddess then saw her own brilliant reflection in a mirror which Uzume had hung in a nearby tree. When she drew closer for a better look, the gods grabbed her and pulled her out of the cave. She returned to the sky, and brought light back into the world. Later, she created rice fields, called inada, where she cultivated rice. She also invented the art of weaving with the loom and taught the people how to cultivate wheat and silkworms. Amaterasu's main sanctuary is Ise-Jingue situated on Ise, on the island of Honshu. This temple is pulled down every twenty years and then rebuild in its original form. In the inner sanctum she is represented by a mirror (her body). She is also called Omikami ("illustrious goddess") and Tensho Daijan (in Sino-Japanese pronunciation). She was called the 'illustrious ancestress of the Emperor' prior to 1945. At that time, the Japanese Emperor disclaimed any form of divine ancestry and polytheistic ancestor worship was no longer permitted.
Emma-o. The Japanese Buddhist god of the underworld (from the Sanskrit Yama). He lives in the Yellow Springs under the earth in a huge castle all covered in silver and gold, rosy pearls and other jewels. He is the judge of the dead and notes the sins of those who are sentenced to purgatory, and decides the degree of their punishments according to Buddha's Law. Anyone who has killed an innocent will be thrown into a boiling cauldron full of molten metal. However, if they have made a pilgrimage to each of the 33 shrines of the goddess of mercy Kannon, then all the evil they have done will disappear. Sometimes he is portrayed less pitiless and returns life to those who appear before him. On the last day of the Festival of the Dead, the sea is full of shoryobuni ('soul ships'), for on that day the high tide brings a flood of returning ghost who go back to their spirit world. The sea is luminescent with the light these souls emit, and their whispering can be heard. While the ghosts are embarking, no human ship should come near. Should one stray into the soul-covered sea, the ghosts will ask for pails. The sailors should only offer them pails without bottoms, for if they do not, the ghosts will sink their ship. Currently, Emma-o is used as a bogeyman to scare little children.
Inari. The Japanese god of food or goddess of rice. Inari is one of the most mysterious deities of Japan. He is both male and female. Each year he/she descends from a mountain to the rice fields. The fox is Inari's messenger and it is believed that he/she can assume a fox's shape. The deity may also assume the shape of a spider in order to teach wicked men a lesson. Inari is portrayed with a beard and carrying two bundles of rice. An Inari-shrine can be found in many Japanese towns and in many households he/she is venerated as a symbol of prosperity and friendship. These shrines are guarded by statues of foxes, divine messengers. Inari's central temple is Fushimi-Inara in south-east Kyoto city, built around 700 CE. Inara the rice-goddess is celebrated in a festival held during the first days of spring when cultivation begins. She may be identified with the Indian Lakshmi and the Javanese Dewi Sri. Inari is also sometimes identified with Uga-no-Mitama, the goddess of agriculture.
Izanami. In Japanese Shinto-mythology, a primordial goddess and personification of the Earth and darkness. Izanami ("the female who invites") is the wife and sister of Izanagi. Together they created Onogoro, the first island of the Japanese archipelago. She died giving birth to the fire god Kagutsuchi and since then she rules over the underworld. Her husband went there to take her back with him, but she refused. By sealing the entrance to the underworld she tried to imprison him, but Izanagi managed to escape. Furious, Izanami vowed to kill one thousand of Izanagi's subjects a day, and Izanagi vowed to create fifteen hundred new ones a day.
Kami-kaze. The Japanese god of the wind, storms and bad cold. When the Mongolian fleet tried to invade Japan, Kami-kaze blew the fleet away. In World War II, Japanese pilots where named after him. They flew suicidal missions with planes, loaded with bombs, crashing into enemy ships.
Kitsune-Tsuki. A fox spirit, or a demon who appears in the shape of a fox, in Japanese mythology. Kitsune-Tsuki ("Fox-Lunacy") is possession by such a spirit. It occurs mostly in women. The fox spirit enters through the fingernails or the breast.
Kumo. Various Japanese myths tell of huge spiders (kumo), bigger than a man, with eyes a big a saucers, sharp teeth, and long legs. These spiders hide in old castles, looking like innocent heaps of clothes. Unwary travelers, seeking shelter and laying down to sleep, will wake up to find themselves imprisoned by huge sticky spider webs. Those webs are too tough to be undone except by magic. One particular myth tells of a miser whose blood was sucked by a gigantic spider until he repented. The hero Reiko had various encounters with these monsters.
Maneki Neko. The beckoning cat. It is good-luck charm, in the form of a cat sitting on its haunches with one paw raised in a beckoning gesture. Japanese shopkeepers use it to lure customers into their shops.
Oni. Japanese demons who look like humans except that they have three eyes, big mouths, horns and sharp nails. They fly around and seize the souls of wicked persons on their deathbeds. To expel these demons, annually the oni-yarabi ceremony is held. Once the sage Nichiren ("sun-lotus") saw the Oni at work in the scourges of his time: enemy invasions, earthquakes and eclipses. He attributed the evil to the sinfulness of his Japanese contemporaries, so he founded a special school of Buddhism to reform the people.
Ryujin. "Luminous Being". The Japanese dragon god of the sea. Ryujin lives in Ryugu his palace at the bottom of the sea. His daughter Otohime (Toyo-Tame) married prince Hoori. The sea-king is depicted with a large mouth. Turtles are regarded as his messengers. Ryujin controls the tidal flows with the magical Tide Jewels. Many centuries ago the Empress Jingo planned an invasion of Korea. She prayed to Ryujin and sent the beach-god Isora to his temple. There he was given the Tide Jewels for the empress. The Japanese fleet then set sail towards Korea and the Korean fleet sailed out to confront them. When she saw the approaching fleet, Jingo quickly threw the Low Tide Jewel into the sea so that the tide receded at once and the Korean fleet was beached. The Koreans all jumped out onto the mudflats but at that moment the empress threw the High Tide Jewel and a tidal wave drowned the men. The tidal wave carried the Japanese fleet on to the coast, into the harbor and to victory. Later Ryujin personally presented the Tide Jewels, on a beautiful pink shell, to Prince Ojin, Empress Jingo's son.
Susanowa. The Japanese Shinto god of the winds, the storms, and the ocean, also the god of snakes. He was born from the nose of Izanagi, and was given dominion over the seas. His sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, is also his consort. Susanowa (Susanoto) is the personification of evil, but also a brave, if lawless and impetuous, god. His outrages are not limited to the ocean; he also ravages the land with his storms and he darkens the sky, thus angering the 'eight million deities (the kami). His little pestering, especially against his sister, proved his undoing: he looses his beard, his fingernails, and all his possessions, and is banished. He wanders the earth and has many adventures, such as the slaying of the eight-headed snake Koshi and by defeating this monster he obtained a powerful sword, called Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("grass cutting sword"). Some other feats were conquering Korea and wiping out the plague. Okuni-Nushi, his son, eventually tricked him out of the sword.
Tanuki. A spirit-creature similar to a mischievous raccoon or badger. It can change itself into a human being but also into a flask of sake.
Tsuki-yomi. The Japanese Shinto god of the moon, the brother of the sun-goddess Amaterasu. He was born from Izanagi's right eye, when he returned from the underworld. As soon as Tsuki-yomi was born he climbed up the Ladder to Heaven and rose majestically.
Uwibami. A monstrous giant serpent from Japanese mythology which can fly in the sky, swoop down and swallow a man on horseback, whole. The hero Yegara-no-Heida managed to kill it.
Uzume. The Japanese Shinto goddess of joy and happiness, called the Daughter of Heaven and Heaven's Forthright Female. Her name means "whirling". She is also the goddess of good health, which people obtain from drinking the blessed water of her stream. When the sun goddess Amaterasu had hidden herself in a cave, thus covering the earth in darkness and infertility, it was Uzume who brought her back. With her provoking and curlew dances she managed to make the gods laugh so hard, that Amaterasu left the cave intrigued. Her emerging brought light and life back to earth. Her brother Ninigi married Uzume to the deity who guards the Floating Bridge to Heaven. The dances of Uzume (Ama-no-uzume) are found in folk rites, such as the one to wake the dead, the Kagura (dance-mime), and another one which symbolizes the planting of seeds.
Yamata no Orochi. Is A Eight forked serpent that was slain by the storm god Susanowa.
Yofune-Nushi. A sea-serpent from Japanese mythology. It lived in cave under the rocks of the Oki Island's cost. Every year on the night of June 13, the serpent had to be offered a fair maiden. If this was refused, the creature would cause storms and destroy the fishing fleet. One year, a young girl, called Tokoyo, volunteered to go as the serpent's next victim. When the monster approached her, ready to devour her, she pulled a knife and slashed at its eyes, blinding it. When the serpent reared back in pain and confusion, Tokoyo slew it.
Yuki-Onna. The Lady of the Snow, the Snow Queen or Winter Ghost in Japanese mythology. Sometimes she appears as an earthly woman, marries and has children, but sometimes she will disappear in a white mist.
Amaterasu. The Japanese Shinto sun goddess, ruler of the Plain of Heaven, whose name means 'shining heaven' or 'she who shines in the heavens'. She is the central figure in the Shinto pantheon and the Japanese Imperial family claims descent from her 1. She is the eldest daughter of Izanagi. She was so bright and radiant that her parents sent her up the Celestial Ladder to heaven, where she has ruled ever since. When her brother, the storm-god Susanowa, ravaged the earth she retreated to a cave because he was so noisy. She closed the cave with a large boulder. Her disappearance deprived the world of light and life. Demons ruled the earth. The other gods used everything in their power to lure her out, but to no avail. Finally it was Uzume who succeeded. The laughter of the gods when they watched her comical and obscene dances aroused Amaterasu's curiosity. When she emerged from her cave a streak of light escaped (a streak nowadays people call dawn). The goddess then saw her own brilliant reflection in a mirror which Uzume had hung in a nearby tree. When she drew closer for a better look, the gods grabbed her and pulled her out of the cave. She returned to the sky, and brought light back into the world. Later, she created rice fields, called inada, where she cultivated rice. She also invented the art of weaving with the loom and taught the people how to cultivate wheat and silkworms. Amaterasu's main sanctuary is Ise-Jingue situated on Ise, on the island of Honshu. This temple is pulled down every twenty years and then rebuild in its original form. In the inner sanctum she is represented by a mirror (her body). She is also called Omikami ("illustrious goddess") and Tensho Daijan (in Sino-Japanese pronunciation). She was called the 'illustrious ancestress of the Emperor' prior to 1945. At that time, the Japanese Emperor disclaimed any form of divine ancestry and polytheistic ancestor worship was no longer permitted.
Emma-o. The Japanese Buddhist god of the underworld (from the Sanskrit Yama). He lives in the Yellow Springs under the earth in a huge castle all covered in silver and gold, rosy pearls and other jewels. He is the judge of the dead and notes the sins of those who are sentenced to purgatory, and decides the degree of their punishments according to Buddha's Law. Anyone who has killed an innocent will be thrown into a boiling cauldron full of molten metal. However, if they have made a pilgrimage to each of the 33 shrines of the goddess of mercy Kannon, then all the evil they have done will disappear. Sometimes he is portrayed less pitiless and returns life to those who appear before him. On the last day of the Festival of the Dead, the sea is full of shoryobuni ('soul ships'), for on that day the high tide brings a flood of returning ghost who go back to their spirit world. The sea is luminescent with the light these souls emit, and their whispering can be heard. While the ghosts are embarking, no human ship should come near. Should one stray into the soul-covered sea, the ghosts will ask for pails. The sailors should only offer them pails without bottoms, for if they do not, the ghosts will sink their ship. Currently, Emma-o is used as a bogeyman to scare little children.
Inari. The Japanese god of food or goddess of rice. Inari is one of the most mysterious deities of Japan. He is both male and female. Each year he/she descends from a mountain to the rice fields. The fox is Inari's messenger and it is believed that he/she can assume a fox's shape. The deity may also assume the shape of a spider in order to teach wicked men a lesson. Inari is portrayed with a beard and carrying two bundles of rice. An Inari-shrine can be found in many Japanese towns and in many households he/she is venerated as a symbol of prosperity and friendship. These shrines are guarded by statues of foxes, divine messengers. Inari's central temple is Fushimi-Inara in south-east Kyoto city, built around 700 CE. Inara the rice-goddess is celebrated in a festival held during the first days of spring when cultivation begins. She may be identified with the Indian Lakshmi and the Javanese Dewi Sri. Inari is also sometimes identified with Uga-no-Mitama, the goddess of agriculture.
Izanami. In Japanese Shinto-mythology, a primordial goddess and personification of the Earth and darkness. Izanami ("the female who invites") is the wife and sister of Izanagi. Together they created Onogoro, the first island of the Japanese archipelago. She died giving birth to the fire god Kagutsuchi and since then she rules over the underworld. Her husband went there to take her back with him, but she refused. By sealing the entrance to the underworld she tried to imprison him, but Izanagi managed to escape. Furious, Izanami vowed to kill one thousand of Izanagi's subjects a day, and Izanagi vowed to create fifteen hundred new ones a day.
Kami-kaze. The Japanese god of the wind, storms and bad cold. When the Mongolian fleet tried to invade Japan, Kami-kaze blew the fleet away. In World War II, Japanese pilots where named after him. They flew suicidal missions with planes, loaded with bombs, crashing into enemy ships.
Kitsune-Tsuki. A fox spirit, or a demon who appears in the shape of a fox, in Japanese mythology. Kitsune-Tsuki ("Fox-Lunacy") is possession by such a spirit. It occurs mostly in women. The fox spirit enters through the fingernails or the breast.
Kumo. Various Japanese myths tell of huge spiders (kumo), bigger than a man, with eyes a big a saucers, sharp teeth, and long legs. These spiders hide in old castles, looking like innocent heaps of clothes. Unwary travelers, seeking shelter and laying down to sleep, will wake up to find themselves imprisoned by huge sticky spider webs. Those webs are too tough to be undone except by magic. One particular myth tells of a miser whose blood was sucked by a gigantic spider until he repented. The hero Reiko had various encounters with these monsters.
Maneki Neko. The beckoning cat. It is good-luck charm, in the form of a cat sitting on its haunches with one paw raised in a beckoning gesture. Japanese shopkeepers use it to lure customers into their shops.
Oni. Japanese demons who look like humans except that they have three eyes, big mouths, horns and sharp nails. They fly around and seize the souls of wicked persons on their deathbeds. To expel these demons, annually the oni-yarabi ceremony is held. Once the sage Nichiren ("sun-lotus") saw the Oni at work in the scourges of his time: enemy invasions, earthquakes and eclipses. He attributed the evil to the sinfulness of his Japanese contemporaries, so he founded a special school of Buddhism to reform the people.
Ryujin. "Luminous Being". The Japanese dragon god of the sea. Ryujin lives in Ryugu his palace at the bottom of the sea. His daughter Otohime (Toyo-Tame) married prince Hoori. The sea-king is depicted with a large mouth. Turtles are regarded as his messengers. Ryujin controls the tidal flows with the magical Tide Jewels. Many centuries ago the Empress Jingo planned an invasion of Korea. She prayed to Ryujin and sent the beach-god Isora to his temple. There he was given the Tide Jewels for the empress. The Japanese fleet then set sail towards Korea and the Korean fleet sailed out to confront them. When she saw the approaching fleet, Jingo quickly threw the Low Tide Jewel into the sea so that the tide receded at once and the Korean fleet was beached. The Koreans all jumped out onto the mudflats but at that moment the empress threw the High Tide Jewel and a tidal wave drowned the men. The tidal wave carried the Japanese fleet on to the coast, into the harbor and to victory. Later Ryujin personally presented the Tide Jewels, on a beautiful pink shell, to Prince Ojin, Empress Jingo's son.
Susanowa. The Japanese Shinto god of the winds, the storms, and the ocean, also the god of snakes. He was born from the nose of Izanagi, and was given dominion over the seas. His sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, is also his consort. Susanowa (Susanoto) is the personification of evil, but also a brave, if lawless and impetuous, god. His outrages are not limited to the ocean; he also ravages the land with his storms and he darkens the sky, thus angering the 'eight million deities (the kami). His little pestering, especially against his sister, proved his undoing: he looses his beard, his fingernails, and all his possessions, and is banished. He wanders the earth and has many adventures, such as the slaying of the eight-headed snake Koshi and by defeating this monster he obtained a powerful sword, called Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("grass cutting sword"). Some other feats were conquering Korea and wiping out the plague. Okuni-Nushi, his son, eventually tricked him out of the sword.
Tanuki. A spirit-creature similar to a mischievous raccoon or badger. It can change itself into a human being but also into a flask of sake.
Tsuki-yomi. The Japanese Shinto god of the moon, the brother of the sun-goddess Amaterasu. He was born from Izanagi's right eye, when he returned from the underworld. As soon as Tsuki-yomi was born he climbed up the Ladder to Heaven and rose majestically.
Uwibami. A monstrous giant serpent from Japanese mythology which can fly in the sky, swoop down and swallow a man on horseback, whole. The hero Yegara-no-Heida managed to kill it.
Uzume. The Japanese Shinto goddess of joy and happiness, called the Daughter of Heaven and Heaven's Forthright Female. Her name means "whirling". She is also the goddess of good health, which people obtain from drinking the blessed water of her stream. When the sun goddess Amaterasu had hidden herself in a cave, thus covering the earth in darkness and infertility, it was Uzume who brought her back. With her provoking and curlew dances she managed to make the gods laugh so hard, that Amaterasu left the cave intrigued. Her emerging brought light and life back to earth. Her brother Ninigi married Uzume to the deity who guards the Floating Bridge to Heaven. The dances of Uzume (Ama-no-uzume) are found in folk rites, such as the one to wake the dead, the Kagura (dance-mime), and another one which symbolizes the planting of seeds.
Yamata no Orochi. Is A Eight forked serpent that was slain by the storm god Susanowa.
Yofune-Nushi. A sea-serpent from Japanese mythology. It lived in cave under the rocks of the Oki Island's cost. Every year on the night of June 13, the serpent had to be offered a fair maiden. If this was refused, the creature would cause storms and destroy the fishing fleet. One year, a young girl, called Tokoyo, volunteered to go as the serpent's next victim. When the monster approached her, ready to devour her, she pulled a knife and slashed at its eyes, blinding it. When the serpent reared back in pain and confusion, Tokoyo slew it.
Yuki-Onna. The Lady of the Snow, the Snow Queen or Winter Ghost in Japanese mythology. Sometimes she appears as an earthly woman, marries and has children, but sometimes she will disappear in a white mist.