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天照大御神
Amaterasu is the sun kami of Japanese mythology, usually understood as a goddess. She appears in accounts of imperial ancestry and is worshipped at Ise. Classical stories, later interpretations and religious institutions need to be distinguished.
In the Kojiki, Amaterasu emerges as Izanagi washes his left eye during purification after returning from Yomi. The Nihon Shoki’s main account instead has Izanagi and Izanami produce the sun deity together, alongside other versions. A retelling should identify its text rather than combine all details into one supposedly fixed story.
After Susanoo’s destructive actions, Amaterasu withdraws into a rock cave and light disappears. The other kami use worship, performance and a mirror to draw her out. Ise’s present account offers one telling. This is a mythic account of divine presence and ritual, not a dated scientific record of an eclipse.
Ise’s telling begins with Susanoo damaging fields and channels and throwing a flayed horse into the weaving hall. Amaterasu withdraws. The other kami prepare a response: Futodama hangs a mirror and jewels on a sakaki tree, Ame-no-Koyane prays, and Ame-no-Uzume dances, provoking laughter.
Hearing the commotion, Amaterasu opens the cave a little. She takes her reflected image for a distinguished kami and moves closer to look; Tajikarao then pushes the door open. Laughter draws her attention, the reflection draws her forward, and another kami’s action opens the entrance. Objects and participants advance different stages of the episode.
The mission to rule the land passes to Amaterasu’s descendants and ultimately to her grandson Ninigi. Her mirror represents her presence; Ise’s telling also describes the gift of heavenly rice. These belong to narratives about rule and cultivation, not archaeological evidence dating the introduction of rice farming.
In the Kojiki’s purification account, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo are the Three Noble Children. The descent narrative also involves Oshihomimi and his son Ninigi: successive generations should not be collapsed. In the cave episode, Ame-no-Uzume’s dance, Ame-no-Koyane’s ritual speech, the mirror and Tajikarao’s action work together to bring Amaterasu out.
Ise’s Inner Shrine, formally Kōtai Jingū, enshrines Amaterasu with the Yata mirror as its sacred object. The shrine traces its establishment to the reign of Suinin. That is a foundation tradition, which needs to remain distinct from what can be observed or dated through historical evidence.
Ise’s own tradition connects Amaterasu’s gift of rice with cultivation and offerings. Spring sowing in the shrine fields prepares rice for later rites. At the autumn harvest rite, first ears are taken; Kannamesai offers new rice as cooked grain, cakes and sake, alongside other foods, in thanksgiving for the harvest.
Food is also offered morning and evening in the Mikeden at the Outer Shrine, to the deities of both principal shrines and the associated shrines. The annual new-harvest rites and daily food service have different rhythms and locations. Amaterasu’s enshrinement at Naikū does not place every associated ceremony in one Inner Shrine building.
Oshi distributed amulets, conveyed prayers and provided pilgrims with accommodation and guidance. Ise confraternities allowed members to make representative pilgrimages. Roads and lodging connected worship with medieval and early-modern town life. Kokugakuin’s encyclopedia also records medieval interpretations of Amaterasu as male, showing that later understandings varied.
Shikinen Sengū alternates between adjoining eastern and western sanctuary sites on a twenty-year cycle. Buildings are reconstructed, ceremonial furnishings and sacred treasures made anew, and the kami transferred to the new sanctuary. Worship continues while its material setting is remade; repeated work also provides occasions to transmit building and craft skills.
Ise dates the first Inner Shrine renewal to 690. Early regulations specify twenty years without explaining why that exact interval was chosen. Timber life or hygiene alone therefore cannot supply a settled original reason.
Ise’s history describes medieval funding through yakubukumai levies. Collection became difficult in the later Muromachi period and renewal was interrupted for an extended period. Fundraising and donations from powerful patrons helped revive it; the Tokugawa government also supported construction.
After the postwar separation of religion and state, the 1953 renewal shifted its main support to private contributions. Continuing worship, repeated rebuilding and changing financial institutions belong to the same history, but do not follow an uninterrupted, unchanging course.
Ryōbu Shintō interpreted kami through esoteric Buddhism, associating Ise’s Inner Shrine with Dainichi of the Womb Realm and the Outer Shrine with Dainichi of the Vajra Realm. This is a different interpretive framework from a retelling of the sun goddess’s story. Buddhist correspondences and male interpretations need their own textual and doctrinal contexts.
In 1871 the government abolished Ise’s oshi system, changing how Ise’s worship and pilgrimage were organized. Annual rites and periodic shrine renewal continue, while the Inner and Outer Shrines have different principal deities. The history of Amaterasu’s worship therefore requires more than a retelling of an ancient myth.
Meiji state education incorporated myths from the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki into history and moral teaching. Kikuko Hirafuji notes that the state-compiled Shiryaku of 1872 began with the divine age; teaching about the emperor’s lineage linked that age to national identity. Postwar reforms required a separation of myth from history. Amaterasu’s role as an imperial ancestral deity therefore also belongs to the history of modern politics and education.
Modern shrine administration became part of government. The Institute of Divinities, established in 1940, dealt with Ise and other shrines as well as ideological activity; it was abolished in 1946. The Shinto Directive of 1945 required the removal of state sponsorship and support for Shrine Shinto. Ritual continued under a changed institutional relationship with the state.
No. She is a kami in myth and worship.
No. Identify the text being retold.
Naikū enshrines Amaterasu; Gekū principally enshrines Toyouke.
No. It is a different kind of evidence.
They conveyed prayers, distributed amulets and received and guided pilgrims.
No. Laughter attracts attention; the reflection draws Amaterasu closer; Tajikarao then pushes the entrance open.
Shrine-field cultivation prepares rice, the harvest rite takes its first ears, and Kannamesai offers new-rice foods and drink in thanksgiving.
No. Buildings and ceremonial objects are made anew on an adjoining site before the transfer.
Funding difficulties caused interruption; fundraising and patrons supported revival, and private contributions became central after the war.