Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [187]
Hearing the merriment from inside the cave, Amaterasu cannot resist peering out. The other gods hold up a mirror and string jewels in the trees outside the cave to entice the sun goddess out of hiding. Once she emerges, the world is once again bathed in light, and the evil forces disappear.
Amaterasu is thought to be the ancestor of Jimmu, the legendary first emperor of Japan. Through an unbroken line of descent, all of Japan’s emperors claim to be descended from her. The mirror, string of jewels, and a sword used to draw Amaterasu out of the cave are the traditional symbols of the Japanese royal family.
Benten The deity of luck and wealth, Benten is a goddess associated with music and eloquence. Painfully shy, she marries a dragon prince from the dragon people who surround Japan. The dragon is revolting but, because of her sense of duty—a Japanese concept called giri—she reluctantly fulfills her marriage vows. Afterwards, peace comes to the kingdom.
In later times, following the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, Benten became a popular Buddhist deity—goddess of music, eloquence, wealth, love, beauty, and geishas. She also prevents earthquakes by mating with the white snakes that live beneath islands of Japan.
Hachiman Especially popular with the military, Hachiman is the Shinto war god, the protector of the nation and a guardian of children. Nearly one-third of Shinto shrines throughout Japan are dedicated to this deity who is identified with the emperor Ojin (died c. 394 CE), a renowned military leader who was later deified.
Inari The rice god and patron of farmers. Almost every Japanese village has a shrine dedicated to Inari. Depicted as a bearded older man sitting on a sack of rice, and often flanked by two foxes who are his messengers, Inari is regarded as a generous god who oversees wealth and friendship and is revered by merchants, since he brings well-being. His wife, Uke-mochi, is the food goddess.
Izanagi (August Male ) and Izanami (August Female) Descended from a god born from the “boiling ocean of chaos” at the time of Creation, Izanagi is the creator of people. He is helped in this effort by Izanami, his sister, whose first child is a monster and whose second offspring is an island. These curious births occur because Izanami speaks before her brother does, and in Japanese custom the male must go first—which might give you a hint of the traditional role of women in Japan. After they realize their error, all goes well, and the two gods produce people, the islands of Japan, and other gods.
According to the myth, Izanami dies in childbirth when she gives birth to a fire god. However, even in death, she is a powerful creator, whose vomit, urine, and excrement become other gods. Distraught over his consort-sister’s death, Izanagi follows her to the underworld, or “land of gloom.” In a story with echoes of the Greek Orpheus descending into Hades, he is warned not to look at her, because she has eaten the food of the underworld and is already decomposing. But he does as he pleases. Furious she has been seen covered with maggots, Izanami sends a horde of she-demons after him and promises to kill 1,000 people on earth every day—the mythical reason for death. Able to escape, Izanagi rolls a huge stone over the entrance to the underworld and declares himself divorced—one of the few cases of divine divorce in mythology. This story also reflects a Shinto attitude of horror at death, decay, and dissolution.
As he is bathing after this close call, Izanagi washes the dirt off himself, and it forms harmful spirits. But he makes some good gods as well. Amaterasu comes from his left eye, and Tsuki-Yomi, the moon god, from his right eye. (These stories seem to reflect the