Amatsukami

Amatsukami (Japanese: 天津神, 天つ神; 'Kami of heaven'), also called tenjin, is a category of kami in Japanese mythology. Generally speaking, it refers to kami born in, or residing in, Takamagahara.

Amatsukami is one of the three categories of kami, along with their earthly counterpart Kunitsukami (国津神, 国つ神), and yaoyorozu-no-kami (八百万の神).: 56 

In the time of Ninigi the ownership of land was moved from Kunitsukami to Amatsukami.

Mythology

Amatsukami refers to kami residing in Takamagahara, along with kami who were born in Takamagahara but later descended to Japan. In the mythological event of kuni-yuzuri, the descendants of amatsukami descended to pacify the world, which was occupied by the kunitsukami.

Susanoo-no-Mikoto, who was cast out of Takamagahara, and his descendants, such as Ōkuninushi, are considered to be Kunitsugami.

List of amatsukami

See also

References

  1. ↑ Miller, Alan L. (August 1971). "Ritsuryō Japan: The State as Liturgical Community". History of Religions. 11 (1): 105. ISSN 0018-2710.
  2. ↑ Yamakage, Motohisa; Gillespie, Mineko S.; Gillespie, Gerald L.; Komuro, Yoshitsugu; Leeuw, Paul de; Rankin, Aidan (2007). The Essence of Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Heart (1st ed.). Tokyo: Kodansha International. ISBN 978-4770030443.
  3. ↑ Endō, Jun. "Amatsukami, Kunitsukami". 國學院デジタルミュージアム. Kokugakuin University. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  4. ↑ Brian Bocking (30 September 2005). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Routledge. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-135-79739-3.
  5. ↑ Kobori, Keiko. "Kuniyuzuri". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugakuin University. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Sasaki, Kiyoshi (1998). "Amenominakanushi no Kami in Late Tokugawa Period Kokugaku". In Inoue, Nobutaka (ed.). Kami. Contemporary papers on Japanese religion (in Japanese). Translated by Havens, Norman. Tokyo: Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University. ISBN 978-4-905853-05-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ↑ Chandler, Kegan A. (2024). "Orientalism and Monotheism in Studies of Early Japanese Christianity". Journal for the Study of Religion. 37 (1). Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA): 14–15. doi:10.17159/2413-3027/2024/v37n1a2. ISSN 1011-7601.
  8. 1 2 Drott, Edward R. (2015). ""To Tread on High Clouds": Dreams of Eternal Youth in Early Japan". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 42 (2). Nanzan University: 277. ISSN 0304-1042.