Amaterasu and the Japanese Creation Myth - Mythillogical Podcast

So folks, it’s been a while! On today’s episode Crofty and Charles journey to the land of the rising sun, to examine the head of the Japanese pantheon and mythical ancestress of it's Imperial family, Amaterasu. Together they examine her earliest appearances in Japanese myth, along with wider theories as to her origin and evolving significance in Japan’s culture.

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#Japan #mythology #history

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Sources for this episode included:

The Kojiki – Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Donald L. Philippi 1969

The Nihon Shoki/Nihongi – Translated by William George Aston 1896

‘Old Japanese names’ by Petter Maehlum (University of Oslo Masters Thesis)

Sources of Japanese Tradition, by William De Barry, available on Internet Archive

A History of the Japanese People, From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era, by Frank Brinkley and Dairoku Kikuchi, available on Gutenberg

Origin and Growth of the Worship of Amaterasu, by Matsumae Takeshi

The Origins of the Grand Shrine of Ise and the Cult of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omimaki, by Akima Toshio

Alone Among Women: A comparative mythic analysis of the development of Amaterasu theology, by Matsumura Kazuo

A brief exploration of the development of the Japanese writing system, by Brianna Jilson

[DadNoStop]

Hello from your insomniac friends in the US

[geynqli]

I like how the ad breaks are actually placed correctly rather than have the video be broken randomly by them.

[TheHistocrat]

Apologies if my audio was a bit rubbish in this episode folks, turns out the pre-amp for my microphone was slowly dying and I didn't realise.

[letusplay]

The reason why it says "pime" instead of "hime" in the romanisation in the translation you're using is because that would have been the contemporary pronunciation when the Kojiki was written. There are other things i noticed like "sima" instead of "shima", "ti" instead of "chi", "susanowo" instead of "susanoo" or "susanō". These are just romanisations of th Old Japanese pronunciations of these sounds

[tatikagila]

Speaking of puns, "kami" translates to "us" in Tagalog. The whole time you guys have been talking about your own godhood. Salute. ❤

[binx]

SO EXCITED!!!! I'm packing up to move today AND I have physical therapy and I was scrolling aimlessly debating what to listen to and what a good start for me!! Cheers friends!! ❤

[dreamingwolf]

You two are definitely some of my favorite nerds. Never stop making these videos.

[ninjabunny]

I only very recently learned that Chibiterasu was made up for Okami's sequel and not actually from Japanese mythology and honestly I'm deeply embarrassed for myself that I couldn't pick up on the fact that Amaterasu's child just being named CHIBIterasu was almost definitely something that wouldn't be a part of actual Japanese mythology 😅

[tristanc]

The story of Ōkuninushi always fascinated me, because overall he's probably the most likeable single 'character' in the extended Japanese creation myth.
His origin as the one kind brother, other stories I'm sure you saw like him escaping those same brothers trying to kill him, stories of him fighting with and the earning the approval of Susano'o, then later growing to tame Japan and become a God great enough that even Heavenly Gods join his side.
He reads like the protagonist of his own story.

It makes the transition to the Heavenly Gods taking over via force, almost a Bad End.
Unlike the Greek Gods overthrowing the Titans, or the Mesopotamian latter generations overthrowing the tyrannical earlier ones. Here, there isn't that morality or practical justification given.
It's almost a might makes right scenario. So it was said in Heaven, so it shall Be, type deal.

Fairly unique from my knowledge of world religion.

[sakurajimapoohmi]

It’s always a sunny day, when Amaterasu comes out of the cave to play.
☀️🌸☺️

[thoughtsofelizabeth]

Oh a 2.5 hour long Mythillogical? Hot damn! My mending and I are here for it!

[abbyfran]

everyone complaining about the intro can choke ❤ for every complaint i hope you make your next intro one minute longer. i like hearing about the hosts lore between each other and how it might relate to the topic at hand and it was especially relevant today! glad to hear you guys are moving up into the works of sponsorships! such a fantastic topic I've never heard anything about before today!

[SophyaAgain]

Okinawans still call Japanese as "the folk from Yamato". I lived there for four years.

One day I saw a lady that looked like an Okinawan. So I asked her if she or her parents were Okinawans. She said: Oh, actually I'm mixed race. My mother is Okinawan and my father Japanese "🙂 Here in Brazil it's not offensive to call someone a "mixed race". I live in Brazil now. Okinawa is a very interesting place. Charles & Crofty, I really enjoy your channel. Cheers

[Orogenesis]

Love your content guys, you unironically help me sleep. I've been listening to every video on the channel for years.
Please keep it going!
Sweet historical dreams to all from the US ❤

[prse_]

Thanks for managing to put these out despite all the moves!

[SarahTheRebelOfficial]

Also now I get why Ammy’s weapons are mirrors, prayer beads & swords

[GrrrrFKAGrrrrGrrrrGrrrr]

Great topic! I've always been curious about this

[robertc.]

As a follower of a years now I'm going to say I love your videos/podcasts and rewatching this I wanted to just thank you for your content that you and Crofty(I'm unsure of spelling to this day, sorry). I hope to hear more soon, I actually really just love hearing stuff from you Charles.

[_Molecule]

big fan of the podcast, i dont mind the wait as its always worth it :)

[erikgilson]

Listened to this like 10 times already on podcast, look forward to watching the video