Gustav Heldt's 2014 translation of the Kojiki, meanwhile, renders it as "the great and mighty spirit Heaven Shining." Mythology In classical mythology Birth While a number of authors such as Donald Philippi rendered it as "heaven-illuminating great deity," Basil Hall Chamberlain argued (citing the authority of Motoori Norinaga) that it is more accurately understood to mean "shining in heaven", and accordingly translated it as "Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity". The name 'Amaterasu-Ōmikami' has been translated into English in different ways.
ĭuring the medieval and early modern periods, the deity was also referred to as 'Tenshō Daijin' (the on'yomi of 天照大神) or 'Amateru Ongami' (an alternate reading of the same). "great imperial deity" also read as 'Kōtaijin' ) is also applied to Amaterasu in names such as 'Amaterasu-Sume(ra)-Ō(mi)kami' ( 天照皇大神, also read as 'Tenshō Kōtaijin') and 'Amaterashimasu-Sume(ra)-Ōmikami' ( 天照坐皇大御神). To this name is appended the honorific muchi, which is also seen in a few other theonyms such as ' Ō(a)namuchi' or 'Michinushi-no-Muchi' (an epithet of the three Munakata goddesses ).Īs the ancestress of the imperial line, the epithet 'Sume(ra)-Ō(mi)kami' ( 皇大神, lit. A possible connection with the name Hiruko (the child rejected by the gods Izanagi and Izanami and one of Amaterasu's siblings) has also been suggested. hiru "day(time), noon", from hi "sun, day" + me "woman, lady"), though alternative etymologies such as "great spirit woman" (taking hi to mean "spirit") or "wife of the sun" (suggested by Orikuchi Shinobu, who put forward the theory that Amaterasu was originally conceived of as the consort or priestess of a male solar deity) had been proposed. Her other name, 'Ōhirume', is usually understood as meaning "great woman of the sun / daytime" (cf.
'Amaterasu' is thought to derive from the verb amateru "to illuminate / shine in the sky" ( ama "sky, heaven" + teru "to shine") combined with the honorific auxiliary verb -su, while 'Ōmikami' means "great august deity" ( ō "great" + honorific prefix mi- + kami).
As with other Shinto kami, she is also enshrined in a number of Shinto shrines throughout Japan. Along with her siblings, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm god Susanoo, she is considered to be one of the "Three Precious Children" ( 三貴子, mihashira no uzu no miko / sankishi), the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi.Īmaterasu's chief place of worship, the Grand Shrine of Ise in Ise, Mie Prefecture, is one of Shinto's holiest sites and a major pilgrimage center and tourist spot. 712 CE) and the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. One of the major deities ( kami) of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the Kojiki (c. Ise Grand Shrine, Hinokuma Shrine, Amanoiwato Shrine, Hirota Shrine and othersĪme-no-Oshihomimi, Ame-no-Hohi, Amatsuhikone, Ikutsuhikone, KumanokusubiĪmaterasu, also known as Amaterasu-Ōmikami ( 天照大御神, 天照大神) or Ōhirume-no-Muchi-no-Kami ( 大日孁貴神) among other names, is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Tsukisakaki-Itsu-no-Mitama-Amazakaru-Mukatsuhime-no-Mikoto (撞賢木厳之御魂天疎向津媛命) Amaterasu emerging from the cave, Ama-no-Iwato, to which she once retreated (detail of woodblock print by Kunisada)Īmaterashimasu-Sume(ra)-Ōmikami (天照坐皇大御神)