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Concept
Amaterasu
Summary
Amaterasu, 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), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (kami) of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the Kojiki (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. 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, ), the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi.
Amaterasu'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. As with other Shinto kami, she is also enshrined in a number of Shinto shrines throughout Japan.
The goddess is referred to as 'Amaterasu Ōmikami' ( / 天照大神; historical orthography: あまてらすおほみかみ, Amaterasu Ohomikami; Old Japanese: Amaterasu Opomi1kami2) in the Kojiki, while the Nihon Shoki gives the following variant names:
Ōhirume-no-Muchi (; Man'yōgana: 於保比屢咩能武智; hist. orthography: おほひるめのむち, Ohohirume-no-Muchi; Old Japanese: Opopi1rume1-no2-Muti)
Amaterasu Ō(mi)kami (天照大神; hist. orthography: あまてらすおほ(み)かみ, Amaterasu Oho(mi)kami)
Amaterasu Ōhirume no Mikoto (天照大日孁尊)
Hi-no-Kami (日神; OJ: Pi1-no-Kami2)
'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 [and] august deity" (ō "great" + honorific prefix mi- + kami). Notably, 'Amaterasu' in 'Amaterasu Ōmikami' is not technically a name the same way 'Susanoo' in 'Susa no O no Mikoto' or 'Ōkuninushi' in 'Ōkuninushi no Kami' are. Amaterasu is an attributive verb form that modifies the noun after it, ōmikami.
Official source
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