KotoamatsukamiIn Shinto, 別天神 is the collective name for the first gods which came into existence at the time of the creation of the universe. They were born in Takamagahara, the world of Heaven at the time of the creation. Unlike the later gods, these deities were born without any procreation. The three deities that first appeared were: Amenominakanushi - Central Master Takamimusubi - High Creator Kamimusubi - Divine Creator A bit later, two more deities came into existence: Umashiashikabihikoji - Energy Amenotokotachi - Heaven The next generation of gods that followed was the Kamiyonanayo, which included Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto, the patriarch and matriarch of all other Japanese gods, respectively.
AmenonuhokoAmenonuhoko is the name given to the spear in Shinto used to raise the primordial land-mass, Onogoro-shima, from the sea. It is often represented as a naginata. According to the Kojiki, Shinto's genesis gods Izanagi and Izanami were responsible for creating the first land. To help them do this, they were given a spear decorated with jewels, named Ame-no (heavenly) nu-hoko (jewelled spear), by older heavenly gods. The two deities then went to the bridge between heaven and earth, Ame-no-ukihashi ("floating bridge of heaven"), and churned the sea below with the naginata.
KuniumiIn Japanese mythology, 国産み is the traditional and legendary history of the emergence of the Japanese archipelago, of islands, as narrated in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. According to this legend, after the creation of Heaven and Earth, the gods Izanagi and Izanami were given the task of forming a series of islands that would become what is now Japan. In Japanese mythology, these islands make up the known world. The creation of Japan is followed by the creation of the gods (kamiumi).
DeityA deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry humans to new levels of consciousness, beyond the grounded preoccupations of ordinary life". Religions can be categorized by how many deities they worship.
Ukemochi, commonly known as Ukemochi, the daughter of the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami, is a goddess of food in the Shinto religion of Japan. In some differing interpretations, Ukemochi is referred to as both male and female. When shown in other forms, Ukemochi takes the shape of a fox. Ōgetsu-hime is the wife of Hayamato (羽山戸神, Hayamato-no-kami), who is the son of Toshigami through his wife Amechikarumizu-hime (天知迦流美豆比売) in the Kojiki, making Hayamao her great-grandnephew through her brother Oymatsumi.
Ne-no-kunior Soko-tsu-ne-no-kuni in the Nihon Shoki, also called Ne-no-kata-su-kuni or Haha-no-kuni in the Kojiki, refers to a netherworld in Japanese mythology. It is sometimes considered to be identical to Yomi, another netherworld in the myths as well as Tokoyo-no-kuni. There is no clear consensus on the relationship between these three realms. The god Susanoo is described as the ruler of Ne-no-kuni.
HitorigamiHitorigami (独神) are Shinto deities (kami) who came into being alone, as opposed to those who came into being as male-female pairs. According to the Kojiki, this group includes the "three deities of creation" and the "separate heavenly kami." They are described as hiding themselves away once they achieved awareness. Most are said to have been created from the "male essence" and, as such, are male in gender.
Tsushima Islandis an island of the Japanese archipelago situated in-between the Tsushima Strait and Korea Strait, approximately halfway between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula. The main island of Tsushima, once a single island, was divided into two in 1671 by the Ōfunakoshiseto canal and into three in 1900 by the Manzekiseto canal. These canals were driven through isthmuses in the center of the island, forming "North Tsushima Island" (Kamino-shima) and "South Tsushima Island" (Shimono-shima).
AmaterasuAmaterasu, 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.
Kamiare the deities, divinities, spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena, or holy powers that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, beings and the qualities that these beings express, and/or the spirits of venerated dead people. Many kami are considered the ancient ancestors of entire clans (some ancestors became kami upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of kami in life). Traditionally, great leaders like the Emperor could be or became kami.
