The descent of the Imperial dynasty from a Sea-god has been noted as an auspicious omen for the development of Japan as a great naval power.
[CHAPTER IV]
THE GODS
Nature-Gods of Individuals and of Classes
Some of the principal gods have already been introduced in the preceding chapter. Let us now consider them separately, according to the classification already indicated ([p. 8]). It is often difficult to say whether a nature-god represents an individual object or phenomenon, or a class. This is chiefly owing to the circumstance that Japanese, like other Far-Eastern languages, habitually neglects the distinction between the singular and the plural number. The idea of making verbs and adjectives agree in number with the substantives to which they belong does not seem to have occurred to these nations, and, even in the case of nouns and pronouns, plural particles are very sparingly used. Yama no Kami, for example, may mean either God of the Mountain, God of Mountains, Gods of the Mountain, or Gods of Mountains.
Amaterasu, the Sun-Goddess.—The Sun-goddess belongs unmistakably to the first class, viz., that of individual objects personified. She is much the most prominent member of the Shinto Pantheon, and is described as the Ruler of Heaven and unrivalled in dignity. She wears royal insignia, and is surrounded by a court. The chief religious ceremony of state was in her honour. Yet she is not what we should call a Supreme Deity. She is by no means an autocrat. Even in heaven, which she is supposed to govern, there is a Council of the Gods which decides important matters. In some myths she has a formidable rival in Taka musubi, a god of Growth.
The ascription of the female sex to the deity of the Sun has more meaning than might be supposed. Women held a far more important and independent position in ancient Japan than they did at a later time when Chinese ideas of their subjection became prevalent. Several of the ancient Mikados were women. Old Chinese books call Japan the ‘Queen-country.’ Women chieftains are frequently mentioned. Some of the most important monuments of the old literature were the work of women.
Like the Sun-Gods of ancient Greece and Egypt, Amaterasu possesses a sacred bird, the Yatagarasu, or eight-hand-crow. An old Japanese dictionary identifies this bird, rightly in my opinion, with the Yangwu or Sun-crow of Chinese myth. The Yangwu is a bird of a red colour with three legs which inhabits the sun. The Yatagarasu was lent by the Sun-goddess to Jimmu Tennō as a guide to his expedition against the tribes who then held the province of Yamato. A noble Japanese family claimed descent from this bird.
The Sun-goddess is represented in the shrine of Ise by her shintai or token, which is called the Yatakagami or eight-hand mirror. It is related that when she sent down her grandchild Ninigi to rule the earth, she gave him this mirror with the injunction: ‘Regard this mirror exactly as our mitama (soul) and reverence it as if reverencing us.’ At this day the Yatakagami is held in high reverence. It is kept in a bag of brocade which is never opened or repaired, a new one being added on the top of its predecessor when the latter is too much worn for further use. The Nihongi calls it the ‘Great-God of Ise.’
Amaterasu is not the only Sun-deity of Japanese myth. We hear of a Waka-hirume (young-sun-female) who is no doubt a personification of the morning sun, and of a Nigi-haya-hi (gentle, swift-sun). The latter is said to have come down from heaven in a heavenly rock-boat, and to have become the chieftain of one of the tribes subdued by Jimmu Tennō. He may, however, have been a human being named as a compliment after the Sun. This proceeding is not unknown in Japanese history. But I rather suspect that he is a real Sun-god. Then there is the Hiruko mentioned at [p. 22] as the first-born of all the deities. Now Hiruko, though written with Chinese characters which mean leech-child, may also mean Sun-male-child, and this is obviously its proper meaning. The Hiruko was a male Sun-deity who afterwards became obsolete. For some unknown reason Hiruko has been identified with a popular modern deity named Yebisu, who has to all appearance nothing to do with either the sun or the leech. He is pictured as an angler with a fish dangling at the end of his line. He has a smiling countenance and wears old Japanese costume. Merchants pray to him for success in trade.