{"id":164,"date":"2009-12-31T14:54:30","date_gmt":"2009-12-31T18:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/?p=164"},"modified":"2009-12-31T14:54:30","modified_gmt":"2009-12-31T18:54:30","slug":"japanese-mythology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/japanese-mythology\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Mythology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s post is abou Japanese mythology. Japanese mythology is rich and vast. We’ll only go through a couple of myths, and the versions of these myths will be condensed. The first myth has to do with the formation of Japan. Once upon a time a male god named \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> and a female goddess named \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong> met so that they could mate. The female goddess uttered the first greeting to the male god. Then the two mated and had two children, who were badly deformed. \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> and \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong> sought the other gods as to why the children were deformed.<\/p>\n

The other gods informed the couple that a woman must not speak before a man. Therefore because\u00a0\u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong> made the first utterance to \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> before they mated, \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong> displayed bad manners.\u00a0The result of these bad manners led to the deformation of the children. After this,\u00a0the couple tried to mate again, but this time the male god \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> spoke first. This time around the couple was successful. Eight healthy children were produced from this union. Later the eight children formed the eight great islands of Japan. From this mythology you can make some inferences about male\/female relations and the importance of good manners in Japanese culture.<\/p>\n

This next myth has to do with the geographic\/natural formation of Japan. The female goddess \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong> died during childbirth. The male god \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> was distraught by her death. He ventured into the underworld to see her. The underworld was so dark that \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> could not see \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong> very well. \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> lit his headdress on fire and saw that his wife was a rotting mess of maggots. Terrified, he fled. \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong> was angered by his betrayal and sent wild demons after him. To rid the demons he threw his headdress to the floor, which became a grape vine. The demons still pursued \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong>, at which point he threw his comb, resulting in the formation of\u00a0bamboo shoots.<\/p>\n

Then \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> urinated against a tree, which formed a river. This slowed down the demons. He was finally able to place a large boulder to block the entrance of the underworld. \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong> was angered that he got away.\u00a0She vowed to take away 1,000 lives every day. This story tells not only of how the natural geography of Japan was formed, but it also explains how human beings became mortal (through \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong>). The royal family of Japan used to trace their ancestry to \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e<\/strong> and \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f<\/strong>. The myths were important in the sense that it legitimized the actions of the royal family, which made it impossible for people to rebel against the emperor’s orders.<\/p>\n

There are also some books on Japanese mythology on Amazon, so check those out for a more thorough version of these myths!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s post is abou Japanese mythology. Japanese mythology is rich and vast. We’ll only go through a couple of myths, and the versions of these myths will be condensed. The first myth has to do with the formation of Japan. Once upon a time a male god named \u3044\u3056\u306a\u304e and a female goddess named \u3044\u3056\u306a\u307f…<\/p>\n

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