Izanami / Izanagi
This kami (goddess) became the queen of the land of the dead
Who is Izanami
This kami (god) gave the divine right to rule to Amaterasu and her brothers.
Who is Izanagi
This is what Tsukuyomi is the god of, and represents.
What is the moon
This is the realm over which Susanoo rules as a kai (god)
What are storms, winds, and seas.
This is the goddess of food and banquets
Who is Uke Mochi
This kami (god) became god of the land of the living
Who is Izanagi
This is Amaterasu's primary role in Japanese mythology as well as Shinto religious beliefs.
Sun goddess:
In this position, she not only serves as the literal rising sun that illuminates all things, but also provides nourishment to all living creatures and marks the orderly movement of the day into night.
The sun represents order and purity, two of Shinto’s most important concepts.
This is the wife of Tsukuyomi
Who is Amaterasu
This is how Susanoo was born
Izanagi had fled from the land of the dead and, disgusted by the taint of death that lay upon him, found a pool of pure water nearby and bathed himself in it. As he cleaned his nose, a storm emerged and took the shape of Susanoo (third born, after Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi)
This is what caused Tsukuyomi to kill the goddess of food
Uke Mochi prepared a feast by facing the ocean and spitting out a fish then she faced the forest and bountiful game spewed out of her mouth, finally turning to a rice paddy, she coughed up a bowl of rice. In some versions, she pulled food out of her nose as well.
Bonus: After she died, her dead body also produced food: millet, rice seeds, wheat, and beans sprang forth. Out of her eyebrows came silkworms.
This was the one charge that Izanami gave to Izanagi in the land of the dead.
What was the request, "Do not look upon me."
This was the final event that caused Amaterasu to fall into a deep mourning depression and flee to the Heavenly Rock Cave.
One of Amaterasu’s personal attendants died during the rampage of Susanoo
This is the main focus of Tsukuyomi, which he believes is more important than anything else in society
What is order and etiquette:
Tsukuyomi enforces these whenever he can; His enforcement of such ideals extends to the point that he is willing to kill to maintain order, despite killing itself being a breach of etiquette in the heavenly court.
Describe the challenge that Susanoo issued to prove his sincerity when leaving the heavens.
Susanoo took Amaterasu’s necklace as she took his sword. Using these vessels, they each birthed goddesses: Amaterasu produced three goddesses from the Heavenly Blade while Susanoo produced five gods from the Grand Jewel. Since she owned the Grand Jewel and more gods were birthed from it, Amaterasu claimed she had won the challenge. Susanoo did not agree.
This is the kami (deity) of prosperity, rice, tea, and the protector of foxes.
Who is Inari
This is what caused the abominations to form from Izanagi and Izanami's original ritual
When walking around the pillar of heaven, Izanami and Izanagi circled in opposite directions and when they met on the opposite side, it was Izanami who spoke the first greeting.
The correct ritual is to have Izanagi speak first when they met, and when this happened their marriage was finally successful.
Name one of the three holy relics that The Imperial Family possesses, which come directly from Amaterasu herself.
• Yata-no-Kagami, the Eight-Span Mirror, was used to lure Amaterasu from the cave she hid in;
•Yasakani-no-Magatama, the Grand Jewel, is a magatama, a curved beaded or jeweled necklace common during the prehistoric Japanese period (prior to the 4th century)
•Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the Grass-Cutting Sword was once owned by Amaterasu’s brother Susanoo and represented virtue.
Tsukuyomi appears across popular culture in several forms. Name 3
Anime: "Naruto", "Yugioh"
Games: "Final Fantasy XIV", "Chou Super Robot Wars", "Smite"
Books: "Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase", "Kamen Rider Zi-O "
After losing a challenge, Susanoo went into a rampage and destroyed much of Heaven and earth. Name three things he destroyed.
Amaterasu's personal rice fields
Amaterasu's livestock
Amaterasu's pony
Amaterasu's loom
One of Amaterasu's personal attendants
These creatures can be found in Japanese mythology, taking the form of a mystical fox; those that are kind and helpful are sacred to Inari and serve as Inar's messengers
What is a kitsune
This was the kami (god) that caused the death of Izanami
The fire kami (god) Kagu-Tsuchi burned Izanami while being birthed
This was the event that finally brought Amaterasu out of the Heavenly Rock Cave, and brought light back into the world.
A grand party was thrown at the mouth of the cave:
The plan worked, as the music, dancing, and joyous cries of the gods did indeed peak Amaterasu’s attention. The noise intensified when the dawn goddess Ame-no-Uzume performed a particularly revealing dance. Curious, Amaterasu drew closer to the cave entrance and there discovered an Eight-Fold Mirror. Fascinated by the light of her own reflection, Amaterasu at last came to the mouth of the cave. It was at that moment Omoikane (god of wisdom) drew back the stone that blocked the entrance.
This practice in noble courts of pre-modern Japan refers to Tsukuyomi's name in Kanji.
What is "moon reading": where parties would stay up all night moon-gazing and reading poetry.
This is how Susanoo got "The Grass Cutting Sword" (Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi) which he later gave to Amaterasu as an apology
Susanoo encountered a grieving family. When Susanoo inquired, he was told that this family was being terrorized by the fearsome Yamata no Orochi, an eight-headed serpent of Koshi, who had consumed seven of the family's eight daughters and that the creature was coming for his final daughter, Kushinada-hime. Susanoo offered to defeat the dragon. In return, he asked for Kushinada-hime's hand in marriage, which was agreed.
Using a distraction of sake, Susanoo attacked and slew the beast, chopping off each head, and then proceeded to do the same to the tails. In the fourth tail, he discovered the great sword he later gave to Amaterasu to settle an old grievance.
One third of all shrines in Japan are Inari shrines; name the two we talked about in class.
1) Fushimi Inari Shrine Shrine in southern Kyoto. Since the eighth century, Inari has been worshiped here by the mountain with the same name. This shrine, unlike the undecorated shrines of other kami, has up to ten thousand red torii (sacred gates) lining a 2.5-mile-long path in the back of the shrine.
2) Toyokawa Inari Shrine: Instead of bright red torii, this temple has rows of red and white prayer flags. One can also find stone foxes that serve as the image of Inari’s messengers, some with the traditional fried tofu offerings at their feet