Editing Amaterasu (section)

====Birth====
[[File:阿波岐原 - Awagihara.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Izanagi]] purifying himself (''[[misogi]]'') by immersing in the Tachibana River ([[Natori Shunsen]])]]
[[File:Installation of the Sun Goddess (Amaterasu) c1870 after Kawanabe Kyosai.jpg|thumb|Installation of the Sun Goddess (Amaterasu)]]
Both the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kojiki]]}} ({{Circa|712 CE}}) and the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Nihon Shoki]]}} (720 CE) agree in their description of Amaterasu as the daughter of the god [[Izanagi]] and the elder sister of [[Tsukuyomi]], the deity of the [[moon]], and [[Susanoo]], the god of storms and seas. The circumstances surrounding the birth of these three deities, known as the "Three Precious Children" ({{Lang|ja|三貴子}}, {{Lang|ja-latn|mihashira no uzu no miko or sankishi}}), however, vary between sources:

*In the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kojiki]]}}, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo were born when Izanagi went to "[the plain of] Awagihara by the river-mouth of Tachibana in [[Hyūga Province|Himuka]] in [the island of] [[Kyushu|Tsukushi]]"{{efn|'Awagihara' or 'Awakihara' ([[Old Japanese]]: ''Apaki<sub>1</sub>para'') is a toponym meaning "a plain covered with ''[[Lespedeza bicolor|awagi]]'' shrubs". Its actual location is considered uncertain,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1400878000 |pages=462–463}}</ref> although a pond near [[Eda Shrine]] in modern-day Awakigahara-chō, [[Miyazaki, Miyazaki|Miyazaki]], [[Miyazaki prefecture|Miyazaki Prefecture]] (corresponding to the historical [[Hyūga Province|Himuka / Hyūga Province]]) is identified in local lore as the exact spot where Izanagi purified himself.<ref>{{cite web |title=みそぎ祓（はら）いのルーツ・阿波岐原 |url=http://mppf.or.jp/awaki/myth/ |website=Awakigahara Forest Park |access-date=2022-02-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=阿波岐原 |url=http://kojiki.kokugakuin.ac.jp/chimei/awakihara/ |website=國學院大學 古事記学センター |publisher=Kokugakuin University |language=Japanese}}</ref>}} and [[Misogi|bathed]] ({{Lang|ja-latn|misogi}}) in the river to purify himself after visiting [[Yomi]], the underworld, in a failed attempt to rescue his deceased wife, [[Izanami]]. Amaterasu was born when Izanagi washed his left eye, Tsukuyomi was born when he washed his right eye, and Susanoo was born when he washed his nose. Izanagi then appoints Amaterasu to rule [[Takamagahara]] (the "Plain of High Heaven"), Tsukuyomi the night, and Susanoo the seas.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1400878000 |pages=68–71}}</ref><ref>Chamberlain (1882). [http://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj018.htm Section XI.—Investiture of the Three Deities; The Illustrious August Children.]</ref><ref>Chamberlain (1882). [http://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj019.htm Section XII.—The Crying and Weeping of His Impetuous-Male-Augustness.]</ref>
*The main narrative of the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Nihon Shoki]]}} has Izanagi and Izanami procreating after [[Kuniumi|creating the Japanese archipelago]]; to them were born (in the following order) Ōhirume-no-Muchi (Amaterasu), Tsukuyomi, the 'leech-child' [[Hiruko]], and Susanoo:

{{blockquote|After this Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto consulted together, saying:—"We have now produced the Great-eight-island country, with the mountains, rivers, herbs, and trees. Why should we not produce someone who shall be lord of the universe?" They then together produced the Sun-Goddess, who was called Oho-hiru-me no muchi. [...] <br />The resplendent lustre of this child shone throughout all the six quarters. Therefore the two Deities rejoiced, saying:—"We have had many children, but none of them have been equal to this wondrous infant. She ought not to be kept long in this land, but we ought of our own accord to send her at once to Heaven, and entrust to her the affairs of Heaven."<br />
At this time Heaven and Earth were still not far separated, and therefore they sent her up to Heaven by the ladder of Heaven.<ref name="Aston18"/>}}

*A variant legend recorded in the ''Shoki'' has Izanagi begetting Ōhirume (Amaterasu) by holding a [[bronze mirror]] in his left hand, Tsukuyomi by holding another mirror in his right hand, and Susanoo by turning his head and looking sideways.<ref name="Aston20">{{cite wikisource |author-first= William George |author-last= Aston |chapter= Book I |wslink= Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |plaintitle= Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |year= 1896 |publisher= Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.|wspage=20}}</ref>
*A third variant in the ''Shoki'' has Izanagi and Izanami begetting the sun, the moon, Hiruko, and Susanoo, as in the main narrative. Their final child, the fire god [[Kagutsuchi]], caused Izanami's death (as in the ''Kojiki'').<ref name="Aston20"/>
*A fourth variant relates a similar story to that found in the ''Kojiki'', wherein the three gods are born when Izanagi washed himself in the river of Tachibana after going to Yomi.<ref>{{cite wikisource |author-first= William George |author-last= Aston |chapter= Book I |wslink= Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |plaintitle= Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |year= 1896 |publisher= Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.|wspage=28}}</ref>