Editing Amaterasu (section)

====The subjugation of Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni====
{{see also|Ōkuninushi|Kuni-yuzuri|Tenson kōrin}}
[[File:三種の神器 1200x1200.png|left|thumb|Artist's impression of the three [[Imperial Regalia of Japan]]]]
After a time, Amaterasu and the [[Kotoamatsukami|primordial deity]] [[Takamimusubi]] (also known as Takagi-no-Kami) declared that Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, which was then being ruled over by [[Ōkuninushi]] (also known as Ō(a)namuchi), the descendant (''Kojiki'') or the son (''Shoki'') of Susanoo, should be pacified and put under the jurisdiction of their progeny, claiming it to be teeming with "numerous deities which shone with a lustre like that of fireflies, and evil deities which buzzed like flies".<ref name="Nihongi64">{{cite wikisource |author-first= William George |author-last= Aston |chapter= Book II |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=64}}</ref> Amaterasu ordered [[Ame-no-oshihomimi|Ame-no-Oshihomimi]], the firstborn of the five male children born during her contest with Susanoo, to go down to earth and establish his rule over it. However, after inspecting the land below, he deemed it to be in an uproar and refused to go any further.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1400878000 |pages=120–122}}</ref><ref name="ChamberlainSectionXXX">Chamberlain (1882). [http://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj037.htm Section XXX.—The August Deliberation for Pacifying the Land.]</ref> At the advice of Omoikane and the other deities, Amaterasu then dispatched another of her five sons, [[Ame no Hohi]]. Upon arriving, however, Ame no Hohi began to curry favor with Ōkuninushi and did not send back any report for three years.<ref name="ChamberlainSectionXXX" /><ref name="Nihongi64" /> The heavenly deities then sent a third messenger, [[Ame-no-wakahiko|Ame-no-Wakahiko]], who also ended up siding with Ōkuninushi and marrying his daughter Shitateruhime. After eight years, a female [[Japanese green pheasant|pheasant]] was sent to question Ame-no-Wakahiko, who killed it with his bow and arrow. The blood-stained arrow flew straight up to Takamagahara at the feet of Amaterasu and Takamimusubi, who then threw it back to earth with a curse, killing Ame-no-Wakahiko in his sleep.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1400878000 |pages=123–125}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Mori|first1=Mizue|title=Amewakahiko|url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=46|website=Encyclopedia of Shinto|publisher=Kokugakuin University|access-date=13 February 2017|archive-date=14 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214230438/http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=46|url-status=dead}}</ref><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.|wspages=65-66}}</ref>

The preceding messengers having thus failed to complete their task, the heavenly gods finally sent the warrior deities [[Futsunushi]] and [[Takemikazuchi]]{{efn|So the ''Nihon Shoki'', the ''[[Kogo Shūi]]'',<ref>{{cite book |translator1-last=Katō |translator1-first=Genchi |translator2-last=Hoshino |translator2-first=Hikoshirō |title=Kogoshūi: Gleanings from Ancient Stories. Translated with an introduction and notes |date=1925 |publisher=Meiji Japan Society |page=16}}</ref> and the ''[[Sendai Kuji Hongi]]''. In the ''Kojiki'' (where Futsunushi is not mentioned), the envoys sent by the heavenly gods are Takemikazuchi and the bird-boat deity [[Kamiumi#Birth of the gods|Ame-no-Torifune]].<ref>Chamberlain (1882). [https://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj039.htm Section XXXII.—Abdication of the Deity Master-of-the-Great-Land.]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1400878000 |page=129}}</ref> In the ''Izumo no Kuni no Miyatsuko no Kanʼyogoto'' ("Congratulatory Words of the ''[[Kuni no miyatsuko|Kuni no Miyatsuko]]'' of Izumo" - a ''[[norito]]'' recited by the governor of Izumo Province before the imperial court during his appointment), Futsunushi's companion is Ame-no-Oshihomimi's son Ame no Hinadori.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=De Bary |editor1-first=Wm. Theodore |editor2-last=Keene |editor2-first=Donald |editor3-last=Tanabe |editor3-first=George |editor4-last=Varley |editor4-first=Paul |title=Sources of Japanese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600 |date=2001 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=38 |isbn=9780231121385 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tNJ_s2FEOWcC&pg=PA38}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Takioto |first1=Yoshiyuki |title=Izumo no Kuni no Miyatsuko no Kan'yogoto no Shinwa (出雲国造神賀詞の神話) |journal=Komazawa Shigaku |date=2012 |volume=78 |pages=1–17 |url=http://repo.komazawa-u.ac.jp/opac/repository/all/32737/rsg078-01-takiotoyoshiyuki.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://repo.komazawa-u.ac.jp/opac/repository/all/32737/rsg078-01-takiotoyoshiyuki.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Komazawa University]] |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Nishioka |first1=Kazuhiko |title=Amenooshihomimi |url=http://k-amc.kokugakuin.ac.jp/DM/dbSearchList.do?class_name=col_eos&search_condition_type=1&db_search_condition_type=4&View=2&startNo=1&focus_type=0&searchFreeword=Amenooshihomimi&searchRangeType=0 |website=Encyclopedia of Shinto |publisher=Kokugakuin University |access-date=2020-03-25 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>}} to remonstrate with Ōkuninushi. At the advice of his son [[Kotoshironushi]], Ōkuninushi agreed to abdicate and left the physical realm to govern the unseen spirit world, which was given to him in exchange. The two gods then went around Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, killing those who resisted them and rewarding those who rendered submission, before going back to heaven.<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.|wspages=68-70}}</ref>

[[File:Ninigi.jpg|thumb|280px|[[Ninigi]] and his retinue at Mount Takachiho]]
With the earth now pacified, Amaterasu and Takamimusubi again commanded Ame-no-Oshihomimi to descend and rule it. He, however, again demurred and suggested that his son [[Ninigi]] be sent instead. Amaterasu thus bequeathed to Ninigi, the sword Susanoo gave her, along with the two items used to lure her out of the Ame-no-Iwayato: the mirror Yata-no-Kagami and the jewel [[Yasakani no Magatama]]. With a number of gods serving as his retinue, Ninigi came down from heaven to [[Takachiho, Miyazaki|Mount Takachiho]] in the [[Hyūga Province|land of Himuka]] and built his palace there. Ninigi became the ancestor of the [[Imperial House of Japan|emperors of Japan]], while the mirror, jewel, and sword he brought with him became the [[Imperial Regalia of Japan|three sacred treasures]] of the imperial house. Five of the gods who accompanied him in his descent - Ame-no-Koyane, Futodama, Ame-no-Uzume, [[Ishikori-dome no Mikoto|Ishikoridome]] (the maker of the mirror), and [[Tamanoya]] (the maker of the jewel) - meanwhile became the ancestors of the clans involved in court ceremonial such as the [[Nakatomi clan|Nakatomi]] and the [[Inbe clan|Inbe]].<ref>Chamberlain (1882). [https://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj040.htm Section XXXIII.—The August Descent from Heaven of His Augustness the August Grandchild.]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Philippi |first1=Donald L. |title=Kojiki |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1400878000 |pages=137–141}}</ref><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.|wspages=70, 76-77}}</ref>