Amaterasu Omikami is the sun goddess of the Shinto religion and ruler of Takama no Hara, the domain of the kami. Japanese nobility claims to have descended from Amaterasu and Susanoo, when Amaterasu broke into three pieces and swallowed, then subsequently spit out the sword of Susanoo, which formed into three female deities. Susanoo ate and swallowed Amaterasu’s necklace of 500 jewels which when spat out became five male deities. The belief in these deities allowed Japanese emperors to exercise complete and total power over the people due to their divine authority. In Japanese culture Amaterasu is depicted as a benevolent being, and in contrast to Western culture her womanhood is seen as important, whereas in Western culture women tend to …show more content…
She had fled after being discovered by Susanoo in her temple when she was weaving with her sister. Susanoo threw a skinned horse at her feet, which caused her to escape to the cave, and henceforth the entire earth was covered in darkness. In the cave where she dwelled for a long time, the gods thought of creative ways of how to get her to come out. The first method they used was placing roosters outside the entrance of the cave hoping to convince the goddess that dawn was coming. They also put a giant sakaki tree outside the front of the cave and decorated it with fine white clothes, magatama, and a mirror in the middle. Finally, the goddess Amezoune began to strip herself of all her clothes and dance manically to an unknown rythym. The other gods thought this was hilarious and began to laugh hysterically. Their laughter was heard by Amaterasu and her curiosity caused her to come out of her dwelling space. She was immediately stunned by the beauty and ferocity of her own reflection in the mirror in the center of the tree, and while she was taken back she was forcefully apprehended by the god named Ame-no-tajikara-wo. Another god named Tuto-Tamo held a straw pole behind her and told her to look at the world, which was now lit up by her