East Japanese Religion: The Formation Of First Japan Emperor Kingdom (Essay Sample)

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Amaterasu
Scott Littleton mythology of the East Japanese religion of Shinto reveals how a sun goddess ruled with wisdom in ancient times until the formation of first Japan emperor kingdom. The story begins with Amaterasu, the sun goddess being put to the test by her brother Susano after their father Izanagi no Mikoto had left all sovereignty of cosmos under the sun goddess (Littleton 1). Susano called the ‘raging male’ put his sister, Amaterasu into a context of divinity upon which, they spat out deities that are believed to be the ancestors of modern Japan Emperor rule. So Amaterasu used Susano’s sword, and Susano used Magatama, Amaterasu’s jewel where they chewed them and let out jewels. Susano let out more children, but Amaterasu had more male kids than Susano, and therefore, she became victorious from the contest. He refused to accept defeat and threw a piebald horse into the path of, Amaterasu killing one of her handmaidens. At that point, she decided to hide in the cave of darkness, and the whole cosmos became dark. She was then tricked to come out by her fellow deities, and Susano was thrown to earth. As the story unfolds, it brings some resemblance with ancient European stories of a hero killing a monster and getting a sword, which then, becomes the symbol of a new nation’s nobility and the power of women in the established kingdoms.
The story resembles those of ancient Europe where a sword is either obtained from a rock or a dragon and it is then used as a symbol of authority for a new nation. In ancient Arthurian tradition, King Arthur got a massive sword called the Excalibur which he used to wage battles until becoming the King of England. Arthur pulled the first sword from a rock but the second sword he obtained it from a lady of the lake (Littleton 1). The story of the magical swords is also evident in the old mythical story of Amaterasu where Susano obtains Mura-Kumo, a magical sword from the tail of the dragon and later surrenders it to his sister through Honinigi, the grandson before going to the underworld.
The role of women in the establishment of the new kingdom of Japan is well intensified in the tale of Amaterasu and even that of ancient European countries. Just as Amaterasu’s brother had no option but to surrender the magical sword, he found in the dragon’s tail to his sister during the divination test, and the time of his grandson’s reign on earth, the same can be attributed to ancient indo-European mythologies. In Arthur’s case, he surrendered the swords to the lady of the lake who became his wife. In the story of Yamato Takeru, the sword is surrendered to the same woman who gave and later became his wife (Littleton 1). These ladies are said to have a duty of becoming the leading founders of the respective monarchies, both in England and also in Japan.
Just like Beowulf killed the monster, Grendel and her mother to claim kingship authority in ancient Gaet, the same can be attributed to how Susano killed the eight-headed dragon to claim the magical sword. In all the cases, the swords used were magical and were gold in color and stature. But what remains clear is that monsters ...