Shinto
A Comparison Between Shinto and Greek God-Stories
By -
Richard Thornhill
GLOSSARY
Jinja ("god hall"): Shinto temple. The main functions are a place for
private prayer, and a venue for weddings and other ceremonies. Most jinja hold at
least one annual matsuri.
Kabuki ("singing and dancing skills"): A type of theatre which began as a
bawdy show in the 16thcentury.
Kagura ("divine pleasure/music"): Theatrical dances, usually re-enacting
themes from shinwa, dating back at least to the eighth century.
Kofun ("old tomb"): Prehistoric burial mound.
Kojiki ("Records of Ancient Matters"): The oldest extant Japanese book,
written in 712. Together with the Nihon Shoki, the main text of Shinto shinwa.
Majinai: Magic, witchcraft. Regarded more favourably than in traditional
Christianity but less so than in modern Wicca.
Matsuri ("worshipping"): Processions and street festivals organised by
jinja. The main collective expressions of Shinto. Each has its own characteristics,
but most involve floats or palanquins being carried or hauled through the streets.
Most are raucous and a few are, or were, priapic
Miko: Supposedly virgins consecrated to the service of a god at a jinja.
Historically sometimes temple prostitutes, now often little more than tour guides-cum-
shop assistants.
Nihon Shoki ("Chronicles of Japan"): Together with the Kojiki, the main
text of Shinto shinwa. Prepared in 720, from earlier books, now lost. Sometimes
called the Nihongi.
Orochi: Monstrous serpent.
Sakaki: The sacred tree of Shinto, Cleyeria japonica.
-sha ("hall"): Jinja.
Shikome ("ugly female"): Hag, demoness, ugly woman.
Shinto ("god way"):
The pre-Buddhist and pre-Confucian polytheist religion of Japan, heavily influenced
by the late 18th century Shinto Revival.
Shinwa ("god story"): I have used this term rather than myth and
mythology' as it does not imply untruth.
Taisha ("great hall"): An especially important jinja, often the chief one
of a dedication type.
Torii ("bird be"): Distinctive entranceways to jinja, with horizontal top
bars and sloping sides, often painted red.
Yomi: Hades, Hel, Sheol.
INTRODUCTION
There are various possible explanations for the similarities between the shinwa of
different cultures.
# I believe that the Muses lead all who can be led laughingly, although without
the joyless consistency pretended for Allah and Yahweh.
# Not so very different is the belief of some Christians, notably C.S. Lewis, that
pagan shinwa constitute extra-biblical revelations. Incidentally, it is rather
telling that the most attractive recent Christian proselytiser was so very close to
paganism.
# The Jungian idea is that shinwa arise from the collective unconscious, and that
endless repetition, across the filter-beds of innumerable human souls, serves to
purify rather than to corrupt.
# The different shinwa systems could be corruptions of a single original
# Prosaically, there may be a limit to the number of imaginable themes.
# An intriguing possibility in the case of the Greeks and Japanese is that the
similarities are due to historical contact. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki were written
in the early eighth century, after more than 150 years of Buddhist influence in
Japan, and Buddhism arrived via China from Gandhara in present-day Pakistan, which
had a Greek-speaking elite. Greek architectural influence is evident in the oldest
major Buddhist temple in Japan, Horyuji at Nara, built in 607. It is also known
that there were small numbers of Nestorian Christians in Japan in the eighth
century. An earlier possible contact, via Scythia, is discussed by Yoshida (see
Bibliography).
Regardless of the explanation, here I look at three Shinto shinwa which are
strikingly similar to Greek ones. Books 3-30 of the Nihon Shoki and volumes 2-3 of
the Kojiki, supposedly starting in 667 BCE, and ending in 697 CE, are historical',
which is to say they are partly semi- legendary, and partly simply invented so as
to supply Japan with a venerable past like China's. Even books 1-2 and volume 1,
about the age of the gods, are largely made up of transparently propagandist solar
shinwa about the descents from Heaven of the imperial ancestor, Hikoho-no- Ninigi,
and his rivals. However, the shinwa I discuss here are in book 1, and have no
obvious functions for the legitimisation of imperial rule. They are also mostly
concerned with the Izumo area, in Shimane County, on the Japan Sea coast, rather
than with Kyushu and the Osaka-Nara- Yamato-Ise area, the settings of the solar and
imperial shinwa. Furthermore, they have a not- quite-respectable feel, and the
gods involved are rarely worshipped at the same jinja as Amaterasu, the Sun
Goddess. I therefore suspect them to be 'genuine' survivors of the ravages of
orthodoxy, like the fragments of polytheism in Genesis. They are also, to me at
least, the most striking of classical Shinto shinwa.
The Kojiki presents a single version of each shinwa. The Nihon Shoki, on
the other hand, was prepared from various sources, now lost, and it presents each
variant. My tellings combine all versions as seamlessly as possible.
IZANAMI AND IZANAGI IN YOMI
The account of Izanagi and Izanami in Yomi is very similar to Greek shinwa about
descents into Hades.
Firstly, Izanami's entrapment in Yomi, having eaten the food there, is
reminiscent of Persephone's predicament after eating the pomegranate seeds. This
similarity is maintained by Izanami's attempt to persuade the gods of Yomi to free
her, and by her then becoming the Great Goddess of Yomi herself. Furthermore,
Persephone's winter absence is strongly suggested by the autumnal and vernal
matsuri for Izanami. However, the personalities of the gods of Yomi are not
developed, and the rape/abduction theme is absent.
Secondly, Izanagi's descent into Yomi to rescue Izanami, and his failure on
account of disobeying the command not to look at her, is highly reminiscent of
Orpheus and Eurydice. Very similar shinwa have been reported from Polynesia and
North America.
On the other hand, some aspects give this the feel of a 'Fall' shinwa.
Firstly, like Eve and Pandora, Izanami is both the mother of all living and the
bringer of death into the world. Secondly, like Prometheus, her suffering is due
to the bringing of fire, although it is not seen as a punishment.
Early commentators identified Izanami and Izanagi with yin and yang, in an attempt
to make Shinto compatible with Chinese philosophy. Modern Japanese commentators
make the rather similar suggestion that the couple are Mother Earth and Father Sky,
as in the shinwa of many Pacific Islanders, supporting the possible Micronesian
origin of the Japanese. However, there is little basis for these ideas in the
shinwa. There is no prominent Mother Earth figure in Shinto (contrary to
conventional theories of shinwa formation, as ancient Japan was a matriarchal and
agrarian society).
Izanagi and Izanami were the primal couple. They leaned from the Floating
Bridge of Heaven, stirred the World Ocean with a phallus, and then descended to
Onogoro Islet, formed by the congealing of drips from the end. There they erected
a phallic pillar, had sex, and gave birth to each of the islands of Japan, and then
to the animals and plants and various gods.
Finally, Izanami gave birth to the fire-god, Kagutsuchi, but this burned
her vagina and she died. She was buried at Arima, on the west coast of the Kii
Peninsula, in Mie County, and the Nihon Shoki says that the villagers worshipped
her "at the time of flowers", with offerings of flowers, and with flutes, flags,
drums, singing and dancing. Another version has Izanagi burying Izanami on Mt.
Hiba, in Hiroshima County, over the border from Izumo.
Izanagi followed Izanami to Yomi, or, in one version, went to her temporary
burial place:
-- "The lands to which we gave birth are yet incomplete: I beg you to return".
-- "My lord and master, why so late?: I have already eaten from the oven-door of
Yomi. Soon I will lie down to take my rest. I beseech you not to look".
However, he disobeyed, and, breaking the end-tooth from his comb, lit it to
see. In one version, Izanami went into the palace to beg the gods of Yomi for
permission to leave, and stayed so long that Izanagi grew impatient and entered the
palace. He was horrified by what he saw, as she had rotted, and was covered with
maggots, with the eight thunder-gods in different parts of her body:
-- "Alas, I have come unawares to a loathsome and polluted land".
He fled, but Izanami was furious about being thus put to shame, and sent
the eight shikome of Yomi to chase him. As they were chasing him, he threw his
black head-dress behind him, and it turned into grapes, which the shikome stopped
to eat, and then chased again. He then threw his comb behind him, and it turned
into bamboo shoots, which the shikome pulled up and ate, and then chased again. He
then pissed against a tree, producing a huge river, which the shikome had
difficulty crossing, giving him time to get away.
Izanami then sent the eight thunder-gods to chase him, along with 1,500
foot-soldiers. Izanagi fled, brandishing his sword behind him. Eventually he
reached the foot of the Yomo tsu Hirasaka ("Flat Bank of Yomi"), where there was a
peach tree, and he threw three peaches at the thunder-gods, driving them away.
This is the reason peaches are used to ward off evil, and as a symbol of
longevity. He then threw down his staff:
-- "The thunder-gods will not come beyond this".
It became Kunado ("Where They Will Not Come"), the god of roads.
Finally, Izanami herself chased Izanagi, as he ran up the Yomo tsu Hirasaka.
He pulled a rock which it would take a thousand men to move, and blocked the path,
and this rock, the God-Who-Blocks-the-Gates-of-Yomi or the God-Who-Turns-Back-the-
Road, is still there, near Izumo. Leaning over the rock, he pronounced the formula
of divorce.
-- "Our relationship is severed."
-- "In that case, I will strangle a thousand of your subjects a day".
-- "Ah, but I will build birth-huts for fifteen hundred births a day".
One of the Nihon Shoki versions is very different, without the shikome, the
thunder-gods, or the foot-soldiers, and is highly obscure, suggesting some sort of
taboo connected with nakedness.
Izanagi arrived at the place where Izanami was, and said he had sorrowed
for her, but she replied "We are relatives, so do not look at me". He disobeyed
and looked at her, and she said "You have seen my nakedness. Now I will see
yours". He was ashamed, and got ready to leave, but first he pronounced the
divorce. He said he would not be beaten by a relative, and they struggled at the
Yomo tsu Hirasaka. He also said "It was weak of me to mourn because of a
relative". Then the road-wardens of Yomi arrived, and gave him a message from
her; "We have given birth to many countries. Why need we give birth to more? I
will stay in Yomi, but you may depart". Then Princess Kukuri appeared, said
something of which Izanagi approved, and disappeared.
Izanagi and Izanami are now associated with marriage, and jinja dedicated
to them are popular for weddings. They also symbolise the interconnectedness of
life and death. Princess Kukuri is the goddess of matchmakers, which is rather
odd, as she mediated the divorce rather than the marriage of Izanagi and Izanami.
She is also concerned with mediation and arbitration in business and politics. The
trio of Izanagi, Izanami and Princess Kukuri is worshipped at Hakusan jinja, of
which there are nearly 3,000, with the chief being Shirayamahime ("White Mountain
Princess") Jinja, at the foot of Mt. Hakusan ("White Mountain") in Ishikawa
County. Hakusan jinja started as a mountain-worshipping sect, of which there are
several in Japan, and they are often on the summits of hills. Linking this with
Izanami being the Great Goddess of Yomi is their frequent association with kofun.
For example, Hakusan Jinja at Ota in Gunma County is built on a kofun, and Hakusan
Jinja in Tokyo is built beside one. Many other kofun are called Hakusan Kofun.
There is a generally spooky feel attached to the worship of Izanami, and she is
associated with majinai, for example.
Izanami's tomb at Arima, the Flower Cave, is in a 56-metre-high
rock
(http://fumi.eco.wakayama-u.ac.jp/KFM1/Html/hana.html), again suggesting
mountain worship, and is one of the traditional entrances to Yomi. The matsuri
held there, the Flower Cave Great Matsuri, is perhaps the oldest in Japan. Ropes
are stretched from the summit to Izanami's worshippers standing around the rock,
in order to symbolise the link between life and death. Contrary to the Nihon
Shoki, this matsuri is held twice annually, and the autumnal and vernal celebrations
are, like Persephone's departure and return, exactly four months apart, on 2nd
October and 2nd February.
Taga jinja are dedicated to Izanagi and Izanami, and are distributed
throughout Japan, with the chief, Taga Taisha, being in Jiga County. Izanami
and/or Izanagi are worshipped at numerous other jinja, and Mt. Hiba, one of
Izanami's traditional burial sites, is sacred to both her and Izanagi. Kamosu
("Divine Spirit") Jinja, in the same area, close to the reputed location of the
Yomo tsu Hirasaka, is said to be on the site of Izanagi's escape from Yomi.
AME-NO-UZUME: JAPAN'S BAWDY BAUBO
The account of Ame-no-Uzume's exhibitionism is very similar to that of Baubo's, and
this is a very unusual motif in world shinwa. Both were in order to cheer up a
goddess (Demeter or Amaterasu), and make her laugh, after she had become enraged by
the actions of her brother (Hades or Susa-no-O), and brought misery (famine or
darkness) on the world. However, the wider shinwa in which these accounts are
embedded are dissimilar, and, as explained above, the abduction of Persephone and
anguish of Demeter is parallelled more closely by the entrapment of Izanami than by
the anger of Amaterasu. Furthermore, the personalities of the gods are very
different. Amaterasu ("Heavenly Brilliance"), the Sun Goddess and queen of the
gods, is very unlike Demeter. Susa-no-O, the typhoon god, called Ikazuchi
("Thunderer") in some areas, is clearly Zeus/Jove/Thor/Yahweh rather than Hades.
Amaterasu, the Moon God Tsukiyomi, and Susa-no-O were the three most important
deities produced by Izanagi and Izanami, or by Izanagi alone, depending upon the
version. They were given the rules of Heaven, the seas and the land, respectively,
but Susa-no-O behaved chaotically, weeping and wailing, and causing the mountains
to wither and many people to die. He then ascended to Heaven, where he caused more
chaos, breaking down the paddy-field banks and letting piebald colts loose in the
paddy- fields, spreading shit in Amaterasu's palace when food was on the table, and
finally throwing a backward-flayed piebald colt into the room where the goddesses
were weaving, causing one of them to stab herself in the crotch with a shuttle and
die.
Amaterasu was so enraged by her brother's behaviour that she entered the
Cave of Heaven and blocked the entrance with a rock, casting both Heaven and Earth
into darkness and causing innumerable evil omens to occur. The scene of this event
is usually said to be the Cave of Heaven, in a sea-cliff near Futami in Mie County.
This cave is in the grounds of Futami Okitama Jinja, and is itself a small jinja,
with a torii outside the entrance. It is dedicated to Uka-no-Mitama, a harvest
goddess and provisioner of food to Amaterasu.
In response to this, all eight million (or 800,000) gods assembled in the
dry bed of the River of Heaven (the Milky Way), and asked Omoikane ("Thought-
Combiner") to think of a plan. They assembled the cockerels of Heaven and let them
crow. They then took rocks from the bed of the River of Heaven, and iron from the
mines of Heaven, and called the smith god, Ama-tsu-Mara, to make a sun-spear. They
also had Ishikoridome make an eight-feet-long mirror, Tama-no-Ya make an eight-
feet-long string of 500 curved jewels, Yama-tsu-Chi take 80 combs from a sakaki
tree, and Nu-tsu-Chi take 80 combs from tall grass. They then turned to Ame-no-
Koyane and Futotama, and had them go to Mt. Kagu, take the shoulder blade of a stag
and bark from a tree, and perform divination. Lastly, Ame-no-Koyane and Futotama
uprooted a sakaki with 500 branches, and tied the curved jewels to the upper
branches, the mirror to the middle branches, and blue and white cloth offerings to
the lower branches, and made other sacrifices and chanted prayers.
Ame-no-Uzume, the most beautiful of the goddesses, then took various plants
from Mt. Kagu, and, wearing a sash of clubmoss and a head-dress of spindle-tree (or
sakaki) leaves, holding a posy of bamboo leaves, and grasping a spear wreathed in
cogon-grass, she lit fires and made divine utterances outside the Cave of Heaven.
She then placed a drum outside the Cave and danced on it, with a resounding noise,
until she became possessed, at which her shirt opened and she pushed out her
breasts. She then pushed down her skirt-string and exposed her crotch to the eight
million gods, at which they laughed so much that Heaven shook.
Amaterasu was surprised by the sound of merriment, and moved the rock aside
slightly, asking "Why is everyone merry, when it should be dark outside?". Ame-no-
Uzume replied "We rejoice because there is a god greater than you!". Ame-no-Koyane
and Futotama showed Amaterasu the mirror, and she was astonished by the light from
her reflection, and moved the rock further aside, at which Ama-no-Tajikarao
("Strong- Armed Man of Heaven") pulled her out by the hand, and tied a rope at her
back to stop her going back in. Heaven and Earth thus became light again.
Ame-no-Uzume's dance is considered to be the prototype of the kagura, a
sacred form of dance and music performed at most jinja. Historically, some miko
used to perform sacred strip-shows in honour of Ame-no-Uzume, and it is said that
these are still performed at some jinja, although this is probably an urban
legend. There is probably a connection between these shows and the development of
kabuki in the 16th and 17thcenturies, as Okuni, one of the first kabuki performers,
was a miko, and kabuki was highly erotic in its early days.
SUSA-NO-O AND THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS
The shinwa of Susa-no-O and Princess Kushinada is highly reminiscent of that of
Perseus and Andromeda. However, similar shinwa have been recorded in China, Korea,
Mongolia, Cambodia and Borneo, so it cannot be assumed to be of Greek origin. A
fashionable explanation is that it refers to the destruction of a neolithic
fertility cult which actually or reputedly sacrificed maidens, by the patriarchal,
militaristic, iron-using (hence the sword and the red river) founders of the
kingdom of Izumo. However, there seems to be even less evidence for this
suggestion than for its equivalents in a European context.
Susa-no-O probably means simply "Man of Susa", although it is sometimes
interpreted as "Impetuous Male". Susa Jinja is at the village of Susa, near Izumo,
and there is also a town of Susa to the west, in Yamaguchi County.
After Amaterasu left the Cave of Heaven, Susa-no-O was punished with a
fine, and by having his hair and finger nails pulled out and being expelled from
heaven. He descended to near the headwaters of the River Hii, near Izumo. Seeing
some chopsticks floating down the river, he knew that there were people living
higher up, and went to look for them. He met an elderly couple who were weeping
and stroking the hands and feet of their young daughter. In one version the
daughter was not yet born but the man's wife was pregnant. The man was called
Ashinazuchi ("Foot-Caressing Elder") and his wife was called Tenazuchi ("Hand-
Caressing Elder"), or in one version he was called Ashinazutenazu ("Foot-Caress-
Hand-Caress"). They explained that they had had eight daughters, but that the
Eight-Forked Orochi of Koshi had come every year and eaten one, and would come this
year to eat their last, Princess Kushinada (or Inada). The orochistretched over
eight hills and eight valleys, and had red eyes like the fruit of the Chinese
lantern plant, eight heads and eight tails, trees growing on its head and back and
mountains on its sides, and a swollen and bloody belly. Susa-no-O promised to
rescue Princess Kushinada on condition that he could marry her, and her parents
agreed. He turned her into a comb (kushi), and stuck her in his topknot. He then
had her parents brew eight barrels of sake, and left them for the orochi, or, in
one version, invited it to drink with him. Each head of the orochi drank one
barrel of sake, and it got drunk and fell asleep. Susa-no-O then killed it, and
the River Hii became a river of blood (which modern commentators say is a reference
to the iron ore in the rocks of the area). He then cut the orochi up, and found in
its tail a wondrous sword, Kusanagi, which is now one of the imperial regalia.
Susa-no-O then built a palace for himself and Princess Kushinada near
Izumo, and named it Suga, because his heart was refreshed (sugasugashii). The
clouds rose up to form a screen around the palace before his wedding, so he wrote a
poem;
Eight clouds arise:
the eightfold palisade of Izumo*.
To conceal my wife
they form an eightfold palisade.
Ah, the eightfold palisade.
* Izumo is written "Come Out Cloud".
A number of jinja in the Izumo area are said to be on the site of this palace.
However, the most common claim is for Suga Jinja, and it is sometimes said that
Susa-no-O and Princess Kushinada later moved from there to the site of Yaegaki
("Eightfold Palisade") Jinja. Both these are dedicated to Susa-no-O and Kushinada,
and there are numerous Suga jinja, with this dedication, throughout Japan. Yaegaki
Jinja holds a mikakushi ("body-hiding") ritual every May, to commemorate
Kushinada's hiding from the orochi.
Susa-no-O has retained some of his role as ruler of the land, being a god
of agriculture, along with Princess Kushinada/Inada (inada means "rice-plant paddy-
field"). However, his worship mostly pertains to his chaotic nature and his rescue
of Kushinada, and he therefore has an intriguing dual aspect, being both the cause
of elemental chaos, especially typhoons and plagues, and its subduer, as seen in
his slaying of the orochi. Sometimes he and his son Itakeru are worshipped
together as the gods of typhoons. It is maintained that typhoons, for example, no.
12 in 1996, which was very destructive, cause little damage in places where these
gods are propitiated. Susa-no-O's subduing of the unruliness of nature is also
seen in his role as god of agriculture, as he is especially concerned with the
bringing of new land into cultivation, and with the breaking of the ground with the
plough.
Susa-no-O's symbolisation of righteous violence, like St. George, has led
to his association with political extremism, and with martial arts. A
neighbourhood jinja round the corner from where I live organises martial arts
clubs, and, despite being dedicated not to Susa-no-O but to Hachiman, a war-god, it
prominently displays a vivid painting of Susa-no-O slaying the orochi. In the
painting there is, it must be said, not a damsel in sight; that would be too much
for the hard-school!
In addition to those mentioned above, an enormous number of jinja are
dedicated to Susa-no-O, often together with Princess Kushinada and Itakeru, or with
his semi-historical descendant Okuninushi, who handed the kingdom of Izumo over to
the imperial forces. In particular, he is always worshipped at Susa-no-O, Yagumo
("Eight Clouds"), Tsushima and Yasaka jinja. There are more than 3,000 Tsushima
jinja, the chief being Tsushima Jinja in Aichi County, which is said to have been
founded at the accession of Emperor Kinmei in 540 CE.
Historically, numerous jinja held summer matsuri in honour of Susa-no-O, in
order to ward off smallpox. These involved kagura re-enacting the slaying of the
orochi, and children were passed through a loop of cogon-grass. Some of the kagura
have become famous, and are staged at other times and places. Many of the matsuri
are still held, with famous ones being the Tenno or Tsushima Matsuri at Tsushima
Jinja, mentioned above, and the Hinkoko Matsuri, at Mino in Gifu County. The chief
Yasaka jinja is in Kyoto, and one of Japan's three biggest annual matsuri is this
jinja's Gion-e, on July 17-24. This was started by Emperor Seiwa in the ninth
century, in order to protect Kyoto from pestilence, and it is an impressive sight,
with the huge carts carrying centuries-old Japanese, European and Arabian pictures
and tapestries.
In mediaeval times, with the fusion of Shinto and Buddhism, Susa-no-O was
identified with Gozu Tenno ("Bull-headed King of Heaven"), a Baal-like Hindu god of
pestilence. Such identifications were formally abolished in 1868, but he is still
often popularly referred to by this name, and is usually shown with bull's horns.
He is also referred to simply as Tenno ("King of Heaven"), or as Gion Tenjin
("Heavenly God of Gion"). Before 1868 all Yagumo, Yasaka, Tsushima and Susa-no-O
jinja, and most Suga jinja, were called Tennosha, Gozu Tennosha, Gion Gozu
Tennosha, Gion Tenjin or Gion Daimyojin. Folklore contains numerous stories about
Gozu Tenno, and it was believed that, like the Greek gods, he sometimes appears in
human form requesting hospitality.
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