Japanese mythology and its features

Japan is a country full of mysteries. Over the years, it has been isolated from the outside world, and this isolation has allowed the creation of an original culture. A vivid example is the richest Japanese mythology.

Religion of Japan

Despite the long ages of isolation from European and other countries, Nippon (as the Japanese call their homeland) is surprised by the variety of religious teachings. Among them, the main place is occupied by Shintoism, which professes more than 80% of the population. On the second place in importance is Buddhism, which came to Japan from neighboring China. There are representatives of Confucianism, Christianity, Zen Buddhism, and Islam in the country.

Feature of religion Nippon - syncretism, when the overwhelming number of residents profess several religions. This is considered normal practice and is a perfect example of the tolerance and tolerance of the Japanese.

Shinto is the path of the gods

Rich Japanese mythology originates in Shinto - the main religion of the Land of the Rising Sun. It is based on the deification of natural phenomena. The ancient Japanese believed that any object has a spiritual essence. Therefore Shinto is the worship of various deities and spirits of the dead. This religion includes totemism, magic, faith in the miraculous power of amulets, talismans and rituals.

Great influence on Shinto was rendered by Buddhism. This is manifested in the main principle of the religion of Japan - to live in harmony and unity with the surrounding world. According to the ideas of the Japanese, the world is an environment in which people, spirits and deities coexist together.

The peculiarity of Shinto is that there is no strict boundary between such concepts as good and evil. Evaluation of actions is what goals a person sets himself. If he respects the elders, maintains friendly relations with others, is capable of sympathy and help, then he is a kind person. Evil in the understanding of the Japanese is selfishness, anger, intolerance, a violation of the social order. Since there is no absolute evil and good in Shintoism, only the person himself is able to distinguish them. To do this, he must live right, in harmony with the surrounding world, cleaning his body and consciousness.

Japanese mythology: gods and heroes

Nippon has a great pantheon of deities. As in other religions, they are of ancient origin, and myths about them are associated with the creation of heaven and earth, the sun, man and other living beings.

Japanese mythology, whose gods have very long names, describes the events that took place from the creation of the world and the era of deities until the beginning of the reign of their descendants - the emperors. However, the time frame for all events is not specified.

The first myths, as usual, tell of the creation of the world. At first, everything was in chaos, which at one point divided into Takama-no hara and the islands of Akitsushima. Other deities began to appear. Then came the divine couple, consisting of a brother and sister, personifying any of the phenomena of nature.

The most important of them for the ancient Japanese were Izanagi and Izanami. This is a divine couple, from the marriage of which appeared islands and many new kami (divine entities). Japanese mythology with the example of these two gods very clearly shows Shinto's idea of death and life. Izanami fell ill and died after she gave birth to the God of Fire. After her death, she went to the country of Darkness Yomi (Japanese version of the afterlife), from which there is no way back. But Idzanagi could not reconcile with her death and went after his wife to return her to the upper world of the living. Finding her in a terrible state, he fled the country of Darkness, and the entrance to it filled up. Izanami was enraged at the act of her husband who had thrown her and promised that thousands of people would take lives daily. The myth says that everything is mortal, and the gods are no exception. Therefore, it is pointless to try to return the dead.

The following legends tell how the returned from Yomi Izanagi washed off all the filth from visiting the country of Darkness. From clothes, ornaments and drops of water, flowing from the body of the god, new kami were born. The main of them and the most revered by the Japanese are Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun.

Japanese mythology could not do without stories about great heroes from among people. One of them is the legendary Kintaro. He was the son of a samurai and since childhood he has possessed an unprecedented power. His mother gave him an ax, and he helped loggers to fell trees. He was entertained by the fact that he broke rocks. Kintaro was kind and made friends with animals and birds. He learned to speak with them in their language. One day, one of the vassals of Prince Sakato saw Kintaro knocking over a tree with one blow of an ax, and invited him to serve with his master. The boy's mother was very happy, because this was the only opportunity to become a samurai. The first heroic feat in the service of the prince was the destruction of a monster cannibal.

The myth of a fisherman and a turtle

Another interesting character of the myths of Japan is the young fisherman Urasima Taro. Once he saved a turtle, which turned out to be the daughter of the ruler of the seas. In gratitude the young man was invited to the underwater palace. A few days later he wanted to return home. At parting, the princess gave him a box, asking never to open it. On land, the fisherman learned that 700 years had passed and, shaken, opened the box. Bursting out of her smoke immediately grew old Urasima Toro, and he died.

The Legend of Momotaro

Momotaro, or Peach Boy, is a famous hero of traditional Japanese myths that tell the story of his appearance from a huge peach and his release from the demons of the island of Onigashima.

Unusual characters

A lot of interesting and unusual is fraught with Japanese mythology. Creatures play a big role in it. These include Bachemono and Youkai. In the broadest sense, they are called monsters and spirits. These are living and supernatural creatures, which temporarily can change their form. Usually these creatures either pretend to be humans, or take a terrible look. For example, Nopperapon is an impersonal monster. In the daytime he appears in the guise of a man, but at night it is clear that instead of a face he has a purple ball.

Animals of Japanese mythology also possess supernatural abilities. They are a kind of youkai and bachemono: raccoon dogs (tanuki), badgers (mudin).

Tanuki are animals that bring luck and well-being. They are big fans of sake, and their image is devoid of negative coloring. Mudzina is a typical werewolf and a deceiver of people.

But the most famous foxes in Japanese mythology, or kitsune. They have magical abilities and wisdom, can turn into both seductive girls and men. A great influence on the image of kitsune was the Chinese beliefs, where the foxes were werewolves. Their main feature is the presence of nine tails. Such a creature received fur of silver or white color and was provided with unprecedented insight. There are many species of kitsune, and there are among them not only insidious and spiteful, but also kind foxes.

The dragon in Japanese mythology is also not uncommon, and it can also be attributed to supernatural beings. He is one of the main characters of the eastern religion of countries such as Japan, China and Korea. In appearance, it is easy to determine where this or that dragon is from. For example, the Japanese has three fingers on his paws.

The eight-headed Yamata no Orochi is one of the most famous in Shinto. He received tremendous power from demons. Each of his heads symbolized evil: betrayal, hatred, envy, greed, destruction. God Susanoo, expelled from the Heavenly Fields, was able to defeat the terrible dragon.

Japanese mythology: demons and spirits

At the heart of Shinto is the belief in the deification of natural phenomena and the fact that any object has some essence. Therefore, monsters and spirits in Japanese mythology are especially diverse and numerous.

The inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun have a very complicated terminology about supernatural beings. They are referred to as the youkai and obake. They can be animals that change their appearance, or spirits that were once human beings.

Yurei is the ghost of a deceased person. This is a classic kind of perfume. Their feature is the lack of legs. According to the ideas of the Japanese, the yurei is not tied to a particular place. Most of all they love abandoned houses and temples, where travelers are waiting. If youkai can be kind to a person, then ghosts are characters of terrible myths and fairy tales.

Spirits are far from all that Japanese mythology can surprise. Demons - another kind of supernatural beings, playing a big role in it. They are called them. These are large anthropoid fanged and horned creatures with a skin of red, black or blue. Armed with an iron club with spikes, very dangerous. They are difficult to kill - severed parts of the body immediately grow back. They are cannibals.

The characters of Japanese mythology in art

The first written monuments in the Land of the Rising Sun are collections of myths. Folklore of Japan is a huge storehouse of terrible fairy tales about yurei, youkai, demons and other characters. Bunraku, a puppet theater, very often uses in its productions traditional legends and myths.

Nowadays, the characters of Japanese mythology and folklore have become popular again thanks to cinematography and anime.

Sources of the study of the mythology of Japan

The largest and most famous are the cycles of myths and legends "Nihongi" and "Kojiki". They were composed almost simultaneously, in the XVIII century, at the behest of the rulers of the Yamato clan. Some of the myths can be found in ancient Japanese poetry and religious songs of norito.