INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY

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dirtystinkingdemons.com - The Gods Laid Bare - Myth without the Pith

From the Pantheon of the Rising Sun...

Apparently the Japanese have eight myriads of Gods. I'm not sure how many that is exactly but i don't think i'll have room for them all here. The Japanese love their Gods and will nominate one to look after absolutely anything - water, lamp posts, letterboxes, toenail clippings. Ok i pulled the last one out of thin air but i'll hazard a guess if you dig around you'll find one. They started gathering them early ..

100 bc saw the arrival of the Yayoi and the introduction of rice, metals and a whole new religion. The Japanese were excited obviously because as well as absorbing Mongul and Korean Gods from the visitors beliefs they also had to find ones for all the new spangly products. 0 A.D. saw Shinto become the national belief of Japan even though it was already a bit of a mish-mash. The emperor was simply an official for performing religious ceremonies and rituals.

200 A.D. The creation of Sushi .. better think of some Sushi Gods. 538 A.D. Korea despached a delegate to introduce Japan to Buddhism. Oh Joy. More Gods. 593 A.D. Prince Shokote pushes Buddhism and 604 A.D. does a u-turn. Confucianism is now 'in' .. "Confucianism? Sounds like a religion. Got any Gods? Yes? Lovely!"

712 A.D. Things look to be getting out of control as oral tradition is adding much confusion to Godly proceedings not to mention threatening to harm the Royal family by calling their geneology into question. Emperor Temmu puts together a commitee to come up with Kojiki or 'Record of Ancient things.' The book includes rituals, etiquette, ceremonies, rituals, folklore, traditions and obviously Gods.

And so it goes on : battles, invasions, changes of emperor, civil wars, nations unified, Shoguns, Samurai, christianity introduced .. and banned, Volcanos erupting, all needed Gods. And don't think they've slowed down any. Photographers are everywhere taking snapshots of everything for possible deification. They just can't get enough.

I'm pretty sure that the majority of the eight myriad of Kami, or Gods, are leaves, blades of grass, pebbles and other naturally occuring bits and bobs but amongst them are some very endearing Gods of Good fortune, gift bearers and luck bringers .. Gods of the elements .. sky, earth, seas .. and don't forget the protectors and guardians .. oh and the planets ..

The list really is endless so to save my typing finger i'm only going to list the major players .. for now.

JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY in a nutshell..
Location : Japan
Specific Region/Culture/People : Shinto, Buddhism and Folk religion.
Pronunciation : n/a
Category : n/a
Gender : n/a
God/ess of : n/a
Also known as : n/a

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