Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #JapaneseMythology
Most recents (2)
I’ve done a lot of Shinto/Japanese mythology threads over the past six months, especially tied to teaching. At the risk of regurgitating, it feels like it warrants a thread of threads just to keep it all in one place for easy reference. 1/10
This thread explains how the foundational mythological texts, Nihon Shoki and Kojiki cannot be considered a single Japanese mythology. Rather, plurality was the name of the game from the time of our earliest written texts. 2/10
Over the summer, I did a series of three threads on #transnationalshinto to try to complicate ideas of Shinto as an indigenous religion. Here’s the first one, which focused on #buddhistart to show how kami and Buddhist deities blend in Japanese art. 3/10
Of course an exception doesn't prove a rule, but it does complicate it. But since you brought up Amaterasu as the "MAJOR" example, let's look at her. Perhaps you'd be surprised how transnational of a deity she is. An impromptu just out of bed 🧵+ citations.
First, Amaterasu in #JapaneseMythology:Como shows how her story draws from continental ideas of weaving deities, immortality, spirit-pacification, etc. and challenges nativist views of her origins, pointing out the role of Koraen immigrants in shaping her. uhpress.hawaii.edu/immigrant-gods…
In the medieval period, the predominant lens that Amaterasu was understood in was Buddhist. We can see this is in a large number of sources (examples to follow). A great and easy-to-read Japanese introduction is Satō Hiro'o's アマテラスの変貌 : 中世神仏交渉史の視座 .
