Tenchi-kaibyaku~The creation of the world｜kojiki｜learning 'jinja'－havin' a coffee break

Interpretation may vary depending on the historical materials

Story

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Tenchi-kaibyaku

When the heavens and the earth was formed, a god, Amenominakanushi-no-kami appeared in Takamagahara. And another two gods, Takamimusubi-no-kami and Kamumusubi-no-kami appeared too. These three gods are genderless "Hitori-gami", and they hid themselves soon after they appeared.

Then, when the land was still floating like grease, and drifting like jelly fish, Umashiashikabihikoji-no-kami emerged from what looked like sprouting reeds. Also Amenotokotachi-no-kami was born. These two were also genderless, and hid themselves soon. These 5 gods are considered special among the Amatsukami and called "Kotoamatsukami".

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Kamiyo-nanayo

After the Kotoamatsukami, Kuninotokotachi-no-kami and Toyogumonu-nokami were born. These two were also genderless, and hid themselves.

The gods that appeared thus far were genderless, but after that, 5 pairs of male and female gods appeared, Uhijini-no-kami and Suhijini-no-kami, Tsunugui-no-kami and Ikugui-no-kami, Ōtonoji-no-kami and Ōtonobe-no-kami, Omodaru-no-kami and Ayakashikone-no-kami, and at the last Izanagi-no-kami and Izanami-no-kami. Kuninotokotachi-no-kami, Toyogumonu-nokami and the 5 pairs of gods are called "Kamiyo-nanayo".

Vocabulary

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Gods

The Kotoamatsukami

The Zōka-sanshin

Amenominakanushi-no-kami (天之御中主神)
The first god to appear, the supreme god.: Takamimusubi-no-kami (高御産巣日神)
The god of creation.: Kamumusubi-no-kami (神産巣日神)
The god of creation.

The other Kotoamatsukami

Umashiashikabihikoji-no-kami (宇摩志阿斯訶備比古遅神)
The god of life.: Amenotokotachi-no-kami (天之常立神)
The god of eternity of the heavens.

The Kamiyo-nanayo

Kuninotokotachi-no-kami (国之常立神)
The god of eternity of the country.: Toyogumonu-nokami (豊雲野神)
The god of clouds.: Uhijini-no-kami (宇比地邇神)
Suhijini-no-kami's brother.: Suhijini-no-kami (須比智邇神)
Uhijini-no-kami's sister.: Tsunugui-no-kami (角杙神)
Ikugui-no-kami's brother.: Ikugui-no-kami (活杙神)
Tsunugui-no-kami's sister.: Ōtonoji-no-kami (意富斗能地神)
Ōtonobe-no-kami's brother.: Ōtonobe-no-kami (大斗乃弁神)
Ōtonoji-no-kami's sister.: Omodaru-no-kami (於母陀流神)
Ayakashikone-no-kami's brother.: Ayakashikone-no-kami (阿夜訶志古泥神)
Omodaru-no-kami's sister.: Izanagi-no-kami (伊邪那岐神)
Izanami-no-kami's brother.: Izanami-no-kami (伊邪那美神)
Izanagi-no-kami's sister.

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Places

Takamagahara (高天原)
The heavens, where the gods are.

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Other terms

Tenchi-kaibyaku (天地開闢)
The creation of the heavens and the earth.: Hitorigami (独神)
A single god, not in a male-female pair.: Zōka-sanshin (造化三神)
The three gods of creation. The gods those first appeared in the creation of the world.: Amatsukami (天津神)
The gods in Takamagahara, and the gods that descended from Takamagahara.: Kotoamatsukami (別天津神)
The 5 gods are considered special among the Amatsukami.: Kamiyo-nanayo (神代七代)
The seven generations of the age of the gods. The two hitorigami are counted as one generation respectively, and each pair of the 5 male-female pairs are counted as one generation.

Facts

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How the world formed

In the Kojiki, there are no details about how the heavens and the earth formed. But in Nihon shoki, there are details written.

Story

The heavens and the earth was mixed up, and the positive and the negative was mixed up, in a chaotic condition like a raw chicken egg. But one day, the clear and pure rose and formed the heavens, and the muddy and heavy formed the earth. Since what formed the heavens were easy to move, and what formed the land was difficult to harden, the heavens formed first, then the earth formed. Then, a god emerged.

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The gods counted as the 'Kamiyo-nanayo'

The gods included in the "Kamiyo-nanayo" differ with historical materials.

Kojiki

The order of birth	Male god	Female god
1st	Kuninotokotachi-no-kami
2nd	Toyogumonu-nokami
3rd	Uhijini-no-kami	Suhijini-no-kami
4th	Tsunugui-no-kami	Ikugui-no-kami
5th	Ōtonoji-no-kami	Ōtonobe-no-kami
6th	Omodaru-no-kami	Ayakashikone-no-kami
7th	Izanagi-no-kami	Izanami-no-kami

Nihon shoki

Main story

The order of birth	Male god	Female god
1st	Kuninotokotachi-no-mikoto	-
2nd	Kunisatsuchi-no-mikoto	-
3rd	Toyokumunu-no-mikoto	-
4th	Uhijini-no-mikoto	Suhijini-no-mikoto
5th	Ōtonoji-no-mikoto	Ōtomabe-no-mikoto
6th	Omotaru-no-mikoto	Kashikone-no-mikoto
7th	Izanagi-no-mikoto	Izanami-no-mikoto

In the Kojiki, the three gods of creation appear before the Kamiyo-nanayo. But in the Nihon shoki, all seven generations of gods from Kuninotokotachi-no-mikoto, who appeared first, are counted as Kamiyo-nanayo.

Aru-fumi

In the Aru-fumi of the first paragraph, the gods those are not in pairs are as follows.

The order of birth	1st 'Aru-fumi'	2nd 'Aru-fumi'	3rd 'Aru-fumi'
1	Kuninotokotachi-no-mikoto	Umashiashikabinikoji-no-mikoto	Umashiashikabinikoji-no-mikoto
2	Kunisatsuchi-no-mikoto	Kuninotokotachi-no-mikoto	Kuninotokotachi-no-mikoto
3	Toyokuninushi-no-mikoto	Kunisatsuchi-no-mikoto	-

The order of birth	4th 'Aru-fumi'	5th 'Aru-fumi'	6th 'Aru-fumi'
1	Kuninotokotachi-no-mikoto	Kuninotokotachi-no-mikoto	Amenotokotachi-no-mikoto
2	Kunisatsuchi-no-mikoto	-	Umashiashikabihikoji-no-mikoto
3	Amenominakanushi-no-mikoto	-	Kuninotokotachi-no-mikoto
4	Takamimusubi-no-mikoto	-	-
5	Kamimusubi-no-mikoto	-	-

In the Aru-fumi of the third paragraph, the gods those are in pairs of male god and female god are as follows.

The order of birth	Male god	Female god
1	Uhijini-no-mikoto	Suhijini-no-mikoto
2	Tsunokui-no-mikoto	Ikukui-no-mikoto
3	Omotaru-no-mikoto	Kashikone-no-mikoto
4	Izanagi-no-mikoto	Izanami-no-mikoto

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Mentions in the 'Kiki'

Kojiki

Amatsu-maki (First volume)

Nihon shoki

Interpretation may vary depending on the historic material.