Yata no Kagami

八咫鏡

also known as The Eight-Span Mirror

Sacred Object · MirrorJapaneseAtlas class — Divine (S)Status: HiddenSources: High confidence
Matsuyama kofun bronze mirror (Tokyo National Museum)TYPE-PROXY
You are looking atThe mythic Yata no Kagami does not survive as a public object. This is a genuine Kofun-period bronze mirror — a type-proxy showing the real object-class of the mirror, not the regalia itself.Matsuyama kofun bronze mirror (Tokyo National Museum) — Unknown (archaeological find) · Tokyo National Museum · c. 5th–6th century CE (Kofun period) · Public domain (open-access museum photograph) · Public domain (open-access)

Overview

Yata no Kagami ('the Eight-Span Mirror') is the mirror that, in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, was used to lure Amaterasu out of the cave of Amano-Izumi when she hid and the world fell into darkness. [S1]S1 · *Kojiki* ('Records of Ancient Matters', 712 CE), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882/1933) — PRIMARY TRANSLATION — https://sacred-texts.com/Open source ↗[S2]S2 · *Nihon Shoki* ('Chronicles of Japan', 720 CE) — PRIMARY TEXT (annalistic + mythographic) — (translation: G. Cameron, 1968; see Internet Arch Hung before the cave, its reflected light drew the goddess out, restoring the light of the world. It is one of the Three Sacred Treasures (the Regalia) and the emblem of the imperial line's descent from the sun-goddess. As a regalia it is the emblem of truth, purity, and the sovereign's divine right.

Creation & Origin

Its making is not specified in the surviving sources; it is the mirror of the sun-goddess.

The mirror of the light-restoration, passed to the imperial line. [S1]S1 · *Kojiki* ('Records of Ancient Matters', 712 CE), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882/1933) — PRIMARY TRANSLATION — https://sacred-texts.com/Open source ↗

Atlas Power Profile

Interpretive, 0–10. An Atlas editorial reading — not a historical or canonical ranking.

TRUTH9

The mirror is the emblem of truth and of the light of the sun-goddess; it reveals and purifies.

PROTECTION7

It is a charm against impurity and against the disorder of the cave-dwelling.

MAGIC8

One of the Three Sacred Treasures; it is the emblem of the sovereign's divine right and of purity.

DIVINE AUTHORITY9

It is the regalia of the emperor, the emblem of the imperial line's descent from Amaterasu.

CREATION5

The mirror is tied to the revelation of Amaterasu from the cave — the restoration of the light.

Named Abilities

Each ability carries a certainty level — how firmly the sources support it.

LIGHT-REVEAL
Attested

The mirror was used to lure Amaterasu out of the cave of Amano-Izumi, restoring the light.

Source — Kojiki; Nihon Shoki

SOVEREIGN'S REGALIA
Attested

It is one of the Three Sacred Treasures, the emblem of the emperor's divine right.

Source — Kojiki; Engishiki

CHARM OF PURITY
Later tradition

It is a charm against impurity and against the disorder of the world.

Source — Engishiki; later tradition

Limitations & Constraints

  • A regalia of the imperial line; not an object in ordinary use, and its physical form is not publicly examined.

Notable Facts

  • Yata no Kagami is one of the Three Sacred Treasures (the Regalia) alongside the Kusanagi and the Yasakani no Magatama.

Where the record is thin

Interpretation note
  • The regalia are not publicly displayed or examined; the physical mirror's survival and form are a matter of tradition, not of public verification.

Woven into the Atlas

Every link here is a real graph relationship — the artifact is part of the same mythology, not a side table.