Japanese Mythology · deity

Takamimusubi

高皇産霊神

also: Kamimusubi (high divine origin)

deityorigincreationdivinity

The first-born deity in the Kojiki, 'the High Deity who gives birth to the origin of things,' invoked at the opening of the creation sequence.

Takamimusubi · 玉蘭斎貞秀 · undated · Wikimedia Commons (institution in source file) · Public domain

The account

Who they are

Takamimusubi (高皇産霊神; also read Kamimusubi, 'the high divine origin') is the first divine being named in the Kojiki's opening passage: 'In the time when the heavenly high plain had just come into being, first of all was born the high divine origin of heavenly things, Kamimusubi' [S1]. He is generally treated as a primordial deity associated with the origin of things rather than a figure with a developed myth of his own. His exact nature—whether a personified principle of origin, a progenitor, or a ritual formula—is debated; the Kojiki's account is terse and heavily ritualized [S1][S2]. He is sometimes paired with two younger brothers (Takamimusubi's 'younger brothers'), but the genealogy of these primordial figures is one of the least stable in the corpus.

Worth knowing

Named first in the Kojiki's creation sequence [S1].
Often read as a ritual/theogonic formula rather than a character in a narrative myth [S1].

Uncertainties & variants

His relationship to the later 'primordial' pair (Izanagi/Izanami) and to Amenominakanushi is not clearly stated in the Kojiki; scholars differ on whether he is a separate progenitor or an aspect of the same high-origin principle [S1][S2].

Relationships (0)

Connections

No typed relationships recorded for this entity.

Local graph

Their corner of the divine world

View

hierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side

Overlays

FocusTakamimusubiJapanese

zoom 2.34× · medium

parentage
marriage ♥

far = primordials · medium = all · close = detail — scroll/pan, click a deity to focus

Myths featuring Takamimusubi

1 story

The Primordial Beginning and the High Plain of Heaven

In the Kojiki's opening, when 'the heavenly high plain had just come into being,' the first-born deity Takamimusubi ('the high divine origin of heavenly things') is named, and the deities of the High Plain of Heaven (Amenominakanushi) 'give birth to' or command the birth of the creator pair Izanagi and Izanami, ordering them to shape and settle the earthly islands [S1]. This establishes the vertical cosmology: a high heavenly realm above, an earthly realm below, with the creative pair sent from above to order the world below [S1][S2].

READ THE STORY →

Artworks

Depictions

← Japanese Mythology All galleries