Japanese Mythology · deity

Tsukuyomi

月読命
also: Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto · Tsukuyomi
deitymoonnight

The Moon God, born of the creator pair; in the Kojiki he is estranged from Amaterasu after desecrating the weaving hall, marking the separation of sun and moon.

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The account

Who they are

Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto ('He who Illuminates the Night') is the moon god, born in the Kojiki's sequence (from Izanagi's right hand) alongside his siblings Amaterasu and Susanoo [S1]S1 · *Kojiki* ('Records of Ancient Matters', 712 CE), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882/1933) — PRIMARY TRANSLATION — https://sacred-texts.com/Open source ↗. In the Kojiki, he visits the Palace of the Weaving of Garments (where the goddess Ukehimuka weaves) and kills her there; because the act pollutes the sacred weaving place, Amaterasu is disgusted and declares that she and Tsukuyomi shall no longer share the same palace—the mythic basis for the separate courses of sun and moon [S1]S1 · *Kojiki* ('Records of Ancient Matters', 712 CE), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882/1933) — PRIMARY TRANSLATION — https://sacred-texts.com/Open source ↗. He is thus a figure of the night and of the separation of the solar and lunar realms. His role is relatively minor in the corpus; he has little developed mythology beyond this estrangement [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.
Worth knowing
  • The Kojiki's account of his killing Ukehimuka in the weaving hall is the mythic reason sun and moon are 'estranged' [S1]S1 · *Kojiki* ('Records of Ancient Matters', 712 CE), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882/1933) — PRIMARY TRANSLATION — https://sacred-texts.com/Open source ↗.
  • He has comparatively little developed mythology beyond this single episode [S1]S1 · *Kojiki* ('Records of Ancient Matters', 712 CE), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882/1933) — PRIMARY TRANSLATION — https://sacred-texts.com/Open source ↗.
Uncertainties & variants
  • The exact circumstances of the Ukehimuka episode and its wording differ between the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki [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.
  • Some scholars note that the 'separation of sun and moon' is a cosmogonic motif rather than a developed narrative about Tsukuyomi personally [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.
Relationships (6)

Connections

4 rows · 6 recorded edges — identical notes are grouped

Family & kinship

PARENT_OFIzanagi — Izanagi is a parent of the high deity born in the creation sequence.[S1] [S2]
PARENT_OFIzanami — Izanami is a parent of the high deity born in the creation sequence.[S1] [S2]
SIBLING_OFAmaterasu · Susanoo · Kagutsuchi — Siblings among the high deities born of the creator pair.[S1] [S2]

Conflict & enmity

ENEMY_OFAmaterasu — Amaterasu is estranged from Tsukuyomi after he desecrates the weaving hall (the mythic separation of sun and moon).[S1] [S2]
Local graph

Their corner of the divine world

View
hierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side
Overlays
FocusTsukuyomiJapanese
JAPANESE · 21♥♥♥Kusanagi-no-Tsu…Yasakani no Mag…Yata no KagamiAme-no-NubokoAme-no-UzumeAmenominakanushiInariIzanagiIzanamiTakamimusubiKotohikoneKushinada-himeNinigiŌkuninushiSarutahikoTakemikazuchiYamata-no-OrochiYamato TakeruAmaterasuKagutsuchiKonohanasakuya-h…SusanooTsukuyomiToyotama-himeHooroni (Ōyahata)
zoom 2.34× · medium
  • parentage
  • marriage ♥

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Myths featuring Tsukuyomi

1 story

Izanagi and Izanami Form the Islands

The creator pair Izanagi and Izanami stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven (Ame-no-ukihashi) and, with the jeweled spear Ame-no-nuhokohe, stir the brine of the deep sea; the salt that drips from the spear forms the first island, Onogoro [S1]S1 · *Kojiki* ('Records of Ancient Matters', 712 CE), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882/1933) — PRIMARY TRANSLATION — https://sacred-texts.com/Open source ↗. There they wed and, in a series of 'birthings,' produce the great islands of Japan (naming them as they are formed) and then the deities (kami) who attend them [S1]S1 · *Kojiki* ('Records of Ancient Matters', 712 CE), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882/1933) — PRIMARY TRANSLATION — https://sacred-texts.com/Open source ↗. The sequence of islands and the sequence of kami are given in the text, though the two lists differ between the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki [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.

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