Yengishiki

Glossary

• Amaterasu the sun goddess and ruler of heaven
• Amenohohi, Takemikuma, Ame-no-waka-hiko, Futsunushi, Takema-dzuchi heroic gods sent to subdue evil spirits
• dripping of foam . . . drawing the mud reference to the process of preparing the soupy soil of rice fields for young plants
• grandchild grandchild of Amaterasu, the sun goddess; used to refer to any successor to the throne of Japan
• Ise the name of a city in Japan that is the site of the Ise Great Shrine to Amaterasu
• Izanagi and Izanami in the Shinto creation myth, one of the eight pairs of gods and goddesses to emerge from chaos onto the Plain of High Heaven and the first to have children
• Mikado a generic term for the emperor
• Oho-Nakitomi one of the hereditary families that in ancient times oversaw Shinto ceremonies at court
• Shikishima a town in Japan
• Sovereign Grandchild’s augustness a reference to any Japanese emperor, as being descended from the sun goddess
• Tatsuta probably a reference to a shrine devoted to Tatsuta-hime, the Shinto goddess of autumn and the harvest
• Yamato another name for Japan at the time