Izanagi-no-Mikoto | |
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Primordial god of creation and life | |
![]() Searching the Seas with the Tenkei (天瓊を以て滄海を探るの図, Tenkei o motte sōkai o saguru no zu). Painting by Kobayashi Eitaku, 1880-90 (MFA, Boston). Izanagi with the spear Ame-no-Nuhoko (Tenkei) to the right, Izanami to the left. | |
Other names | Izanagi-no-Kami (伊邪那岐神) Izanagi-no-Ōkami (伊邪那岐大神) Kumano-Hayatama-no-Ōkami (熊野速玉大神) |
Japanese | 伊邪那岐命, 伊耶那岐命, 伊弉諾尊 |
Major cult center | Taga Taisha, Izanagi Shrine, Eda Shrine, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, Onokorojima Shrine, Mitsumine Shrine and others |
Texts | Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, Sendai Kuji Hongi |
Region | Japan |
Genealogy | |
Parents | None (Kojiki, Nihon Shoki) Aokashikine-no-Mikoto (Shoki) Awanagi-no-Mikoto (Shoki) Omodaru and Ayakashikone[1] |
Siblings | Izanami |
Consort | Izanami |
Children | Amaterasu Tsukuyomi Susanoo Hiruko Kagu-tsuchi (and others) |
Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally referred to with a divine honorific as Izanagi-no-Mikoto (伊邪那岐命/伊弉諾尊, meaning "He-who-invites" or the "Male-who-invites"), is the creator deity (kami) of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested after the formation of heaven and earth. Izanagi and Izanami are held to be the creators of the Japanese archipelago and the progenitors of many deities, which include the sun goddess Amaterasu, the moon deity Tsukuyomi, and the storm god Susanoo. He is a god that can be said to be the beginning of the current Japanese imperial family.