Amaterasu Ōmikami

According to the provided sources, Amaterasu was produced during Izanagi's cleansing (misogi) after his return from the underworld, emerging from Izanagi's left eye; classical texts Kojiki and Nihon Shoki place her among the principal offspring of Izanagi and Izanami and among the 'Three Precious Children'. Mythic narratives recorded in these sources also relate conflicts with her younger brother Susanoo that lead to his exile from heaven. She is later linked genealogically to the Imperial House through her grandson Ninigi and is enshrined at Ise, a cult center established in tradition by Yamatohime-no-mikoto.

The provided textual sources do not give a consistent canonical bodily description. Instead Amaterasu is represented symbolically by solar imagery and by cult objects associated with her — notably the sacred mirror (Yata-no-Kagami) and the jewel (Yasakani-no-Magatama) of the Imperial regalia mentioned in source summaries — and by her residence in Takamagahara and enshrinement at Ise. Artistic depictions in modern media (cards, videos) exist but are interpretive rather than authoritative in the cited texts.

Sources present Amaterasu as the sun goddess and ruler of Takamagahara, a chief kami whose status establishes cosmic and political order: she is one of Izanagi's main offspring, part of the 'Three Precious Children', and the mythic ancestress of the imperial line via Ninigi. Mythic episodes recorded in the sources include her birth in Izanagi's misogi and her long-running quarrel with Susanoo that culminated in his exile from heaven. The role described in the sources is chiefly sovereign and cultic rather than malevolent: she is venerated at Ise and central to formal Shinto practice.