In the Ama-no-Iwato (heavenly rock cave) episode of Shinto myth, Ame-no-Tajikarao stands at the cave's door and, in accounts such as the Nihon Shoki and the Kogo Shūi, 'pulls open' or pulls Amaterasu out of the cave, effecting the return of light to the world. Genealogical materials variously place him in heavenly lineages—some traditions link him to Omoikane or make him an ancestor of certain clans—and some texts report that he accompanied the Imperial Regalia during the Tenson kōrin (the heavenly descent) to Ise.
The cited sources provide no detailed physical or iconographic description. His name (literally rendered as 'sky/Heaven - hand - power - male') emphasizes a male deity defined by hand-strength, but any muscular or corporeal imagery is inferential from his name rather than derived from descriptive texts.
Mythically, he is credited with exceptional physical strength, demonstrated by pulling Amaterasu from the heavenly rock cave and thereby restoring sunlight. In narrative context he accompanies other heavenly deities and, in some accounts, the Imperial Regalia to Ise. Cultically he is associated with physical power and athletic prowess; some shrine priests have regarded him (speculatively in the sources) as originally a protector of agriculture because of his role in restoring sunlight or because physical fitness benefits fieldwork.
Ajisukitakahikone
Ajisukitakahikone is a kami in Japanese mythic literature (Kojiki/Nihon Shoki). He appears in the transfer-of-rule cycle between heaven and earth, is described as a son of Ōkuninushi, associated with the Kamo cult (called Kamo no ōmikami in some modern museum/catalog entries), and features in narratives that explain landscape formation and meteorological genealogy.
Amaterasu Ōmikami
Amaterasu Ōmikami is the sun deity and a principal kami in Shinto tradition, presented in classical Japanese sources as ruler of Takamagahara (the High Celestial Plain) and the mythic ancestress of the Imperial House through her grandson Ninigi. She is central to shrine cult at Ise and to ritual nomenclature and practice within institutional Shinto.
Amatsuhikone
Amatsuhikone (天津日子根命 / 天津彥根命) is a kami in Japanese mythology described as a son of the sun goddess Amaterasu. He functions primarily as a member of the heavenly genealogy used to legitimize clan lineages and is later identified as the shintai (sacred body) of Mount Mikami, where Mikami Shrine stands to venerate him.
Amatsumara
Amatsumara (天津麻羅), also called Amenomahitotsu, is a Shinto kami presented in sources as the divine smith of Takamagahara who is said to have aided in making the mirror used in the Amaterasu cave episode and who serves as a patron of earthly blacksmiths.
Ame-no-Koyane-no-mikoto
Ame-no-Koyane-no-mikoto is a male Amatsukami (heavenly kami) in classical Shinto myth, presented as the ritual-official ancestor of the Nakatomi clan and linked genealogically to the Fujiwara. He functions as a divine ritual specialist—performing divination and liturgical speech in foundational myths (notably the Ama-no-Iwato episode) and as guardian of the sacred mirror—and is venerated at major shrines such as Kasuga Taisha and Hiraoka Shrine.
Ame-no-Minakanushi
Ame-no-Minakanushi (天之御中主) is a primordial kami named in Japan's classical creation texts as one of the very first deities to come into being in Takamanohara (High Heaven). Presented in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki as a solitary, hidden first god, he functions primarily as a mythic point of cosmic origin rather than an actively intervening deity in surviving narratives.
Ame-no-Tokotachi
Ame-no-Tokotachi is a primordial kami in classical Shinto cosmology attested in summaries of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki tradition. Sources identify a very early solitary or among-the-first deity who manifests at the creation of heaven and earth; supplied materials also reference a closely related name, Ame-no-Minakanushi, in English summaries of those chronicles.
Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto
Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto is a Shinto kami of dawn, mirth, revelry and the performing arts whose comic and erotic dance at the entrance of Amano‑Iwato lures the sun goddess Amaterasu from hiding, restoring light; her action is cited as the mythic origin of kagura and of certain ritual/performance lineages.
Ame-no-hohi
Ame-no-hohi (also rendered Ame no Fuhi) is a male kami in Japanese mythology identified in sources as the second son of the sun goddess Amaterasu. He is principally attested as an ancestral figure: historical rulers of Izumo and the modern heads of Izumo Taisha and Izumo-taishakyo claim descent from him.
Ame-no-wakahiko
Ame-no-wakahiko is presented in the provided sources as a kami in Japanese mythology, described specifically as a god of grains and counted among the Amatsukami (heavenly deities). The sources identify him as a son of Amatsukunitama and note a medieval prose narrative, the Ame no Wakahiko Monogatari, exists about him.
Amenohoakari
Amenohoakari (天火明) is a Japanese kami associated with sunlight, heat, and the ripening of grain; he functions as an agricultural deity and a divine ancestor claimed by multiple clans and hereditary priestly lineages. Textual sources place him within heavenly genealogy (tensonzoku) while other records give alternate parentage, producing divergent traditions about his origins and relationships to other kami.
An (案)
An (案) is a small table, desk, or platform used in Shinto ceremonies to bear offerings. It is a liturgical furnishing and material mediator in shrine rites rather than a sentient supernatural being.
Community Record
- [1]Ame-no-Tajikarao — Wikipedia. Wikipedia contributors, 'Ame-no-Tajikarao,' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.wiki
- [2]Ame no Tajikarao — Wikidata. Wikidata entry Q849412, 'Ame no Tajikarao.'wiki