How Japan's Gods Became Genies in a Lamp
Watch Japanese anime and you'll see that the Japanese hold all kinds of gods in awe.
Let's look at how Japan's gods developed.
Japan's creation myths were a state project.
In the early 8th century, the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, compiled under scholars such as Ō no Yasumaro and Prince Toneri, wove together scattered records of immigrant clans and local legends to create the narrative that "the emperor is descended from the gods."
Modern genetic studies show that the Japanese are a mix of the indigenous Jōmon people and later migrants from the Korean Peninsula and the continent. Migrant groups linked to the Korean kingdoms of Baekje, Gaya and Silla, who brought rice farming and ironworking, gained economic and political power. Japan's royal line was not divine but descended in part from a technically advanced ruling class that crossed the sea.
In 2001, then-Emperor Akihito publicly acknowledged that the mother of an 8th-century emperor was descended from King Muryeong of Baekje. The Seven-Branched Sword presented by Baekje and horse ornaments from Gaya are physical evidence that Japan's royal court drew authority from the Korean Peninsula.
To wash away the image of a foreign-origin royal house, the court carried out an aggressive "merger and acquisition" of gods across Japan.
First, a hostile takeover. Ōkuninushi, the great god at the top of the local powers, was pressured into handing over control and pushed into an honorary position.
Second, absorbing skilled groups. The fox deity associated with Silla- and Baekje-descended clans was brought in, along with their monopoly on civil engineering and silk farming.
Third, every regional god was placed under Amaterasu. That's how the "eight million gods" were merged and acquired.
Yet when you pray or form a relationship with them, they become personal gods.
In other words, when I need them they're personal, and when I don't, the god simply goes back to being energy.
Sounds a lot like the genie in the lamp from the Arabian Nights, doesn't it?
Read the original (Korean) →
Let's look at how Japan's gods developed.
The emperor: a state mythology project
Japan's creation myths were a state project.
In the early 8th century, the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, compiled under scholars such as Ō no Yasumaro and Prince Toneri, wove together scattered records of immigrant clans and local legends to create the narrative that "the emperor is descended from the gods."
Japan's gods and the Korean connection
Modern genetic studies show that the Japanese are a mix of the indigenous Jōmon people and later migrants from the Korean Peninsula and the continent. Migrant groups linked to the Korean kingdoms of Baekje, Gaya and Silla, who brought rice farming and ironworking, gained economic and political power. Japan's royal line was not divine but descended in part from a technically advanced ruling class that crossed the sea.
In 2001, then-Emperor Akihito publicly acknowledged that the mother of an 8th-century emperor was descended from King Muryeong of Baekje. The Seven-Branched Sword presented by Baekje and horse ornaments from Gaya are physical evidence that Japan's royal court drew authority from the Korean Peninsula.
A merger-and-acquisition of gods to launder an identity
To wash away the image of a foreign-origin royal house, the court carried out an aggressive "merger and acquisition" of gods across Japan.
First, a hostile takeover. Ōkuninushi, the great god at the top of the local powers, was pressured into handing over control and pushed into an honorary position.
Second, absorbing skilled groups. The fox deity associated with Silla- and Baekje-descended clans was brought in, along with their monopoly on civil engineering and silk farming.
Third, every regional god was placed under Amaterasu. That's how the "eight million gods" were merged and acquired.
And there's one more curious fact.
Like the Hindu Brahman, Japan's gods are often understood not as persons but as a kind of energy.Yet when you pray or form a relationship with them, they become personal gods.
In other words, when I need them they're personal, and when I don't, the god simply goes back to being energy.
Sounds a lot like the genie in the lamp from the Arabian Nights, doesn't it?
