Creation Myths cont.

The Imperial Family

-The Imperial Family is one part of the core Shinto creation myth that establishes the divine ancestry of the Emperors of Japan

-The story is different and unique from the rest because it acknowledges the power of the female. This would have conflicted with earlier parts of the myth and more importantly contradicts gender roles in Japanese life.

-In the story, a woman named Amaterasu had many children and grandchildren and she decided that Japan be ruled forever by an Imperial family. She sent one of her grandchildren, Ningi, from heaven to rule Japan