Japanese

Mythology

Japanese were NOT THE ORIGINAL inhabitants of the place.MONGOLOID people invaded these islands and brought their Shinto religion with them.

China influenced

Japan: religion, literature and

arts.KOJIKI and

NIHON SHOKI are the major

sources of Japanese

Mythology.

AMATERASU myth is part of the Shinto religious tradition.It reflects the importance of the role of WOMEN in early

JAPANESE LIFE.It also reflects the Shinto

interest in FERTILITY AND RITUALS ASSOCIATED WITH

IT.

The optimistic view of nature was supported by the

abundance of PLANT LIFE, WILD ANIMALS, AND FISH in

Japan.

Ok! Lets go to the story…

The Myth of Amatera

su

AINU PEOPLE were first to arrive in the land of Japan

before the Mongoloid people. Lived in the River valley, had

abundant food supply

to feed their small population.

They settled in the island of Hokkaido.

When Japanese people

invaded their land, they

cleared land forests and took over the land.

They became MIGRANT FARM WORKERS.

They had a superb command of oral traditions. They have

produced numerous of them and one of them is

Kotan Utunnai.

Kotan Utunnai is…

…an unusual adventure

story.… a blending of the divine

with the human

(surprise, magic and mystery).…having a

human hero possessing god-like power.

…simple.

It reminds us of how similar human beings are to one

another… need to prove their excellence and to acquire fame

that the characters in other major epics have.

The major characters possess courage, affection,

loyalty,and perseverance.

Men and women are equal since they have both great

power and skills.

Ladies and Gentlemen!!!

Kotan Utunnai

The Myth of

New Zealand

Ancestors of Polynesian people originated in Asia.

One group of the Polynesians first inhabited New Zealand

(Aotearoa – long white cloud and themselves – Maori – a

person of themselves)

Maori mythology shows little Christian influence.

Maori Creation Myth

nonbeing

thought

creation of the universe

human beings

It focuses more on the relationship between man and

nature.

Welcome to the

The Creation Cycle

The Myth of

Hawaii

Same background as the Mauris.

Hawaiian Islands was divided into social classes.

Chiefs and royalty

Priests

Common people

slaves

Life for Polynesians are easy. Bards sang or recited

poetic stories.

They worshipped nature gods

who are important in

their legendary

history. The gods are

often depicted as chiefs who

live in distant lands or in the

heavens.

In Hawaiian Mythology, divine

power flows from the gods to their human

relatives

Under the direction of

the Christian missionaries, the Hawaiian

chiefs discarded

their native religion and

adapted Christianity.

The Legends and Myths of Hawaii

by His Hawaiian Majesty King David Kalakuya.

Series of books and articlesby William Drake

Westervelt.

His first book, Legends of Ma-ui (1910), tells

the myth of Maui’s capture of the sun and

also includes Polynesian

sources of the tale from such

islands as Samoa and New

Zealand.

“The Taming of the Sun”is another of the demigod Maui’s great deeds and it

provides an accurate depiction of this trickster-

hero at work.

Maui has both divine and human relatives.

A hero saving the world from a great

threat.

The Taming of the Sun