However, when the imperial family unified the nation in the seventh century C.E., they elevated their sun-goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, to be the national deity and central figure of the Shinto gods. (See box, page 191.)

[Box on page 191]

The Sun-Goddess in Shinto Myth

Shinto myth says that far back in time, the god Izanagi “washed his left eye, and so gave birth to the great goddess Amaterasu, goddess of the Sun.” Later on, Susanoo, the god of the sea plains, so frightened Amaterasu that she “hid in a rocky cave of Heaven, blocking the entrance with a boulder. The world was plunged into darkness.” So the gods devised a plan to get Amaterasu out of the cave. They collected crowing cocks who herald the dawn and made a large mirror. On the sakaki trees, they hung jewels and cloth streamers. Then the goddess Ama no Uzume began to dance and drum on a tub with her feet. In her frenzied dance, she stripped off her clothes, and the gods burst out laughing. All this activity aroused the curiosity of Amaterasu, who looked out and saw herself in the mirror. The reflection drew her out of the cave, whereupon the god of Force grabbed her by the hand and brought her out into the open. “Once more the world was lit up by the rays of the Sun goddess.”​—New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology.​—Compare Genesis 1:3-5, 14-19; Psalm 74:16, 17; 104:19-23.