Editing Mythology (section)

===Japanese Mythology===
Japanese laymen don't really bother separating their religions, taking up whatever is convenient or trendy at a particular phase in their life, and thus the major religions (Shinto, Buddhism), some more minor ones, and various folk heroes exist simultaneously. Rarely touched by non-Japanese works that aren't the pantheon for [[Japan]] analogues.

Japan is rife with it's own mythology, which often is connected to history. The most notable example is the first emperor - Jimmu. He is said to be a descendant of Amaterasu but is also taken as a real ancestor to the Imperial Family (which is why the Emperor was worshiped until the end of WWII); this is the equivalent of the British royal family theoretically dating their lineage from King Arthur, if King Arthur himself were a direct descendant of Jesus Christ.

In present day, all three religions plus a number of new religious movements exist in Japan. 
There is a common misconception that most Japanese today are non-religious, largely stemming from cultural differences and the somewhat looser nature of Shinto and Buddhism as compared to Abrahamic faiths when it comes to mass-rituals and worship. Suffice it to say that anywhere from 50-80% of Japanese (depending if one counts Shinto and Buddhism individually or combined) pray and partake in religious rituals.

Japanese have a plethora of their native gods, in fact, ''plethora'' is a bit of an understatement. Shintoism posits that every thing, be it rock, flower or a makeup set has its own ''kami'' or god/spirit, and depending on what one counts, there are up to 1 MILLION (or literally uncountable number) Japanese gods/kami (see also god depiction in [[Exalted]]).

'''Notable Deities/Characters:''' 
*'''[[Izanami and Izanagi]]''': See the creation myth.
*'''[[Amaterasu|Amaterasu Omikami]]''': Goddess of the sun, her name literally translates to 'the august (one amongst) kami that shines in the sky'. Major figure in Shintoism, quite benevolent toward mankind; because the damn sun is ''that'' important to us humans. The Japanese imperial family once claimed descent from her, but stopped doing so after World War II. How the majority to entirety of Japan's people as a whole weren't as well, since far younger people are ancestors of the majority of far larger and less isolationist populations, was never explained.
*'''[[Susano-o]]''': Amaterasu's brother and god of storms. Hot-headed, passionate braggart that likes getting into trouble. Kicked out of heaven for being an absolute dick (and especially for his last prank on his sister that would've ended fatally for everyone else). While walking the earth he proceeds to kill the Orochi, among other (anti-)heroics, and eventually gets his way back into heaven with the fat loot he finds as well as reconciling with his sister (and giving her a bitchin sword that she would later give to her mortal descendant-turned-emperor of Japan). 
*'''[[Fujin]]''' - God of wind and one of the oldest gods, said to have been there when the world was created, often paired with Raijin.
*'''[[Raijin]]''' - God of thunder and lightning, often paired with Fujin. Known for eating people's bellybuttons during stormy nights if someone managed to piss him off.
*'''[[Hachiman]]''' - God of war, formerly god of agriculture until he got bored of it or something. His traditional animal and messenger is, ironically, a dove.
*'''[[Inari Okami]]''' - God/Goddess/group of spirits (it's complicated) and another major figure of Shintoism. Protector(s) of foxes, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry; granter of fertility, general prosperity and worldly success to humans. Patron of [[kitsune]], who acts as his messengers.  
*'''[[Okuninushi]]''' - God of nation-building, business, farming and medicine.
*'''[[Omoikane]]''' - God of wisdom and frequent adviser to the other kami.
*'''[[Tsukuyomi]]''' - God of the moon. He killed the goddess of food after witnessing how she created it by basically vomiting it from her mouth. After killing her, his sister Amaterasu vowed she would never again face him and thus the sun and the moon never do either.
*'''The [[Orochi]]''': Giant nine-headed snake monster that likes to eat (?) female sacrifices. Susano-O gets it drunk and kills it, then he finds the Kusanagi on its corpse.
*'''[[The Buddhas]]''': While normal Buddhists don't "worship" the Buddha, more Shinto leaning Japanese often do. See Buddhism whenever someone is assed to add it for how it's supposed to go. Siddartha Gautama is the one people talk about when they say "The Buddha", but the completely separate Budai/Laughing Buddha is the main one ignorant Westerners know the visual of.
**'''Various Buddhist demons''': Mostly assholes that tried to stop people from achieving enlightenment. Some are actually former assholes who were redeemed by enlightened people and now act as protectors. 
*'''[[The Four Heavenly Kings]]''': Bishamonten, Jikokuten, Zouchouten and Koumokuten, the guardians of the North, East, South and West respectively. Their title is co-opted by everything (no seriously, '''everything''': examples include Hollywood stars, Japanese comedy acts, Chefs, (female) Idol Singers, even foodstuffs like meats and canned goods) with four members in Japanese culture, [https://legendsoflocalization.com/tricky-translations-2-the-four-heavenly-kings/ though westerners may not notice it because the title gets translated a shit ton of ways depending on the context].
*'''[[Yokai]]''': Various mythical monsters. The most famous are the [[Kitsune]], Kamaitachi, [[Tengu]] and (though not always counted as one) [[Oni]].

'''Historical People Shrouded in Myth''' 
*Emperor Jimmu: [[God-Emperor of Mankind|THE GOD EMPEROR OF JAPAN]] as well as the first Emperor and the descendants of Goddess Amaterasu. Most of his records were old and depict him as a warrior hero-god character accompanied by Yatagarasu, a three-legged crow and wielding a longbow. He died at the age of 126 and has little to no worshipers in modern-day other than having at least a shrine and grave. 
*Abe no Seimei: A court magician who lived between 921 and 1005. Fiction tends to make him an actual wizard.
*Himiko: Queen of Japan around 200 AD. Chinese records make it clear she existed but very little is known about her.
*Masakado: Samurai who led a brief rebellion in 940. He's considered the god of Tokyo. His shrine/grave occupies some of the most expensive real estates in the world, as it is thought that neglecting his shrine will cause his angry spirit to bring disaster upon Tokyo. 
** Takiyasha Hime: His daughter. Fiction makes her a sorcerer with a toad [[Familiar]]. Possibly entirely fictional.
*Tomoe Gozen: A female [[Samurai]] that actually fought in battle in 1184.  Famously known for being strong enough to pop men's heads off like corks when she headlocked them.
*Oda Nobunaga: Self-proclaimed "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven" (That's '''''historical fact''''' recorded by a Jesuit missionary who knew him personally). Defacto unifier of Japan, while the dominos he set up were falling, he was murdered by his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide for unknown reasons. His successors conquered the country after he did the hard parts, forming what would become the Tokugawa Shogunate. Since he was ruthless and called himself a demon, it's no mystery why fiction depicts him as a literal one.
*Hattori Hanzo: A general during the late Sengoku era. He's better known for allegedly being a [[ninja]]. 
*Ishikawa Goemon: Bandit during the late Sengoku era, executed along with his infant son by being boiled alive after a failed assassination attempt on Nobunaga's successor. Reputed to be a Robin Hood-like figure and also allegedly a ninja.

'''Artifacts that tend to show up in media adaptions:''' 
*The Imperial regalia (Kusanagi, Magatama and the Yata no Kagami): A sword, mirror, and rosary that are considered the badges of office for the Emperor.
*Katana created by famous swordsmiths
**Muramasa: Swords created by the famous (and real) swordsmith Sengo Muramasa. Allegedly his swords have a taste for blood and are demonic in nature and can't be sheathed if they haven't tasted blood yet.
**Masamune: Even though Masamune lived hundreds of years before Muramasa, their swords are often counterparts in fantasy. In contrast to Muramasa, Masamune's blades are supposedly holy.
**Kotetsu: Nagasone Kotetsu was a quality swordsmith from the Edo period with a really fitting name (虎鉄 or "Tiger Iron"). His works are notable but if they show up in fiction expect them to be inferior to the above two.

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==== Creation Myth ====
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According to the Kojiki, the world (or just Japan because every culture at that time are so close minded that they believe their kingdom is THE entire world) was created by 2 gods: Izanami (the wife) and Izanagi (the husband). There were 5 other gods with difficult to pronounced name like  Kotoamatsukami (別天津神, "Separate Heavenly Deities") before them, but they entrust these two with the world's creation because they are genderless and thus unable to procreate the next generation. Izanami and Izanagi belongs to the  Kamiyonanayo ("Seven Generations of the Age of the Gods") and they shape the earth with this totally awesome spear called Ame-no-nuboko (天沼矛, "heavenly jeweled spear") and create the islands and land using salt.

They then settled down onto the land they've created and mated. Unfortunately, the first two children they conceived, Hiruko and Awashima, were mutants, so badly deformed that the parents decided to send them on a lone boat trip before their third birthday; Hiruko survived, worked hard and became a god known as Ebisu. Turns out, after confronting their elders about the misfortune, it was Izanami's fault for not acting properly during the mating ritual, causing birth defects and such. After some proper mating, their descendants were born, who would eventually become the modern day Japanese islands (or else the islands were named after them). Izanami then died giving birth to Kagutsuchi, a serpent Human Torch-wannabe that burned his mother upon his birth. Izanagi was angered and eight-pieced him, turning his body into 8 volcanoes; his blood on Izanagi's sword became the sea god Watatsumi and rain god Kuraokami. This also marks the end of the creation.

Izanagi was overwhelmed by grief that he traveled to Yomi ("land of the dead") to see his dead wife. Unfortunaly, Izanami already belonged to Yomi after eating its food. Izanagi refused to leave Izanami in this dark land, and waited there because Izanami agreed to go back if she had some rest, but the worried Izanagi decided to see what's going on with his dead wife by lighting a torch using his magical head comb - unfortunately, he found Izanami was already a maggot-ridden, ghoul-like monster. (Some retellings turn this into an 'Orpheus and Eurydice'-style affair where he [[Derp|looks back just as they reach the end]], cursing Izanami to be trapped.) Izanagi was scared so shitless that he ran away, while Izanami called the Shikome (ugly underworld woman) to chase him. After a long Looney Tunes chase that involves Izanagi's use of his magical hair dress and his urine to stop his pursuers, he eventually returns to the living realm. Izanami curses her husband and claims that she will kill 1,000 people everyday, with Izanagi responding that he will give birth to 1,500.
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