Amaterasu Tattoo Meaning

The sun, the divine ancestor, and the light that can refuse to shine and be coaxed back.

Amaterasu is the great sun goddess of Japan — the supreme deity of Shinto, the radiant goddess who illuminates heaven, ruler of the High Plain of Heaven, and the divine ancestor of the Japanese imperial line. Her most famous myth, in which she hides her light from the world and is coaxed back by laughter, is the story of the sun's return. To carry Amaterasu is to carry the light of heaven and the sun's return — the supreme radiant goddess whose light is life, who can withdraw when the world becomes unbearable and is drawn back not by force but by joy and curiosity, the spirit's recovery from darkness.

Amaterasu-Ōmikami — 'the Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven' — is the supreme deity of Shinto, the goddess of the sun and the ruler of Takamagahara, the High Plain of Heaven where the gods dwell. As the sun goddess she is the source of light and life, the radiant center of the Shinto pantheon, and the most important and revered of the kami (the gods and spirits of Shinto).

Amaterasu is also the divine ancestor of the Japanese imperial family: the emperors of Japan traditionally trace their descent directly from her, making her the source and guarantor of imperial legitimacy and the divine origin of the nation itself. Her sacred mirror, the Yata no Kagami, is one of the Three Imperial Regalia of Japan and is enshrined at the Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred site in Shinto and her principal place of worship. As the sun, the supreme kami, and the ancestress of the imperial line, Amaterasu stands at the very center of Japanese religion and identity. The Shinto Amaterasu is the great goddess who illuminates heaven — the supreme sun deity of Shinto, ruler of the High Plain of Heaven and source of light and life, the divine ancestress of the imperial line enshrined at Ise.

Ise Grand Shrine (伊勢神宮, Ise Jingū) in Mie Prefecture is the most sacred site in Shinto — it enshrines Amaterasu's sacred mirror (Yata no Kagami) in the Inner Shrine (Naikū); the shrine has been ritually rebuilt every 20 years in the same form for approximately 1,300 years (the next rebuilding is 2033 CE), making it simultaneously ancient and always new. The Ama-no-Iwato myth is in the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE) — the two foundational texts of Japanese mythology. Ame-no-Uzume's dance is understood as the origin of kagura (sacred Shinto dance/music performance) and as an early example of the therapeutic power of communal joy. The Japanese imperial family traces its lineage to Amaterasu through the mythological first emperor Jimmu — the imperial chrysanthemum seal (kiku mon) and the imperial regalia all connect to the Amaterasu tradition. Amaterasu is one of the few supreme deities in any major tradition who is female.

Amaterasu across cultures

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