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What we went over in the Japanese myths today:

The Japanese were not the first people in Japan.

The Mongoloid peoples crossed the Korea Strait and invaded these islands during the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.

They brought the Shinto religion along with them. This religion included the worship of nature, ancestors, and heroes.

The year A.D. 552 marks the beginning of the great Chinese influence on Japan in the areas of religion, literature, and art. But it wasn't until the early 8th century that they started to record anything on their religion.

The Kojiki or Record of Ancient Matters, written in A.D. 712 and the Nihon Shoki or Chronicles of Japan written in 720, are two major sources of Japanese mythology. Authors of these books made an effort to minimize the Chinese and Indian influences on their earliest religious beliefs.

The fact that the creators are a pair of male and female gods may be a Chinese influence.

The gods int these stories are human in appearance, thought, speech, and deed. The creation myth presents a pattern of birth, marriage, and death in the lives oftwo major gods that reflects that pattern in the lives of human beings.

A provocative aspect of this myth is the subservient role of the female. Everyone of the many versions of the myth states that it is proper for the male to speak first. If she does speak first it is said her behavior is worse than socially unacceptable; dreadful consequences, in the form of abnormal children, result.

Yet the principal Japanese deity is female. The sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami rules over all of the gods and the entire universe. She is also in charge of fertility being the Great Goddess or Mother Goddess.

The oral tradition of the Ainu, who were among the earliest peoples living on Japanese soil, reveals that women were very powerful figures in their society. They were the shamans or witch doctors. They fought side by side with greatest noblemen on the battlefield, where they displayed equal courage, strength, and skill.

Until late in the 8th century, women often ruled the small political states in Japan. They did not become completely subservient to men until the 16th century. That why it's interesting that a myth recorded early in the 8th century should have such a masculine bias.

If you want the tale of the creation of the universe and japan. Just ask...okay??? Anyway next Japanese club meeting we will be going over Amaterasu's tale and playing that game. And hopefully a short quick quiz over those notes above so study hard!!!

Thanks for putting this on here. ^_^ Culture lessons are great. Even though Japanese culture is starting to seem even more confusing than the language, it's nice doing something other than just copying notes.

P.S. I think this guild isn't being used for anything other than posting and checking lessons at the moment. Should be more, but nobody posts, so it's kinda dead. Maybe people will start actually checking the forum more than once a week...or once a year. stare

Double P.S. o.O We should so act this mythology stuff out, Jonathan could be the deformed child. rofl

...Triple P.S. ...we're screwed on that quiz.