Amaterasu
Sun goddess in Shinto
Amaterasu Ōmikami (天照大（御）神; Japanese pronunciation: [ä́.mä̀.tè̞.ɾä̀.sɨ̀ | ò̞ó̞.mʲí.kä̀.mʲì, ó̞ó̞.-]), often called Amaterasu ([ä́.mä̀.tè̞.ɾä̀.sɨ̀]) for short, also known as Amateru Kami (天照神) and Ōhirume no Muchi (大日孁貴), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (kami) of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the Kojiki (c. 712 CE) and the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and as the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with two of her siblings (the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm-god Susanoo) she ranks as one of the "Three Precious Children" (三貴子, mihashira no uzu no miko / sankishi), the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi.
Amaterasu's chief place of worship, the Grand Shrine of Ise in Ise, Mie Prefecture, is one of Shinto's holiest sites and a major pilgrimage center and tourist spot. As with other Shinto kami, she is also enshrined in a number of Shinto shrines throughout Japan.
Name
The goddess is referred to as Amaterasu Ōmikami (天照大御神 / 天照大神; historical orthography: あまてらすおほみかみ, Amaterasu Ohomikami; Old Japanese: Amaterasu Opomi1kami2) in the Kojiki, while the Nihon Shoki gives the following variant names:
Ōhirume-no-Muchi (大日孁貴; Man'yōgana: 於保比屢咩能武智; hist. orthography: おほひるめのむち, Ohohirume-no-Muchi; Old Japanese: Opopi1rume1-no2-Muti)
Amaterasu Ō(mi)kami (天照大神; hist. orthography: あまてらすおほ(み)かみ, Amaterasu Oho(mi)kami)
Amaterasu Ōhirume no Mikoto (天照大日孁尊)
Hi-no-Kami (日神; OJ: Pi1-no-Kami2)
Amaterasu is thought to derive from the verb amateru ('to illuminate / shine in the sky'; from ama 'sky, heaven' and teru 'to shine') combined with the honorific auxiliary verb -su, while Ōmikami means 'great august deity' (ō 'great' + honorific prefix mi- + kami). Notably, Amaterasu in Amaterasu Ōmikami is not technically a name the same way Susanoo in Susa no O no Mikoto or Ōkuninushi in Ōkuninushi no Kami is. Amaterasu is an attributive verb form that modifies the noun after it, ōmikami.
The public source identifies “Amaterasu” as sun goddess in Shinto. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Amaterasu, goddess and Shinto.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q455602. VIAF identifies the subject as 5979154983550967860005. The Library of Congress control number is no2015098225. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Amaterasu” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.