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Glite Dictionary
👁️ Reality-changing power 🗾 A Shinto god
Izanagi

Izanagi

1 9.9
A god in Shinto who, with his sister, created Japan's islands and many gods
  • proper noun
  • Literature
: Izanagi
  • The ancient text describes how Izanagi and Izanami gave birth to the islands of Japan, shaping its divine landscape.
  • Izanagi and Izanami

Examples

  • (The rice cakes represent Izanagi and Izanami, that is, humanity's Shintoist progenitors.)

    Academic text (1992)

  • In the ancient Japanese text The Kojiki, the god Izanagi beheads his son, the Shining-Elder, and many gods and spirits are born of the blood of the sword.

    Academic text (2017)

  • Then he chanted an invocation to the Shinto gods Izanagi and Izanami, revered procreators of the universe.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • In Shinto mythology, Izanagi is revered as the god who created Japan and its gods with his sister Izanami.

  • During rituals, followers honor Izanagi as a central figure in the creation myths of Japan.

Surface Forms

Izanagi main

Etymology

Izanagi comes from an old Japanese verb izanau meaning 'to invite' plus a masculine ending -gi, so he is the 'male who invites'. As the partner of Izanami, he 'invites' the islands and gods into being, which is why he is a creator god in Shinto stories.