ABSTRACT
In his recent book Amaterasu no henb ō, Satō Hiroo traces the transformation of the imperial ancestor and sun-deity Amaterasu from an ancient into a medieval type of kami. 1 Amaterasu, originally a local sun-deity enshrined in outlying Ise, was in the seventh century raised to the status of supreme ancestor of a divine imperial dynasty, as part of the larger project of building a centralised imperial state in Japan. However, Satō argues, the significance of Amaterasu’s promotion to the highest position among the Japanese kami was initially limited by a number of constraints. One of these was that, like all kami of the ancient period, Amaterasu retained the character of a tatarigami — a deity who not only bestows blessings, but also lays curses when offended. Like all tatarigami, Amaterasu was a double-edged sword: her great power could be used to subdue others, but could also strike back at those who tried to wield it. 2 Another important limitation was Amaterasu’s definition as the clan deity (ujigami) of the imperial lineage. The shrine of Amaterasu at Ise served as a Chinese-style ancestral mausoleum, where worship by others than the emperor was strictly forbidden; this precluded Amaterasu from playing any role at all in society at large.
