Ama-no-Uzume -- Shinto Goddess of Revelry

Ama-no-Uzume (uzume = "whirling") is one of the Shinto kami, or dieties of the Earth. Also known as the "Heaven Alarming Female", she is revered as a crop fertility goddess and "seductress-trickster" in folk worship.

Ama-no-Uzume figures in the great tale of the sun goddess Amaterasu and her dispute with her brother, the rain god Susano. To escape Susano's mischief, Amaterasu hid herself in a cave in the earth, and blocked the entrance with a huge boulder. Therefore the sun would not rise and the world was cast into darkness and oblivion. After all else had failed to persuade the sun goddess to come out of hiding, the gods of the Universe held a meeting at the River Bed to discover a way to entice her out and give light to the world again. After much deliberation they devised a plan - they erected a platform in front of the cave and hung a huge mirror and a cascade of precious jewels from the branches of a sakaki tree in front of the entrance.

Then the Goddess Ama-no-Uzume danced on an upturned tub while the other gods arranged for roosters to crow in herald of the dawn. Her ecstatic performance turned into a lewd and seductive striptease in front of all the other assembled deities, who burst into laughter when she finally lifted her skirt and exposed her sacred genitals. (Japanese philologist Hiromi Yamagata suggests that what Ame-no-Uzume was actually doing was imitating the birth ritual and the word "laugh" (warau) has been misinterpreted as laugh in the modern sense.  What it actually referred to was the "bringing out of joy in the voices of the deities." )

All this commotion made Amaterasu so curious that she asked Ama-no-Uzume what was so amusing. She was told that the Gods had found someone to replace her, so she decided move the boulder from the mouth of the cave and peek out at this mysterious rival. When she observed the brilliance of her own reflections in the mirror and the jewels, she was even more curious and stood out to examine what was essentially her own image. At this point the God "Strong-Hand" seized hold of her and pulled her out. Thus the sun rose once again and light and warmth was restored to the earth.


Traditional Shinto religious performance
 of the sacred dance of Ama-no-Uzume

The tale is part of the Noh cycle of venerable religious plays in Japanese Shinto tradition. However, this mythical "sacred striptease'' also gave rise to the rite of kagura, where a priestess plays the part of Ama-no-Uzume and the audience consists of faithful temple visitors. Kagura is a ritual enactment of the story, with the congregation playing the role of the greater gods of the Universe, revelling in Ama-no-Uzume's lascivious performance. The myth has also inspired myriad works of musical, visual and performance art, both traditional and contemporary.

 

The myth of Ama-no-Uzume has become so deeply embedded in the Japanese consciousness that the same pattern arises even in a nonreligious context: the tokudashi, a unique kind of erotic show performed in the red light districts of major cities in Japan, where dancers perform with legs spread and expose their genitals for close inspection by the audience. Neither conventional striptease nor sex show in the Western sense, it is more or less a modern form of the ancient myth.


Performance artist Hoshi Kirara as Ama-no Uzume

Nominate your favorite God for God of the Month! Send suggestions to: AX Mailing List
Return to GOTM Index