Japanese and Hebrew
Creation Myths
Hebrew History
 Origin can be traced to the Syro-Arabian
Desert.
 1800 B.C.E. Gods revelations were first
received.
 Abraham and his followers traveled to
Canaan.
 1304-1237 B.C.E. Israelites were captured
and enslaved in Egypt.
“In the beginning…”
Genesis 1
 The Hebrew Creation Myth
states that God created
the world in seven days.
 He first created light and
separated the light from
the darkness and created
day and night, that was the
first day.
 On the second day God
separated the waters from
the sky.
 On the third day God
created land and the
plants and trees.
 On the forth day God created the stars in
the sky and the moon.
 On the fifth day God created the living
creatures of the sea and the birds.
 On the sixth day God created the
creatures of the land and he created
human beings.
 On the seventh day he rested.
Genesis 2
 God created man from the dust of the earth and breathed
life into his nostrils and named him Adam
 God made the Garden of Eden for the man to live.
 In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam could eat
from any tree except the tree of knowledge.
 God then created out of the ground all the beasts of the
field and all the birds of the air.
 God then took a rib from Adam and made a woman to be
his companion and her name was Eve.
Japanese History
• Mixed people of Korean, Mongolian, and
Malayan.
• At first independent tribes.
• 6,000 – 300 B.C.E.: Jomon PeriodNeolithic Hunting and Fishing.
• 250 B.C.E. – 250 C.E.: Yayoi PeriodCultivation of rice.
• 250 C.E. – Fifth Century C.E.: Fofun
Period.- Invasion of Asiatic warriors.
• Fourth Century- Yamato clans placed their
Chieftain on a throne to rule over the other
tribes.
• Chieftain claimed to be a descendent of
the Sun Goddess to overcome the other
tribes who believed in women rulers.
“Before the heavens and earth…”
• The Japanese creation myth states that out of
chaos rose a light and formed the heaven. The
heaven then gave birth to the Three Creating
Deities.
• Then out of the earth a pair of immortals were
born, Deity Umashi-Ashi-Kahinbi-Hikoji-noMikoto and Deity Ame-no-Tokotachi-no-Mikoto.
• From there on many Gods were
born but with the world in a
“chaotic state” there was nothing
for them to do.
• The two divine beings Izanagi
and Izanami were called to help
make the world a solid place.
They were given a spear called
Ama-no-Nuboko to help them.
• They created the Island of
Onokoro by dipping the spear
into the waters of the earth and
the drops solidifying on top of the
water.
• The two deities Izanagi and Izanami
traveled to the island of Onokoro and
married.
• They then gave birth to a succession of
deities that controlled nature. Example: the
wind-deity, Kami-Shinatsuhiko-no-Mikoto.
• Then Izanami died after giving birth to the
Goddess Mizuhame-no-Mikoto. Her
demise marks the intrusion of death into
the world.
• After Izanami’s death Izanagi created and
consolidated the Island Empire of Japan
yet he was lonely and depressed without
his wife.
• Izanagi followed his wife to the underworld
where he found her decaying.
• Because he looked at her Izanani sent the
Ugly sisters, eight thunder dieties and
fifteen hundred warriors after Izanagi as
he fled.
• He fought them off and Izanani herself
chased after him but he blocked the
entrance to the upperworld with a bolder.
• Izanagi then went to the ocean and as he
cleaned out his eyes he created the Sun
Goddess, Amaterasu, and the Moon God, Tsukiyomi.
• The Sun Goddess then sent her grandson Ni-nigi to the islands of Japan to rule and then from
him the first human Emporer took the throne, Nini-gi’s great grandson Jimmu Tenno.
• This shows that all emporeres of Japan are
descendents of the Sun Goddess and Japans
people are descendents of the lesser dieties.
Compare
• Both cultures believe that before
the earth was created there was
nothing but chaos and was without
form. Example:
• Hebrew: Now the earth was
formless and empty, darkness was
over the surface of the deep…
• Japanese: Before the heavens and
the earth came into existence, all
was a chaos, unimaginably
limitless and without definite shape
or form.
• Both cultures believed that there was
some type of light that followed the
creation of the world. Example:
• Hebrew: And god said, “let there be light,”
and there was light.
• Japanese: out of this boundless,
shapeless mass something light and
transparent rose up and formed the
heaven.
• Both myths show that a Deity of some kind
created the land out of the waters of the
earth. Example:
• Hebrew: And God said, “let the water under
the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
ground appear.” And it was so.
• Japanese: So saying he pushed down the
jeweled shaft and found that it touched
something. Then drawing it up, he examined
it and observed that the great drops which
fell from it almost immediately coagulated
into an island, which is, to this day, the
Island of Onokoro
Contrast
• The Hebrew myth speaks of
only one deity however the
Japanese myth has many.
Example:
• Hebrew: In the beginning God
created the heavens and the
earth.
• Japanese: Many gods were
thus born in succession, and
so they increased in number,
but as long as the world
remained in a chaotic state,
there was nothing for them to
do.
• In the Hebrew myth it took only seven
days to create the earth, yet in the
Japanese myth it took many years.
• Hebrew: And there was evening, and there
was morning--the first day. Ect.
• Japanese: Eon followed eon: then, lo! out
of this boundless, shapeless mass
something light and transparent rose up
and formed the heaven.
• The Hebrew myth mainly talks of how the world was
created. The Japanese myth mainly talks of how the
Deity’s were created and how they relate to the earth.
Example:
• Hebrew: "Let there be light," and there was light. God
saw that the light was good, and he separated the light
from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the
darkness he called "night."
• Japanese: Having, thus, made a country from what had
formerly been no more than a mere floating mass, the
two Deities, Izanagi and Izanami, about begetting those
deities destined to preside over the land, sea,
mountains, rivers, trees, and herbs.
• In the Hebrew myth God created man from the
dust of the earth. In the Japanese myth men are
direct descendents of the dieties. Example:
• Hebrew: God created man from the dust of the
earth and breathed life into his nostrils and
named him Adam
• Japanese: The Sun Goddess then sent her
grandson Ni-ni-gi to the islands of Japan to rule
and then from him the first human Emporer took
the throne, Ni-ni-gi’s great grandson Jimmu
Tenno.
Stephanie Smith
 Lillian King
 Rebecca LeMay
