Tsukuyomi
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- For the manga and anime series, see Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-.
Tsukiyomi (月読の命 or 月夜見の尊, Tsukiyomi no mikoto), also known as Tsukiyomi, Tsukuyomi no kami, and Tsukuyomi no mikoto, is a god of uncertain gender, but will be perceived as male kami, of the moon in Shinto and Japanese mythology for the purposes of this article (most modern references to Tsukiyomi in pop culture represent the diety as female). The name Tsukuyomi is a combination for the Japanese words for "moon" (tsuki) and "reading" (yomu) Another interpretation is that his name is a combination of moonlit night ( Tsukiyo) and (miru) which means to look at. Yet another interpretation is that the kanji for "bow" (弓, yumi) was corrupted with the kanji for "yomi".
Tsukiyomi was the second of the "three noble children" born when Izanagi, the god who created the first land, Onogoro, was cleansing himself of his sins while bathing himself after escaping the underworld and the clutches of his enraged dead wife, Izanami. Tsukuyomi was born when Izanagi washed out of his right eye. However, in an alternate story, Tsukiyomi was born from a mirror made of white copper in Izanagi's right hand.
After climbing a celestial ladder, Tsukiyomi lived in the heavens, also known as Takamagahara, with his sister Amaterasu, the sun goddess.
Tsukiyomi angered Amaterasu, the sun goddess, when he killed Uke Mochi, the goddess of food. Amaterasu once sent Tsukiyomi to represent her at a feast presented by Uke Mochi. The goddess of food made the food by turning to the ocean and spitting out a fish, then facing the forest and game came out of her mouth, and finally turned to a rice paddy and coughed up a bowl of rice. Tsukiyomi was utterly disgusted by the fact that, although it looked exquisite, the meal was made in a disgusting manner, and so he killed her.
Soon, Amaterasu learned what happened and she was so angry that she refused to ever look at Tsukiyomi again, forever moving to another part of the sky. This is the reason that day and night are never together. In later versions of this myth, Uke Mochi is killed by Susano-O.
[edit] Tsukuyomi in Pop Culture
- A character, Itachi Uchiha, in the popular anime/manga Naruto has a technique by the name of Tsukuyomi.
- In Gundam Seed Destiny, one of the Izumo class battleships is called Tsukumiya, a possible reference to Tsukuyomi.
- In the manga, Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Tsukuyomi is the hereditary title of the miko princess of Shirasaki Castle. This character is informally referred to as Princess Tomoyo, the princess whom the one of the series' lead character, Kurogane, serves in his home world of Nihon.
- In the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game, Tsukuyomi was a very popular and commonly played card, until it was Forbidden for use in Competitive play, in September 2006.
- In the videogame Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Tsukuyomi is the first fusion form of the character Kurando Inugami.
- A character in Chrono Cross renamed Harle in localizations is referred to as "Tsukuyomi" in the original Japanese version, and has certain relations to the game's world's dark moon.
- In Clover Studio's video game Ōkami, Tsukuyomi is a legendary sword.
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