Read, reflect, pray
Nihon Shoki: The heavenly descent and the welcoming kami
Nihon Shoki · Story 13 of 17
天孫降臨と、道を迎える神
Traditions of Takamimusubi, Amaterasu, and Saruta.
English translation of this site’s published story summary and reading notes. This is a selected reading guide, not a complete translation of the ancient chronicle.
A variant account (issho, introduced as “one writing says”) is a different tradition preserved beside the main narrative. It is labeled separately below.
Main narrative
Book 2, section 9
Takamimusubi lovingly raises Ninigi, the grandchild born to Amaterasu’s child and his own daughter. Once the land is pacified, he wraps the grandchild and sends him down to Takachiho in Himuka. The main narrative depicts Takamimusubi as directing the descent.
Variant account (issho)
Book 2, section 9 variant 1
This variant has Amaterasu bestow jewels, mirror, and sword, send five groups of accompanying deities, and command her descendants to rule the land. The words called tenjō mukyū, declaring the royal line enduring with heaven and earth, also belong to this variant.
Ame no Uzume questions Saruta, waiting at the fork of the roads. He says he has come to guide the grandchild. The grandchild goes to Takachiho; Saruta heads to the upper Isuzu River in Ise, and Uzume escorts him.
Variant account (issho)
Book 2, section 9 variant 2
The instruction to cherish the mirror as though seeing Amaterasu herself, and the gift of heavenly rice ears, occur in this variant. Even within the familiar descent story, the locations of particular instructions differ.
Compare with the Kojiki
Takamimusubi directs the descent in the main narrative. Amaterasu’s bestowal of jewels, mirror, and sword and the tenjō mukyū words occur in variant 1; cherishing the mirror and receiving rice ears occur in variant 2. The Kojiki also has a mirror and Sarutabiko, but familiar Nihon Shoki sayings are distributed across the main narrative and several variants.
The heavenly descendant and the kami who shows the way →Connected figures
Names and relationships in a chronicle may differ from later traditions. Each figure’s introduction identifies its sources.
Sources and edition (3)
- 『日本書紀』原文（Wikisource翻刻） — 巻第二・第九段 本文（国譲り・天孫降臨・木花開耶姫）
- 『日本書紀』原文（Wikisource翻刻） — 巻第二・第九段 一書第一
- 『日本書紀』原文（Wikisource翻刻） — 巻第二・第九段 一書第二
English explanations on this page were prepared by Inori no Mori from the cited text and its Japanese explanations. They are not an official translation or a prescribed liturgy.