Deities of Heaven, deities of Earth, and foreignness in Japanese origin myths

Bernhard Scheid,

Austrian Academy of Sciences (Senior Scientist Emeritus) 

• Date: April 16, 2026  

• Time: 18:00–19:30  

• Venue: Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University  

• Format: In person only 

In this talk, I will focus on apparent continental influences in the origin stories of the Tennō dynasty. In the mythical episodes of the official annals (Kojiki and Nihon shoki), a well-known implicit hierarchy exists between “heavenly” and “earthly” deities (rulers). I will demonstrate that, in this case, “Heaven” can be read as a cipher for the continent, thus favoring rulers of foreign origin. However, in the subsequent “historical” episodes following the inception of Tennō rule, foreigners are no longer associated with heavenly origins, but rather with specific and frequently hostile neighboring countries. In this context, although foreignness is still associated with an advanced culture, it becomes an obstacle to entry into the ruling circles. I will argue that this double standard regarding foreignness in the annals was a novel feature of Japanese mythology originating from narratological strategies in the context of early state formation.  

Bernhard Scheid is a Japanologist and a former senior scientist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He is still affiliated with this institution as a guest researcher. He has published extensively on Japanese religious history, particularly Shinto, covering both premodern and modern topics. The topic of this talk is also part of a book project on Japanese mythology. 

This talk is organized by Bettina Gramlich-Oka (Professor, Sophia University). 

Illustration: Contest of Amaterasu and Susanoo, book illustration by Kobayashi Eitaku, Sensai Eitaku gafu, 1884. Courtesy of The Gerhard Pulverer Collection — Charles Lang Freer Endowment, Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art and the Harold P. Stern Memorial fund. (https://pulverer.si.edu/node/802/title/1)