The way you described the three precious children sounds so poetic! The One who blazes, the One who rages and the One who waits in quiet.
And the tanuki looks so cute! Never thought they would appear where humans live.
It is also interesting that I think more of Tsukuyomi as female. But I think thats also because of my cultural and linguistic background: its always a sun God and a moon goddess on the European myths; the nouns in portuguese (as in probably all the romance languages) are either male or female, moon, lua, is female. But I like how people describes Tsukuyomi as androgenous - makes it feel like it fills the gap.
I never thought about Tsukuyomi connection to time, but now with tsukimi and the wax and wane of the moon, and also with the moon's control of tides, I do start to see a big connection.
I remember I've read that it was either Tsukuyomi ir Susanoo that killed the goddess that was preparing the offerings (don't remember her name, just this 2 kanji 保食)... I guess one is Kojiki, the other is Nihon Shoki. Anyway, myths might only be myths and maybe not real, but the inner values that they show and the story that they tell are part of a culture and they explain us why everything is as it is. I do get fascinated by them. And the Kami that are portrayed in them being different from local to local, it adds even more meaning.
Never thought about what are my three noble ones. I Guess it is something to ponder over. Although, i believe I'll only get a good answer after some long time.
Thank you so much, リジョーさん。 You are absolutely right—Nihon Shoki suddenly brings in the story of Tsukuyomi killing the goddess of food, while the very same story appears in the Kojiki as an episode of Susanoo. I left that part out because it would have made things more complicated, but since you are so knowledgeable in both Japanese classics (and even Chinese ones!), I should have explained it!
There are several different interpretations of why this shift happens, but I personally agree with the view that because the Nihon Shoki was written with an external, diplomatic audience in mind, the compilers might have worried about Tsukuyomi’s near absence from the myths. So, they “borrowed” Susanoo’s episode to give Tsukuyomi a stronger role.
When we think of tsukimi, the waxing and waning of the moon, and the tides governed by the moon, we can see Tsukuyomi’s role as “the keeper of time.” I’m glad I decided to develop this moon series. Thank you always for your wonderful comments!
"The moon is not only light but also silence. It shines, then withdraws. It hides its face, then appears again. In Japanese mythology, this rhythm of presence and absence is given form in Tsukuyomi, the quiet sibling among the Three Precious Children."
I love that there's always a balance, and while Tsukuyomi no Mikoto isn't the focus of many myths he is still one of the Three Precious Children.
"For this reason, Tsukuyomi is often imagined as male, yet with an androgynous aura, even dual-gendered. In Japanese myth, femininity and masculinity are not fixed opposites. A single deity may carry both."
As someone who's non-binary it always makes me happy to have the knowledge that the kami are fluid and not beholden to strict gender roles or binaries, and can move freely.
"Tsukuyomi embodies silence—not empty silence, but silence alive with mystery... It is a silence that leans toward balance, holding harmony before conflict can even begin. Amaterasu blazes forth. Susanoo storms and rages. Tsukuyomi waits in quietness."
The potency of silence is a strong image!
I'd say my 3 pillars are probably the connections I've made with friends, the passion and drive I feel when working on various projects, and also the accumulation of knowledge! I'm always wanting to learn more and share it with others!
The theme for this month was such a fun series of reading! I look forward to reading your future articles as well!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! I’m really touched by how you connected Tsukuyomi’s quiet presence with your own experience of being non-binary. As you said, the kami are never fixed into strict binaries, and I find that fluidity to be one of the most beautiful aspects of Shinto. A single deity can embrace both sides, or even transcend them entirely, and that opens space for us humans to also live more freely.
I also loved reading about your three pillars—friendship, passion for your projects, and the pursuit of knowledge. They sound like such strong foundations for life, and I can feel how much joy and energy they bring you.
I’m very happy you enjoyed this month’s theme! Your reflections add so much richness to the conversation, and I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming posts.
What a wonderful, insightful article. So well written! Your writing always feels like meditation, written by someone who - as you point out - not only knows how to speak, but also how to listen, and how to leave some things unsaid. You should really write a book!
Thank you so much! I’m really touched by your words. I love that you felt a meditative quality in my writing—that’s exactly the kind of space I hope to create. And your encouragement about writing a book truly means a lot to me! Thanks for cheering me on.
Thank for this interesting post! In Germany, Scandinavia and many other countries the sun is regarded as female and the moon as male (the man in the moon). I think this related to the climate. In the north, the heat of the sun is regarded as nurturing, whereas in other regions the coolness of the moon offers relief and respite from the heat of the day, and this is regarded as a feminine quality. I like the idea of the kami being fluid in their gender. My three treasures are silence, nature and books. Silence nurtures and restores me, nature invigorates me and books open up my horizon and perception of the world.
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful perspective! I find it fascinating how the gender of the sun and moon shifts depending on culture and climate. Your explanation about the nurturing warmth of the sun in the north, and the cooling relief of the moon in hotter regions, really deepens my understanding.
I also love the treasures you shared—silence, nature, and books. The way you described how each one nourishes, restores, invigorates, and expands your horizons feels very poetic. Thank you for adding such richness to this conversation.
Reading the moon is such a rich phrase. Tsukuyomi is a little like poetry. It is often the tension between what is said and not said that makes a poem. Thank you, as always, for sharing these.
Thank you so much! I love how you put it—that Tsukuyomi is a little like poetry. The presence and absence, what is spoken and what is left unsaid… that tension really does shape both poetry and the moon. Your words make me see Tsukuyomi in a new light. I’m grateful, as always, for the way you read so deeply.
Interesting. I had always thought of Tsukuyomi as female. But I just went and looked at the place where I thought I learned that, and I realize I made a simple mistake.
One of the classic Kagura performances is Amaterasu's retreat to Ama-no-Iwato and how the kami convince her to come back out. I always thought the female kami who finally gets her to return was Tsukuyomi, but I went to look at the source and I'm completely wrong, it was Ame-no-Uzume. One of these days I'll get the kami straight in my mind.
Thank you for sharing this! Yes, it’s a very common mix-up—Tsukuyomi appears so rarely in the myths that it’s easy to confuse their role with someone else’s. And Ame-no-Uzume really is unforgettable in the Iwato story, isn’t she?
Around the world, it’s actually more common for the sun to be seen as male and the moon as female.
Last autumn I really enjoyed a drama called Zenryōiki Ijō Kaiketsushitsu（全領域異常解決室）. It imagined the kami in myth living in today’s world in human form. In it, Tsukuyomi was played by the actress Hikari Ishida—so the role was portrayed as female.
I imagine living in Izumo gives you a very special closeness to these kami and the performances that bring them to life.
This was a fascinating article. I was especially interested in the androgynous moon god, as, as already mentioned above, all the European myths and beliefs have a moon goddess and a sun god. I’ve always loved the moon. I think my three pillars could be learning, creating and connecting… the latter with both people and the natural world.
The way you described the three precious children sounds so poetic! The One who blazes, the One who rages and the One who waits in quiet.
And the tanuki looks so cute! Never thought they would appear where humans live.
It is also interesting that I think more of Tsukuyomi as female. But I think thats also because of my cultural and linguistic background: its always a sun God and a moon goddess on the European myths; the nouns in portuguese (as in probably all the romance languages) are either male or female, moon, lua, is female. But I like how people describes Tsukuyomi as androgenous - makes it feel like it fills the gap.
I never thought about Tsukuyomi connection to time, but now with tsukimi and the wax and wane of the moon, and also with the moon's control of tides, I do start to see a big connection.
I remember I've read that it was either Tsukuyomi ir Susanoo that killed the goddess that was preparing the offerings (don't remember her name, just this 2 kanji 保食)... I guess one is Kojiki, the other is Nihon Shoki. Anyway, myths might only be myths and maybe not real, but the inner values that they show and the story that they tell are part of a culture and they explain us why everything is as it is. I do get fascinated by them. And the Kami that are portrayed in them being different from local to local, it adds even more meaning.
Never thought about what are my three noble ones. I Guess it is something to ponder over. Although, i believe I'll only get a good answer after some long time.
Thank you so much, リジョーさん。 You are absolutely right—Nihon Shoki suddenly brings in the story of Tsukuyomi killing the goddess of food, while the very same story appears in the Kojiki as an episode of Susanoo. I left that part out because it would have made things more complicated, but since you are so knowledgeable in both Japanese classics (and even Chinese ones!), I should have explained it!
There are several different interpretations of why this shift happens, but I personally agree with the view that because the Nihon Shoki was written with an external, diplomatic audience in mind, the compilers might have worried about Tsukuyomi’s near absence from the myths. So, they “borrowed” Susanoo’s episode to give Tsukuyomi a stronger role.
When we think of tsukimi, the waxing and waning of the moon, and the tides governed by the moon, we can see Tsukuyomi’s role as “the keeper of time.” I’m glad I decided to develop this moon series. Thank you always for your wonderful comments!
Thank you for such an insightful article!
"The moon is not only light but also silence. It shines, then withdraws. It hides its face, then appears again. In Japanese mythology, this rhythm of presence and absence is given form in Tsukuyomi, the quiet sibling among the Three Precious Children."
I love that there's always a balance, and while Tsukuyomi no Mikoto isn't the focus of many myths he is still one of the Three Precious Children.
"For this reason, Tsukuyomi is often imagined as male, yet with an androgynous aura, even dual-gendered. In Japanese myth, femininity and masculinity are not fixed opposites. A single deity may carry both."
As someone who's non-binary it always makes me happy to have the knowledge that the kami are fluid and not beholden to strict gender roles or binaries, and can move freely.
"Tsukuyomi embodies silence—not empty silence, but silence alive with mystery... It is a silence that leans toward balance, holding harmony before conflict can even begin. Amaterasu blazes forth. Susanoo storms and rages. Tsukuyomi waits in quietness."
The potency of silence is a strong image!
I'd say my 3 pillars are probably the connections I've made with friends, the passion and drive I feel when working on various projects, and also the accumulation of knowledge! I'm always wanting to learn more and share it with others!
The theme for this month was such a fun series of reading! I look forward to reading your future articles as well!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! I’m really touched by how you connected Tsukuyomi’s quiet presence with your own experience of being non-binary. As you said, the kami are never fixed into strict binaries, and I find that fluidity to be one of the most beautiful aspects of Shinto. A single deity can embrace both sides, or even transcend them entirely, and that opens space for us humans to also live more freely.
I also loved reading about your three pillars—friendship, passion for your projects, and the pursuit of knowledge. They sound like such strong foundations for life, and I can feel how much joy and energy they bring you.
I’m very happy you enjoyed this month’s theme! Your reflections add so much richness to the conversation, and I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming posts.
What a wonderful, insightful article. So well written! Your writing always feels like meditation, written by someone who - as you point out - not only knows how to speak, but also how to listen, and how to leave some things unsaid. You should really write a book!
Thank you so much! I’m really touched by your words. I love that you felt a meditative quality in my writing—that’s exactly the kind of space I hope to create. And your encouragement about writing a book truly means a lot to me! Thanks for cheering me on.
Thank for this interesting post! In Germany, Scandinavia and many other countries the sun is regarded as female and the moon as male (the man in the moon). I think this related to the climate. In the north, the heat of the sun is regarded as nurturing, whereas in other regions the coolness of the moon offers relief and respite from the heat of the day, and this is regarded as a feminine quality. I like the idea of the kami being fluid in their gender. My three treasures are silence, nature and books. Silence nurtures and restores me, nature invigorates me and books open up my horizon and perception of the world.
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful perspective! I find it fascinating how the gender of the sun and moon shifts depending on culture and climate. Your explanation about the nurturing warmth of the sun in the north, and the cooling relief of the moon in hotter regions, really deepens my understanding.
I also love the treasures you shared—silence, nature, and books. The way you described how each one nourishes, restores, invigorates, and expands your horizons feels very poetic. Thank you for adding such richness to this conversation.
Reading the moon is such a rich phrase. Tsukuyomi is a little like poetry. It is often the tension between what is said and not said that makes a poem. Thank you, as always, for sharing these.
Thank you so much! I love how you put it—that Tsukuyomi is a little like poetry. The presence and absence, what is spoken and what is left unsaid… that tension really does shape both poetry and the moon. Your words make me see Tsukuyomi in a new light. I’m grateful, as always, for the way you read so deeply.
Interesting. I had always thought of Tsukuyomi as female. But I just went and looked at the place where I thought I learned that, and I realize I made a simple mistake.
One of the classic Kagura performances is Amaterasu's retreat to Ama-no-Iwato and how the kami convince her to come back out. I always thought the female kami who finally gets her to return was Tsukuyomi, but I went to look at the source and I'm completely wrong, it was Ame-no-Uzume. One of these days I'll get the kami straight in my mind.
Thank you for sharing this! Yes, it’s a very common mix-up—Tsukuyomi appears so rarely in the myths that it’s easy to confuse their role with someone else’s. And Ame-no-Uzume really is unforgettable in the Iwato story, isn’t she?
Around the world, it’s actually more common for the sun to be seen as male and the moon as female.
Last autumn I really enjoyed a drama called Zenryōiki Ijō Kaiketsushitsu（全領域異常解決室）. It imagined the kami in myth living in today’s world in human form. In it, Tsukuyomi was played by the actress Hikari Ishida—so the role was portrayed as female.
I imagine living in Izumo gives you a very special closeness to these kami and the performances that bring them to life.
This was a fascinating article. I was especially interested in the androgynous moon god, as, as already mentioned above, all the European myths and beliefs have a moon goddess and a sun god. I’ve always loved the moon. I think my three pillars could be learning, creating and connecting… the latter with both people and the natural world.