Japanese Print "Amaterasu Ōmikami" by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Artist:Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Title:Amaterasu Ōmikami
Date:April 29th, 1879
Details:More information...
Source:Worcester Art Museum
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Description:
According to Japan’s creation myth, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu is the divine progenitor of the Japanese Imperial line. In one episode, she took shelter in a cave, plunging the world into unrelenting darkness. Ame no Uzume, the goddess of dawn and revelry, performed a risqué dance outside the cave, causing enough commotion that Amaterasu was persuaded to come out. The borders present the image as though they were in the traditional narrative format of a Japanese handscroll. Images like this one cemented belief in the divine ancestry of the Imperial family and became increasingly popular as nationalistic propaganda during the Meiji period (1868–1912).
