Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 2. Kami (Deities)
カテゴリー2： Concepts of Kami
Title
Zōkasanshin
Text
"Three kami of creation." According to Kojiki's account of the formation of the world, the three kami which procreated first in the Plain of High Heaven (Takamanohara), namely, Amenominakanushi, Takamimusuhi, and Kamimusuhi. Each of these three came into being as a "solitary kami" (hitorigami), and later hid itself. The term zōka sanshin originates in the preface to Kojiki, where it states, "When heaven and earth first separated, the three kami that resulted were the beginning of all procreation." In the Edo period, scholars of National Learning (Kokugaku) valued Kojiki more highly than Nihongi, and around the end of the period, knowledge of the biblical story of creation led to theological trends that emphasized the "three kami of creation" due to their status as the very first to come into being. While Nihongi states that the first three kami to appear were Kunitokotachi no mikoto, Kunisazuchi no mikoto, and Toyokumunu no mikoto, it does not specifically label them the three kami of creation.

-Inoue Nobutaka

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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