Nihongi Vs Genesis

Throughout history there have always been questions about the origin of the world, creation and divine power. In the creation stories, The Book of Genesis and Shinto Myth from the Nihongi, there are similar beliefs that there is a stronger higher power creating and controlling events throughout the world. Both stories profess that man and woman are created by this higher power to multiply and occupy the earth; however, the stories differ in the beliefs of the origins of the divine powers with Genesis based on monotheism and Nihongi based on polytheism. Throughout both stories, the nature of the divinity, how natural elements are respected and the relationship between man and woman are all aspects of a power struggle that defines how the
conflicts and choices of each story are handled.
The origins of the beliefs of divine power are based on cultural and religious aspects, which have been passed down from generation to generation-through stories and myths, with differing, but often-similar origins as the basis. The main difference presented is that in Genesis, one God creates the heavens and earth and He is the supreme power. The author displays this power by the repetition of the lines “And God said…”(Ch. 1, 6, 9 ,14 ,20) followed by “And it was so” (Ch. 1, 7, 9, 15) as soon as God created a new entity. He is the one commanding everything to be created. In the Japanese Shinto creation myth, there is not one creator of Heaven and Earth; it is a unified body that eventually splits apart into the two places. The number seven has significance in both stories in terms of how humans are placed on Earth. In Genesis, God creates different elements of the Earth in seven days, culminating with the creation of humans on the sixth day and exclaiming a day of exultation and rest on the seventh day. God originally creates humans with the intent to keep order over all the creatures of the earth, “Let us make humankind…and let them have domination over the fish of the sea…over all the wild animals of the earth” (Ch. 1, 26). This parallels the Shinto creation myth, as there were seven generations of gods, ending with the Heavenly Deities placing Izanagi and Izanami at the edge of the earth to rule over it. However, it is their responsibility to construct the elements of the earth, unlike the man and woman created in Genesis. Every god that is subsequently born by Izanagi and Izanami is similar to each day of creation, producing a new aspect of the earth, such as the sun, moon, or fire. Even though God in Genesis places Eve, and the man that becomes known as Adam, on earth to rule, there is a power struggle between them. God makes it clear that He is still the one supreme ruler over Heaven and Earth, even changing to the “Lord God” in Chapter 2 of Genesis, becoming more powerful and establishing more dominance over the heavens and the earth and all its creatures, including man and woman. He has allowed himself to decide and punish the wrong doings that the humans have created. In Shinto, Izanagi and Izanami are still the parents of the new gods, but have very little power over them when it comes to controlling their specific element of Earth.
In both stories, there is a definite male dominance initiated by the higher power itself, either the Lord God or the Deities in the generations before Izanagi and Izanami.
In Genesis, the woman is presented in two different ways. The first two chapters of Genesis have different views of how the woman should be perceived, with Chapter 2 creating a definite male authority. Genesis, Chapter 1, professes that God created humankind in his own image as partners. “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Ch. 1, 27). Genesis, Chapter 2 delineates the roles of male and female by creating woman from man out of his own rib. “And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man…This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Ch. 2, 23). From this point on the delineation of equality between man and woman is broken and the dominance of male over female is established. In both stories, the women become subservient to the men and both women end up victimized by embarrassment or painful suffering. An example of this, is when Izanagi meets up with Izanami and does not even recognize his own sister and immediately shuts her down when she speaks “I am man, and by right should have spoken first. How is it that contrary to this, you, a women, should have been the first to speak?” (Shinto, 24-26). Izanagi considers it “unlucky” (26) and forces them to circle the
island once more so that he may speak first. She is punished multiple times later for this directly by birthing the leech child and indirectly by being burned and killed by Kagu-tsuchi because “the law of male and female was therefore broken” (55). This is ironic because in old Japanese culture, women were thought of very highly, being able to inherit and manage their own land, as well some even becoming empresses in the 8th century (Japan). It is also ironic that at many points during the story, Izanagi and Izanami consult together on an equal level about how to deal with the gods they have produced, even agreeing to send a female deity up to Heaven. It is the same in Genesis Chapter 1; the woman is created at the same time as man and there is no dominance, however she is created from man. It is interesting that Izanami dies at the end even though she did nothing, but be “the first to utter an exclamation of pleasure” (53-55).
In Genesis, God is the one who creates the male dominance; no one directly proclaimed it in Shinto, the dominance was already established, possibly by the Deities before Izanami and Izanagi. However, God does not create this dominance in Genesis until after Eve has given the fruit to Adam. The dominance is almost like a punishment, “…your desire for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Ch. 3, 16). The man’s reason for punishment is similar to that of the Shinto myth, he listened to women, “Because you have listened to your wife” (Ch. 3, 17). These stories have painted out a patriarchal society from the beginning, stemming down from the supreme power.
In both stories, the desire for control over nature is abundantly clear, in terms of how the humans respect it.
Earth is found to be less beautiful than Heaven. Heaven is created first and is still considered the glorified holy land of the two. Heaven is favored over earth. In Genesis, God deliberately makes two separate places, one for himself and one place to have power over. He did not originally have the intent of even creating man, but decided someone had to be in charge of all the natural elements He created. In the Shinto creation myth, Earth is also automatically looked down upon because the elements of Heaven naturally came together quickly and Earth settled down with more difficulty, “The finer element easily became a united body…the consolidation of heavy and gross element was accomplished with difficulty” (4-6). However, the elements of Earth are looked at with more respect. Each element of nature is a deity, a god, so it therefore has to be respected. In the Japanese culture, it is believed that one must have a mastery and dominance over nature to be at peace (Culture of
Japan).
The concept of power in multiple aspects is overwhelming throughout both Genesis and Nihongi. The power of dominance through God or multiple Gods presence is the determining factor over the actions of humankind, whether from a pre-established hierarchy or by gender differences contribute to several of the characters’ fate in these myths. Male and female learn their places in the world very quickly and if they stray away from that, they are punished in some sort of way by the higher powers, whether overt or subtle. Despite the fact that these stories come from two different cultures, they are very similar in how they handle dominance over people, places, and nature. Ultimately it is the belief in the higher power that dictates the beliefs and actions of humankind in both cultures.

Works Cited

"Countries and Their Cultures." Culture of Japan. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2013. .

"Japan." Japan. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2013. .