AMATERASU ŌMIKAMI is the supreme deity in Japanese mythology and the ancestor goddess of the imperial family. Amaterasu was born when the creator god Izanagi washed his left eye. According to the Nihongi, Izanagi then said, "Do thou, Amaterasu Ōmikami, rule the High Celestial Plain." The Nihongi further states that her grandson, Amatsuhiko Hiko-hononinigi no Mikoto, descended to the earth and that one of his descendants, Jimmu (Kamu-yamato-iwarehiko), acceded to the throne as the first emperor of Japan in 660 BCE. This explanation, however, has been challenged by modern historians because, among other things, no central government capable of controlling local leaders existed at that time.

The word amaterasu literally means "shining in heaven," and ōmikami means "great goddess." Therefore, Chamberlain's "heaven-shining-great-august-deity" is a more accurate translation of amaterasu ōmikami than the more common "sun goddess." The Nihongi states that her earlier name...