The Nihon Shoki presents Amaterasu Ōmikami as emerging from an act of purification that follows cosmic crisis. After Izanagi’s descent into Yomi and his return from the realm of death, he performs ritual ablution in a river to cleanse himself. As he washes his left eye, Amaterasu is born; from his right eye and nose appear Tsukuyomi and Susanoo. This birth from the purified eye of the creator deity marks Amaterasu as a being of clarity and sacred purity, a luminous counterpoint to the defilement of the underworld. From the very moment of her appearance, she is framed not merely as one deity among many, but as the central axis around which order and light will be restored.

The chronicle then situates Amaterasu within a carefully ordered cosmos by assigning her rulership over Takama-no-hara, the High Celestial Plain. Izanagi entrusts her with the governance of heaven and the sun, while her siblings receive other domains, thereby establishing a structured hierarchy of deities. In this role she illuminates the world and sustains its order, her radiance symbolizing both physical light and the stability of the heavenly realm. The narrative thus portrays her as the sovereign of the celestial sphere, whose presence ensures that the cosmos does not lapse back into chaos.

Yet the Nihon Shoki also emphasizes the fragility of this order through the tumultuous relationship between Amaterasu and Susanoo. Susanoo’s violent and impure acts—such as the destruction of rice fields and the desecration of sacred spaces—violate the harmony of Takama-no-hara. Distressed by this disorder, Amaterasu withdraws into the Heavenly Rock Cave, sealing herself away. With the sun goddess hidden, darkness and confusion spread through the world, revealing how dependent both gods and humans are on her light. Only through a collective rite—music, dancing, and the display of a mirror that reflects her own brilliance—do the assembled deities entice her to emerge, restoring luminosity and balance.

Finally, the text extends Amaterasu’s significance from the cosmic to the political sphere by making her the ancestral deity of the imperial line. She entrusts the rule of the earthly realm to her descendants, sending her grandson Ninigi down from heaven. He bears the mirror, sword, and jewel that function as sacred regalia and tokens of her mandate. Through this lineage, the emperor is portrayed as the earthly heir of Amaterasu’s heavenly authority, and the governance of the land becomes an extension of the divine order she embodies. In this way, the Nihon Shoki weaves together myth, ritual, and kingship, presenting Amaterasu as the luminous source of both cosmic harmony and legitimate rule.