Tsukiyomi

01Identity

Tsukiyomi in Japanese tradition

Tsukuyomi is the Moon god in Japanese mythology, closely linked to the sun goddess Amaterasu. The Nihongi preserves different accounts of his birth and place in Heaven. In one telling, his killing of the food deity Ukemochi brings about his separation from Amaterasu, explaining why day and night remain apart.

SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.11-I.12, printed pp. 18-19, Sun-Goddess and Moon-god birth sequence· Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.12-I.13, printed pp. 19-20· Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode

Moon god
SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.11-I.12, printed pp. 18-19, Sun-Goddess and Moon-god birth sequence· Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode

Context

Roles

In one Nihongi birth account, the Moon god's radiance is second only to the Sun-Goddess's. He is sent to Heaven to share her government. The text records the names Tsuki-yumi no Mikoto and Tsuki-yomi no Mikoto for him.

SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.11-I.12, printed pp. 18-19, Sun-Goddess and Moon-god birth sequence

In one version, Tsukiyomi shares Amaterasu's charge of heavenly matters.

SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode

Worship and practice

At Ise Jingu, Tsukiyomi-gu enshrines Tsukiyomi and his rough spirit together in one building. The shrine's own account calls him Amaterasu's younger brother. It stands north of the Geku, reached along Kamiji Street, in a wooded precinct within the city.

SourceIse Jingu, Tsukiyomi Shrine official page (Japanese): Current page, Geku outer shrine Tsukiyomi-gu section, accessed 2026-09-05

Variants

One Nihongi account produces the Sun-Goddess and then the Moon god, whose radiance follows hers and who is sent to Heaven as her consort. Another writing produces Tsuki-yumi from Izanagi's right-hand mirror and describes both luminous children as shining over Heaven and Earth.

The quick answers

Who is Tsukiyomi?
Tsukiyomi is a Japanese deity associated with Moon and Heavenly matters in one Nihongi version.
Source
Source
- Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.11-I.12, printed pp. 18-19, Sun-Goddess and Moon-god birth sequence
- Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode
- Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.12-I.13, printed pp. 19-20
What is Tsukiyomi associated with?
Tsukiyomi is associated with Moon and Heavenly matters in one Nihongi version.
Source
Source
- Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.11-I.12, printed pp. 18-19, Sun-Goddess and Moon-god birth sequence
- Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode
What family links are recorded for Tsukiyomi?
Father: Izanagi, Spouse: Amaterasu, 2 siblings. These are the relationships in the accounts cited below.
Source
Source
- Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode
- Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.12-I.13, printed pp. 19-20
- Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.11-I.12, printed pp. 18-19, Sun-Goddess and Moon-god birth sequence

03Family

Tsukiyomi’s family, at a glance

Izanagi

TsukiyomiAmaterasu Susanoo

with Amaterasu

Father

Izanagi: The Nihongi's heavenly-charge account calls Tsukiyomi one of his three children; a separate mirror-birth account also names Izanagi.
SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode· Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.12-I.13, printed pp. 19-20

Consorts

Amaterasu: The Sun-Goddess is described as his consort in the Nihongi's joint-birth account. This is one recorded version, not a relationship stated in every account.
SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.11-I.12, printed pp. 18-19, Sun-Goddess and Moon-god birth sequence

Siblings

Amaterasu: Named alongside Tsukiyomi among Izanagi's three children in the heavenly-charge account.
SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode
Susanoo: Sosa no wo in Aston's translation, the third child assigned a realm in the same account.
SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode

04The names

The names Tsukiyomi answers to

Tsuki-yumi no Mikoto

A name recorded in Aston's Nihongi

Tsuki-yomi no Mikoto

A name recorded in Aston's Nihongi

SourceNihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.11-I.12, printed pp. 18-19, Sun-Goddess and Moon-god birth sequence· Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896): Book I, I.26-I.28, printed pp. 33-34, Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi food episode

05The myths

The myths of Tsukiyomi

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi

In one Nihongi account, Izanagi gives Amaterasu charge of High Heaven and tells Tsukiyomi to share her heavenly duties. Amaterasu hears of the food deity Ukemochi and sends him to visit her. Ukemochi turns towards the land and produces boiled rice from her mouth. Facing the sea, she produces fish; facing the mountains, she produces game. She prepares this food and sets it on a hundred tables for her guest.

Tsukiyomi is disgusted that she would serve him food from her mouth. He draws his sword and kills her. When he returns and reports what he has done, Amaterasu angrily refuses to see him again. The two dwell apart, separated by day and night.

Amaterasu sends another messenger, Ame-kuma-bito, to Ukemochi. He finds animals, crops and silkworms emerging from her dead body: ox and horse from her head, millet from her forehead, silkworms above her eyes, rice from her belly, and wheat and beans elsewhere. He brings these things to Amaterasu, who welcomes them as food for humankind. She sets aside seeds for dry fields and rice for water-fields, then appoints an official to sow the rice in Heaven. By autumn, its heavy ears bend down. She also reels thread from the silkworms, beginning the practice of silkworm rearing in this account.

Tsukiyomi and Ukemochi, a MythSource painting of the scene

1 source· checked 2026-09-05

1Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (Aston translation, 1896)T1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Tsukiyomi, each on that figure’s page.

Amaterasu's Birth in Aston's Nihongi · on Amaterasu
Tsukiyomi, Ukemochi, and the Separation of Day and Night · on Amaterasu