|
Actually, a truer title would be rather the Daughter of Izanagi and Izanami. While she does reign as the current head of the Shinto pantheon, there's not really a sense of kingdom or empire hood in Japanese religion. It's true that while Amaterasu represents the sun as the giver of life and light, she represents more the stability of the mortal world and the heavens after when Izanagi returned from Yomi and started the cycle of life and death.
In Japanese empire hierarchies, the emperor is actually traditionally a figure head and a living embodiment of the communion of mankind and the heavens. There have been times when the emperor did need to fill in for great influence on terrestrial affairs, but for the most part he was highly regarded as the one who was able to intervene with heavenly affairs to ensure the earthly world's wellbeing. I can see where Amaterasu gets that title of Empress of the Heavens, and that's not far off. If regarding her father Izanagi and mother Izanami, I'd refer to them as the primordial gods.
|
