Takama-ga-hara

Takama-ga-hara (高天原, the Plain of High Heaven) is a place in Japanese mythology. In Shinto, Takama-ga-hara (or Takama no Hara) is the dwelling place of the kami. It is believed to be connected to the Earth by the bridge Ama-no uki-hashi (the "Floating Bridge of Heaven").

In Shinto, ame (heaven) is a lofty, sacred world, the home of the amatsukami. Some scholars have attempted to explain the myth of descent of the gods from the Takama-ga-hara as an allegory of the migration of peoples. However, it is likely to have referred from the beginning to a higher world in a religious sense. A Shinto myth explains that at the time of creation, light, pure elements branched off to become heaven (ame). Heavy, turbid elements branched off to become earth (tsuchi). Ame became the home of the amatsukami or gods of heaven, while tsuchi became the home of kunitsukami or gods of the land. The amatsukami are said to have descended from heaven to pacify and perfect this world).

References

• Takamahiko Shrine
• Guide in Takamagahara historic site (Japanese)
• Ono,Sokyo, (1992), Shinto: The Kami Way, Charles E. Tuttle Company, ISBN 0-8048-0525-3
• Basic Terms of Shinto, Kokugakuin University, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Tokyo 1985
• Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, Kenkyusha Limited, Tokyo 1991, ISBN 4-7674-2015-6