著者

細井 浩志

出版者

桃山学院大学

雑誌

桃山学院大学総合研究所紀要 (ISSN:1346048X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.34, no.2, pp.45-62, 2008-12-18

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Ancient Japanese accepted the notion of heaven from China. Some researchers say there were systematic heavenly myths before this notion. But lords of the YAMATO regime, that ruled Wakoku at that time, had no systematic mythology except concerning the sun, the moon, and certain individual stars. One important reason is that the ancient Japanese until the Yayoi era had no need for an almanac, because there was no government as such to impose the use of a common calendar over the large Japanese archipelago. Another reason is that ancient Japanese didn't sail on the open seas, thus they did not require star navigation. From the third century, a Japanese government designed to rule over a large area was being set up, and it was then that they accepted the Chinese almanac. Accordingly, they didn't develop an original astronomy or related heavenly myths. Nevertheless, those who often sailed on the open seas, for example those who lived in northern kyushu, or naturalized Japanese were interested in the stars.