{{Short description|Japanese word for the land of the dead}} {{about|the location in Japanese mythology}} {{refimprove|date = November 2011}} [[Image:Yomotsu Hirasaka.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Yomotsu Hirasaka in Higashiizumo, Shimane Prefecture]] {{Nihongo|'''Yomi''' or '''Yomi-no-kuni'''|黄泉, 黄泉の国, or 黄泉ノ国|}} is the Japanese word for the land of the dead (World of Darkness).<ref>''Basic Terms of Shinto'', Kokugakuin University, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Tokyo 1985</ref> According to Shinto mythology as related in ''Kojiki'', this is where the dead go in the afterlife. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is (mostly) impossible to return to the land of the living.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Akira |first1=Ōmine |last2=Unno |first2=Taitetsu |date=1992 |title=The Genealogy of Sorrow: Japanese View of Life and Death |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44361962 |journal=The Eastern Buddhist |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=14–29 |jstor=44361962 |issn=0012-8708}}</ref> Yomi is most commonly known for Izanami's retreat to that place after her death. Izanagi followed her there and upon his return he washed himself, creating Amaterasu from his left eye, Susanoo from his nostrils, and Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto from his right eye in the process.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barton |first=David Watts |title=Japan from Anime to Zen: Quick Takes on Culture, Art, History, Food . . . and More |date=2021 |publisher=Stone Bridge Press |isbn=978-1-61172-945-0 |location=La Vergne}}</ref>
This realm of the dead shares geographical continuity with the living world, where souls "remain eternally in Japan." Yomi cannot be thought of as a paradise to which one would aspire, nor can it appropriately be described as a hell in which one suffers retribution for past deeds; rather, all deceased carry on a gloomy and shadowy existence in perpetuity, regardless of their behavior in life. Some "suggest that the concept of a life after death was not a familiar one to the ancient Japanese and it only took form with the introduction of Buddhism from China in the 6th century CE."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=2017-05-15 |title=Yomi |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Yomi/ |journal=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> Scholars believe that the image of Yomi was derived from ancient Japanese tombs in which corpses were left for some time to decompose.{{fact|date=April 2022}}
The kanji that are sometimes used to transcribe ''Yomi'' actually refer to the mythological Chinese realm of the dead called Diyu or Huángquán ({{lang|zh|黄泉}}, lit. "Yellow Springs"), which appears in Chinese texts as early as the eighth century BCE.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Heisig |first1=James W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GVgEEAAAQBAJ |title=Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook |last2=Kasulis |first2=Thomas P. |last3=Maraldo |first3=John C. |date=2011-07-31 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-3707-5 |pages=510–515 |language=en}}</ref> This dark and vaguely defined realm was believed to be located beneath the earth, but it was not until the Han dynasty that the Chinese had a clearly articulated conception of an underworld below in contrast with a heavenly realm above. The characters are ''jukujikun'', i.e. were used without regard to the actual meaning of the word Yomi, which is unknown. With regard to Japanese mythology, Yomi is generally taken by commentators to lie beneath the earth and is part of a triad of locations discussed in Kojiki: {{Nihongo|''Takamahara''|高天原|also: Takamagahara|lit. "high heavenly plane", located in the sky}}, {{Nihongo|''Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni''|葦原の中つ国||lit. "central land of reed plane"|located on earth}}, and {{Nihongo|''Yomo-tsu-kuni''|黄泉国}} or {{Nihongo|''Yomi-no-Kuni''|黄泉の国||lit. "Land of Yomi"|located underground}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kōnoshi |first=Takamitsu |date=1984 |title=The Land of Yomi: On the Mythical World of the Kojiki |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=57–76 |doi=10.18874/jjrs.11.1.1984.57-76 |jstor=30233312 |issn=0304-1042|doi-access=free }}</ref> Yomi has also often been associated with the mythological realm of {{Nihongo|''Ne-no-kuni''|根の国||lit. "Root Land / Land of Origin"}}, also known as {{Nihongo|''Ne-no-Katasukuni''|根の堅洲国||lit. "firm/hard-packed shoal land of origin"}}.{{fact|date=April 2022}}
According to Shinto, Yomi is ruled over by Izanami no Mikoto, the Grand Deity of Yomi (''Yomo-tsu-Ōkami'' {{lang|ja|黄泉大神}}). According to Kojiki, the entrance to Yomi lies in Izumo province and was sealed off by Izanagi upon his flight from Yomi, at which time he permanently blocked the entrance by placing a massive boulder (''Chigaeshi no ōkami'' {{lang|ja|道反の大神}}) at the base of the slope that leads to Yomi (''Yomotsu Hirasaka'' {{lang|ja|黄泉平坂}} or {{lang|ja|黄泉比良坂}}).<ref name=":0" /> Upon his return to Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, Izanagi noted that Yomi is a "polluted land" (''kegareki kuni'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardacre |first=Helen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Q81DQAAQBAJ |title=Shinto: A History |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-062171-1 |pages=50–51 |language=en}}</ref> This opinion reflects the traditional Shinto association between death and pollution,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walthall |first=Anne |title=In the presence of gods and spirits: Hirata Atsutane and his collaborators |date=2025 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-90513-3 |series=Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies |location=Ann Arbor}}</ref> or (''kegare''). Later Susanoo takes this position over.{{fact|date=April 2022}}
==Christian uses== Some Japanese Christian texts use {{lang|ja|黄泉}} to refer to what is called Hell in the English versions. For example, {{cite book|title=Revelation 6:8|url=https://ja.m.wikisource.org/wiki/ヨハネの黙示録(口語訳)#6:8}}, {{Verse translation|そこで見ていると、見よ、青白い馬が出てきた。そして、それに乗っている者の名は「死」と言い、それに'''黄泉'''が従っていた。|And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him|lang=ja|italicsoff=yes}} Sometimes {{lang|ja|黄泉}} means Hades or Sheol, whereas {{lang|ja|地獄}} means Gehenna. However 陰府 (yomi) is used in some translations.
==See also== * Yomotsu Hirasaka
==References== {{Reflist}}
=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book|last=Ono|first=Sokyo|author-link=|date=1992|title=Shinto: The Kami Way|url=|location=Tokyo|publisher=Charles E. Tuttle Company|page=|isbn=4-8053-0189-9}} {{jmyth navbox long}} {{hell}} {{Authority control}} Category:Afterlife places Category:Places in Japanese mythology Category:Underworld Category:Mythological places