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Tsukuyomi

The God of the Moon

Domain: Night, Moon & Seasons
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Element: Air
Relics of Power: Silvery Jade Chalice

Speak with Tsukuyomi

The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Japanese

Region

Japanese archipelago

Period

c. 500 BC – present

The kami of Shinto have been worshipped in Japan since time immemorial, in thousands of shrines across the archipelago. The imperial family claims direct descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the cult coexists with Buddhism brought from the mainland. Festivals (matsuri) and purification rites keep these beliefs alive to this day.

Matsuri fill the streets with processions of portable shrines (mikoshi), drums, and dances. The great shrine of Ise, dedicated to Amaterasu, is rebuilt every twenty years, and at hatsumode millions visit the shrines at New Year to ask for blessings.

At a glance

Tsukuyomi is the kami of the moon in eighth-century Japanese records and one of the three "noble children" of Izanagi. In the Kojiki he is born when Izanagi washes his right eye after returning from the land of the dead; he receives rule of the "realm of the night" and then drops out of the story. The Nihon Shoki tells of the same god in different ways: joint child of Izanagi and Izanami, born from a mirror, lord of the tides, and killer of Ukemochi, the food deity. That last episode explains, in a single variant, why sun and moon do not appear together. On cult and appearance the sources say little.

The ancient sources on this deity are scarce. This study gathers only what is on record.

9 min read · Reviewed on October 14, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

Moon, silver and the serene night

Family

Parents

Izanagi

Siblings

Amaterasu Susanoo

Tsukuyomi

Genealogy according to Kojiki, seções X–XI: nascimento de Izanagi e os três filhos; Nihon Shoki, livro I: versão principal distinta, que chama o deus lunar de consorte da deusa solar, e variantes sobre mãos, espelho e olho.

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Anonymous, Kojiki, sections X–XI. translation: Basil Hall Chamberlain, 1882. read
Anonymous, Nihon Shoki (Nihongi), book I. translation: W. G. Aston, 1896. read
Anonymous, Nihongi, vol. I (full text, Aston edition). translation: W. G. Aston, 1896. read

Studies

Mori Mizue, Tsukuyomi, Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin University. open
Nakayama Kaoru, Ukemochi, Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin University. open
Kokugakuin University, 月読命, Base de nomes divinos do Kojiki. open

Name and epithets

In the Kojiki the name is written 月読命, Tsukuyomi no Mikoto. The Kojiki divine-name database of Kokugakuin University notes that the main text of book I of the Nihon Shoki says only "moon god" (月神) and that the variants…

In the ancient sources

Kojiki, 712 CE. Tells of Izanagi's purification, the birth of the three children and the gift of the night (yo no osu kuni) to Tsukuyomi. After that the god does not appear again. Nihon Shoki (Nihongi), 720 CE.

The myths

Izanagi's purification and the division of the world. After visiting the land of the dead and fleeing from Izanami, Izanagi purifies himself in the water.

Worship and archaeology

The Encyclopedia of Shinto says that Tsukuyomi is worshipped at the Tsukuyomi no Miya, a detached shrine (betsugū) of the Grand Shrines of Ise, and at several shrines listed in the Engishiki, in the regions of Yamashiro…

How the god was depicted

None of the cited passages of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki describes Tsukuyomi's appearance. The main text speaks only of a splendor "next to the sun's", and one variant has him born from a mirror, but nothing fixes f…

What scholars debate

One moon, several domains. The ancient texts give the lunar god three fields: the night, in the Kojiki; the tides of the sea, in a variant of the Nihon Shoki; and heaven shared with the solar goddess, in others.

After antiquity

Modern Japanese scholarship returns to this god because of what he lacks: the noble child least narrated of the three, he leaves gaps that specialists try to explain by textual comparison and by popular customs.

Did you know?

In the Kojiki Izanagi gives Tsukuyomi the night; in a variant of the Nihon Shoki, the tides; in another, rule of heaven together with Amaterasu.

Codex relic

Silvery Jade Chalice. A chalice reflecting moon phases, calming worldly impulses.

The rest of this scroll is sealed

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