Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto is an amatsukami (heavenly kami) documented in the *Kojiki* (Records of Ancient Matters, 712 CE) and *Nihon Shoki* (Chronicles of Japan, 720 CE). She is remembered for her role in the rock-cave episode: when Amaterasu-no-Omikami withdrew from the world, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto performed an ecstatic dance before the sealed cave, causing the assembled eight million kami to laugh with such force that Amaterasu became curious enough to emerge. In the descent of the heavenly grandchild narrative, she confronts the wayfaring kami Sarutahiko-no-Kami and questions his identity.

According to the *Nihon Shoki*, she became bound to Sarutahiko-no-Kami during the heavenly grandchild's descent. This tie established her lineage as the ancestress of the Sarume clan (猿女君), whose members performed sacred dance and music (kagura) in court pacification rituals throughout the classical and early modern periods.

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto is enshrined at Tsubaki Grand Shrine (Mie Prefecture), at Sarume Shrine near the Watarai Hime Shrine (an auxiliary shrine of Ise Grand Shrine), and at Chiyo Shrine (Shiga Prefecture), among other sites. From the early modern period onward, devotion to her expanded beyond ritual specialists to encompass performers, dancers, and those seeking ties of connection; she is now recognized throughout Japan as an ancestral presence in the kagura halls of local shrines.