Oyamato-Toyoakitsushima

Oyamato-Toyoakitsushima (大倭豊秋津島) is one of the eight great islands of the land-creation mythology in the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE), identified with present-day Honshu. The ancient name "Akitsushima" or "Akitsushu" is also used, and the island forms the central axis of the Japanese archipelago. The Nihon Shoki writes the name as Oyamato-Toyoakitsushu, and the name became a poetic term for Japan itself in later use. According to the Kojiki upper scroll on land-creation, Izanagi and Izanami produced this name as the eighth of the eight great islands, with the deity name "Amatsumisora-Toyoakitsune-Wake" recorded alongside. The island itself is thus deified as the land-spirit of Honshu. Father is Izanagi; mother is Izanami. Sibling islands include Awaji, Iyo, Tsukushi, and Sado.