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Okami and Japanese Mythology

Page history last edited by Alicia Miles 12 years, 5 months ago
Okami and Japanese Mythology
Okami is a game for the Sony Playstation 2 (soon to be re-released on the Nintendo Wii), that draws its inspiration from Japanese mythology. The entire game visually resembles traditional Japanese woodblock prints combined with watercolor paintings.
 
A page from the game bestiary 
Amaterasu as Shiranui in Okami
 
The game takes place in Nippon (Japan), and, chronologically, its story begins about 200 years before the game actually starts. At this time Okami Amaterasu (just Amaterasu for short), the sun goddess, mother of creation and the light of the world, ruled over the other Celestials in the Celestial Plains, when one day Ushiwaka (Waka), a survivor from the annihilated Moon Tribe appeared in a huge ship, named the "Ark of Yamato", and began to live together with the Celestials.
Waka
Not long after, the Celestial Plane was attacked by a terrible monster called Orochi. Waka told the wolf god Amaterasu that the only way to defeat it was to wait for the chosen one, Izanagi (Nagi), to be born. So Amaterasu lured Orochi to the land of the mortals, and waited for Nagi. During which time, the other Celestials and Waka, being constantly bombarded by Orochi’s minions, were eventually forced to try and escape the Celestial Plains on the Ark of Yamato. However, unbeknownst to anyone, Yami, the ruler and source of all the monsters, had been waiting for them on the ship. Yami and his monsters then managed to attack and kill everyone aboard except Waka who was able to escape, and the ship proceeded to crash in the middle of a frozen lake in the land of Kamui. Eventually Nagi was born, and about a hundred years after the crash (100 years before the start of the game) Nagi, together with Amaterasu, who was in the form of a white wolf named Shiranui, fought the eight-headed demon Orochi to save Kamiki village and Nagi’s love, the maiden Nami. Unfortunately, Shiranui and Nagi were unable to defeat Orochi, but, they did managed to seal it away. 100 years after this, at the beginning of the game, Susano, Nagi’s descendant, accidentally broke the seal that held Orochi dormant, and, freed from captivity, the monster cursed the lands, draining the life out of all living things.
Susano
 
So Sakuya, the wood sprite guardian of Kamiki village, summoned Amaterasu, the sun goddess and reincarnation of the white wolf Shiranui, and pleaded with her to rid the land of Orochi’s curse. Together with an inch-high artist named Issun, Amaterasu succeeded in returning the land to its former beauty. As they accomplished this, they repeatedly crossed roads with Waka, whom Amaterasu, being reincarnated, did not immediately remember. Soon, Amaterasu, along with Susano, battled Orochi to protect Kamiki village and rescue Susano's love, Kushi, in a scene that very much paralleled Amaterasu and Nagi’s fight with Orochi years before. This time, however, the duo was able kill the demon, which, unfortunately released an evil spirit within Orochi’s remains to drift off. Amaterasu continued to remove Orochi's still existing curse over the land, and defeated many demons that all released a similar evil spirit that floating away. After a while Amaterasu traveled to the north to try and find these evil spirits, and she came across the wreckage of the "Ark of Yamato". Waka then appeared and revealed himself as a member of the moon tribe. Then he reminded Amaterasu of what had happened to bring her here 200 years ago, and told her of the fate of her fellow Celestials. Amaterasu, stronger than ever, boarded the ship, and defeated the source of the evil spirits, the ruler of all the monsters, Yami. Finally, Amaterasu left with Waka on the Ark to sail into the stars and search for a new home.
A lengthy, but well told story, Okami is rich in Japanese mythology. In Japanese mythology Amaterasu is indeed a sun goddess, who is arguably the most important Shinto deity, and she rules the celestial plains. In fact, most, if not all of the characters, monsters, and even collectable items have there root based in Japanese mythology. In the case of Sakuya, the beautiful wood sprite that looked after the well being of Kamiki village, there exists is a myth in which Amaterasu's Grandson, Ninigi, met the Princess Konohana-sakuya (a symbol of flowers), and they fell in love. Extremely thrilled, her father offered Ninigi to marry both of his daughters.
Sakuya
However Ninigi opted to marry only Sakuya . And because Sakuya represented prosperity, and her sister represented eternity, Marrying only Sakuya made Ninigi and his descendants mortal. Susano represents Susanoo, Shinto god of the sea and storms. He was also the brother of Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, and of. He had a very bad attitude and was prone to fits of
rage. (In the game Susano starts off as a raging drunk). Ushiwaka seems to have been named after Ushiwakamaru, which was the childhood name of a legendary Japanese warrior and leader named Minamoto no Yoshitsune. It is even said that he might have eventually left Japan and become known as Gengis Khan. There are many more connections between this game and Japanese mythology, but for the most part there is one legend that seems to relate the most to the story in the game. The strong tie-ins of this myth to the game begin after Susanoo is said to have gotten into an argument with his sister Amaterasu about which of them could spawn more people, and got kicked out of the high celestial plane for getting angy after being caught cheating. During his wanderings, he met a couple whose daughters were being eaten by the 8
Headed Orochi (the very same from the game). They promised him their last remaining daughter, Kushinada, (Kushi in the game) if he could defeat the beast (in the game Orochi devours a girl from the village once every year, and during the year the game took place in, that girl was going to be the local sake brewer, Kushi before Susano and Amaterasu saved her) . He turned Kushinada into a comb (to protect her) and
went to battle the Orochi. He got it drunk using 8 Purification Sake and killed
the beast while it slept (the way to defeat Orochi in the game was the same: slay it after getting all 8 of Orochi’s heads drunk with the 8 Purification Sake, a sake that, in the game, Kushi herself brewed). In its body, he found the Kusanagi sword, which he
presented to Amaterasu as a reconciliation gift. (It was at this point in the game that Susano went from possible traitor and coward to hero). Again, the game is pretty much filled to the brim with ties to Japanese mythology extending far beyond just the subjects covered here.
 
A trailer for the game and some gameplay:
  
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Sources:

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