The Nature and Morphology of the Yellow Springs Land of Japan: Examples from the Kojiki and Niyonshuti

Abstract

This paper examines the nature and form in which the term ‘Yellow Spring’ is expressed. The Chinese word ‘huangquan’ means ‘yellow spring’. Beginning with the introduction of the term ‘Yellow Spring’ from China to Japan, the paper explores the role of ‘Yellow Springs Land’ in Japanese mythology from the textual descriptions of ‘Izanagi and Izanami’, ‘Three Precious Children' and “Ohokuninushi” to explore the status of “Yellow Springs Land” in Japanese mythology and the degree to which serves as a place of death in Japanese mythology. In addition, these textual records are combined with the mapping position of the geographical location of mythological regions in later reality to analyse the physical form of the ‘Yellow Springs Land’ and its actual location, and use the results of the analyses to explain the extent and status of the ‘Land of the Yellow Springs’ as the world after death in Japanese mythology, and what kind of space the ‘Land of the Yellow Springs’ is.