Tokoyo (常世),[1] also known asKakuriyo (隠り世、幽り世), orTaikaikan[2] is a realm inShinto. It is an "otherworld" though not necessarily seen as a place in theafterlife, but rather as a mythical realm with many interpretations. It is believed to be a place where variouskami and spirits of ancestors live witheternal youth.Motoori Norinaga categorized three types of Tokoyo: a world of perpetual darkness, a world where people never grew old, and a world across the sea.[1]
Ne-no-kuni is sometimes considered to be identical to Tokoyo no Kuni, or alternativelyYomi the underworld.[3][4] There is no clear consensus on the relationship between these three realms.[3][4]
Various stories related to Tokoyo can be found in classics such asKojiki andNihongi, including the tale ofTajimamori travelling to Tokoyo in the reign ofEmperor Suinin to help him become immortal. In the reign ofEmpress Kogyoku a fanatical cult dedicated to the god of Tokoyo was said to have emerged.[1]
In theKojiki, Ōkuninushi used to rule the world, but he relinquished control during theKuni-yuzuri to transfer control to theAmatsukami. He made a request thata magnificent palace – rooted in the earth and reaching up to heaven – be built in his honor, and then withdrew himself into the "less-than-one-hundred eighty-road-bendings" (百不足八十坰手momotarazu yasokumade, i.e. the unseen world of the spirit) and disappeared from the physical realm.[5][6]
^Cali, Joseph; Dougill, John (2012-11-30).Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion (Illustrated ed.). Honolulu: Latitude 20.ISBN978-0-8248-3713-6.
^Matsunaga, Naomichi."Kuni no miyatsuko".Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of Shinto.Archived from the original on 2023-10-25. Retrieved2023-10-25.
^Matsunaga, Naomichi."Izumo kokusō".Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of Shinto.Archived from the original on 2023-10-25. Retrieved2023-10-25.
Hayashi, Kouhei (林晃平) (2001),"Urashima densetsu ni okeru gazō no mondai"浦島伝説における画像の諸問題 [Various issues on images in the Urashima legend],Proceedings of the International Conference on Japanese Literature in Japan. (in Japanese),24:33–54
Seki, Keigo, ed. (1963),"Urashima Taro",Folktales of Japan, Robert J. Adams (tr.), University of Chicago Press, pp. 111–114,ISBN9780226746159{{citation}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
(reprinted in)Tatar, Maria, ed. (2017),"Urashima Taro",Beauty and the Beast: Classic Tales About Animal Brides and Grooms, Penguin, pp. 167–171,ISBN9781101992951
Tagaya, Yuko (2011),"Far Eastern Islands and their Myths: Japan",Islands and Cities in Medieval Myth, Literature, and History: Papers Delivered at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, in 2005, 2006, and 2007, Peter Lang, pp. 91–112,ISBN9783631611654
Takanashi, Kenkichi (高梨健吉) (1989),"Chembaren no eiyaku Urashima"チェンバレンの英訳浦島 [Chamberlain's translation of Urashima],Eibungaku Kenkyū (英学史研究),1989 (1):113–127 (In Japanese and some English)
