Gaudenz Domenig is an architect and researcher in anthropology of space who has mainly published on Japanese and Indonesian topics. His last book is Religion and Architecture in Premodern Indonesia (Brill, 2014).

• ContentsPrefaceList of FiguresIntroductionThe Problem of the Pre-Shinto CultsTerritorial CultsThe Focus on Early JapanJapan’s ProtohistoryInnovations Introduced by the Taika ReformDifferent Versions of the Same Story in Nihon ShokiThe God Age MythologyThe Fudoki MythologyThe Method of InterpretationThe Theoretical ModelThe Structure of the BookVarious Notes1 DivinationDivining with Things Thrown and Falling DownDivining the Place for Founding a ShrineAbsurd Uses of the Falling MotifRealistic Methods ExaggeratedLand Divination Typically Performed in FrontDivining with Things Cast OverboardFloating a Wisteria Twig to Find the Right PlaceLetting a Cooking Set Float to Enemy LandSusanoo and the Floating ChopsticksKisakahime and the Lost Bow and ArrowArticles to Play on the SeaFloats Used for DiviningDivining in BoatsLater Survivals: The Religious Use of Wood Drifted AshoreConclusion2 The Story of Yato no KamiThe TopographyThe Mountain EntranceThe Lacking First Part of the StoryThe Yashiro at the Upper BoundaryMatachi’s Ritual Procedure ReconstructedMibu no Muraji Maro and the Divine SnakesMoving a Shrine to Another SiteThe Location of the Ancient PondThe New Conditions in the Ritsuryō StateConclusions3 Making a Large Territory in HarimaAme no Hiboko and Iwa no ŌkamiAme no Hiboko’s ArrivalThe Claiming Ceremony on Iibo HillOther Claiming StoriesThe Iibo Hill and Its Special Relation to the Iwa JinjaHardening the LandA Model of the Grand-Scale Land-Making Myth?The Two Foundations of the Iwa ShrineConclusions4 Making and Ceding the Land in the God AgeThe God Age Mythology: An Overview according to KojikiThe Land-Making MythSukunabikonaŌnamuchi as a Beginner in Land-MakingThe Land-Ceding Myth according to KojikiThe Land-Ceding Myth according to Nihon ShokiKojiki and Nihon Shoki: Two Different DoctrinesConsequences of the Land-Ceding MythConclusion5 Ninigi’s Descent and His Territory in KyushuThe Title Sentence PatternThe Two Main Versions of the MythCape Kasasa as a Place on the Way to TakachihoNinigi’s Arrival at the CoastNinigi Questions the Master of the Land at Cape KasasaNinigi at Cape KasasaTakama no Hara as a Horizontally Distant HeavenNinigi’s Descendants Living in KyushuThe Conquest of YamatoConclusion6 The Foundation of the Izumo ShrineŌkuninushi’s Place of Hiding and WaitingPrince Homuchiwake Worships the Great God of IzumoAshihara no Shikoo and the Worship at IwakumaMt. Kannabi and the Sokinoya ShrineA Suitable Site at the Foot of Mt. KannabiThe Political AspectThe Foundation of the Shrine at KizukiThe Land-Pulling Myth and the Four Kannabi of IzumoSumming Up7 The Foundation of the Ise ShrineThe Later Version of the Foundation StoryName-Asking as a Form of ClaimingPillow Words Alluding to Land-Making MythsThe Topography of the Isuzu ValleySarutahiko and a Heaven in the MountainsThe Precinct of the Inner Shrine (Naikū)From Simple to Complex Cult SystemsSarutahiko’s DestinySumming Up8 Characteristics of Territorial CultsDivination as the Primary RiteVariants of the Cult ContractThe Cult Contract and the State Ritual after the Taika ReformFounder WorshipShrine and TombThe Guardian Deity Is Excluded from the Land Opened UpNature Spirits Can Become Manifest in Wild AnimalsThe Guardian Deity Is Believed to Control the Local WeatherCalamities Blamed on Some Mistake in the RitualCult Places Could Be Moved to Enlarge the Agricultural LandThe Mountain God as a Multifunctional DeityThe Mountain Entrance and the ToriiBoundary MarksTabooed Mountain AreasThe Bipolar Structure of TerritoriesThe Chigi Cross as a SymbolThe Name of the Kami LandThe Age of the Yorishiro ConceptThe Land-Making Motif in Creation MythsConclusion9 Sacred Groves and Cult MarksYashikigami WorshipA Sacred Grove on Hirado IslandThe Garō Yama of TanegashimaThe Sacred Forest of the Ōmiwa ShrineThe Matsushita Shrine and the Somin SanctuaryCult Marks Replaced by Shrine BuildingsYorishiro and OgishiroThe Shimenawa and the Straw SnakeClaiming Signs Made by Binding or Knotting Growing PlantsPacifying the SiteAncient Land-Claiming and the Rural Gathering EconomySign-Making Dealt with in Ethnographic Studies10 Comparative NotesThe Settlement of IcelandFounding Sacred Groves and Colonies in Ancient GreeceThe Vedic TraditionOpening Up Land in Shifting CultivationFrom Terrestrial Heavens to the Heaven in the SkyBibliographyIndex