Buffy's Ramblings

Thanks to FMB Promotions for hosting this blog tour. I have James Calbraith, author of The Shadow of Black Wings , here to talking about women of Japanese history. Welcome! ***************************** GREAT WOMEN OF JAPANESE HISTORY I strive to have strong female characters always present in my books, so I found it very inspiring to discover that, for a society so stereotypically patriarchal, Japan has had its share of great and famous women, almost from the beginnings of its known history. AMATERASU The legendary history of Japan begins with a woman: the goddess of the Sun. The chief of the second generation of Japan’s Gods (born from Izanagi the Creator’s tear), Amaterasu is the most important of Japanese Gods, her Sun mirror worshipped in the famous shrine of Ise. But her main claim to fame lies in being the legendary progenitor of Japan’s Imperial Dynasty, through her grandson Ninigi and his great-grandson, Jimmu, the first Emperor of Japan. According to officia...