Who is that Amaterasu character they're referring to in episode 6?
"He always goes straight to his room when he comes home. He's pulling an Amaterasu-sama on us."
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They are probably referring to the Japanese goddess of the Sun. What action he's trying to convey, I'm unsure of. – Cattua Jan 01 '14 at 17:32
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Going straight below the horizon? I don't get the metaphor. – Hakase Jan 01 '14 at 18:13
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This is probably a reference to one of the most famous episodes involving Amaterasu, the sun deity of Shinto myth.
In the beginning, the world (or maybe just Japan) was created by Izanagi and Izanami. As a byproduct of this, the three sibling gods Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi came into being (the latter two having domain over the seas and the moon, respectively).
Amaterasu and Susanoo had a long-standing rivalry/conflict. As part of this, one day, Susanoo threw a flayed (i.e. skinless) horse at Amaterasu and performed some other crude acts. Amaterasu, very angered by this, entered the Ama-no-Iwato, a cave. There she remained for a very long time. During this time, it is said that the sun did not rise, and this was widely considered to be a bad thing.
As such, the character being referred to in your quote is displaying Amaterasu-like-behavior - holing himself up in some secluded place, just like Amaterasu did when Susanoo angered her.
Addendum: this is a very well-known tale in Japan, and probably would have been about as obvious to Japanese viewers as a well-known Biblical parable would have been to American audiences (or something like that).
senshin
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He's indeed referring to the Japanese goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu. He's referring to the story of the sun goddess and the "Heavenly Rock" (Ama no Iwato).
literally means "The cave of the sun god" or "heavenly rock cave". In Japanese mythology, Susanoo, the Japanese god of the seas, was the one who drove Amaterasu into Ame-no-Iwato. This caused the sun to hide for a long period of time.
In order to get Amaterasu out of the cave the other gods threw a party outside. When she heard the noise she got curious and peeked but got blinded by the mirror Yata no Kagami and so she thought they were celebrating the arrival of an even greater and brighter goddess than herself. Though in reality it was her own mirror image. Then Tajikarao forced the cave to open up the rest and the world was bathed in light once again. As Amaterasu stepped out of the cave a holy seal was applied to it so that she couldn't go back into hiding.
Additionally, Tatsuo Saeki says to Makoto right after: You know how she hid in the "Ama no Iwato"?
