Extended Lore
Etymology · Phonology · Orthography · Cultural Legacy · Primary Sources
Essential information about Tsukuyomi, Moon God, Shintō
From original script to Unicode restoration
Tsukuyomi is Tier 2: plain Hepburn. He is the moon god and sibling of the sun goddess Amaterasu.
Character-by-character philological analysis
| Character | Unicode | Name | Block | Phonetic Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T | U+0054 | Latin Capital Letter T | Basic Latin | Same |
| s | U+0073 | Latin Small Letter S | Basic Latin | Same |
| u | U+0075 | Latin Small Letter U | Basic Latin | Same |
| k | U+006B | Latin Small Letter K | Basic Latin | Same |
| u | U+0075 | Latin Small Letter U | Basic Latin | Same |
| y | U+0079 | Latin Small Letter Y | Basic Latin | Same |
| o | U+006F | Latin Small Letter O | Basic Latin | Same |
| m | U+006D | Latin Small Letter M | Basic Latin | Same |
| i | U+0069 | Latin Small Letter I | Basic Latin | Same |
The Tier 2 classification reflects how much of the original phonology this restoration preserves — stress and vowel length for Greek names, distinctive letters and diacritics for every other tradition.
From ancient cult to modern Unicode
Tsukuyomi is the moon kami of Japanese myth, born from Izanagi's right eye during the purification that also produced Amaterasu from the left eye and Susanoo from the nose. He governs the night and the lunar calendar, and his mythology turns on a violent act that separated him forever from the sun.
Tsukuyomi is less prominent in Japanese religion than Amaterasu or Susanoo, but he appears in calendars, poetry, and astral symbolism. His separation from the sun reflects a common Eurasian motif of the divided celestial siblings, while his specific myth is shaped by Japanese ideas of purity and pollution.
Tsukuyomi appears in Japanese literature, anime, and games as a cool, nocturnal counterpart to the solar Amaterasu. The moon remains a major theme in Japanese poetry and art, and Tsukuyomi's name is invoked in works that explore the night and its mysteries.
Restoring Tsukuyomi in a domain name is more than orthographic accuracy. It is a statement that the internet should recognize the full range of human writing — not only the ASCII keyboard.
Common questions about Tsukuyomi, Moon God, Shintō, and Unicode restoration
In reconstructed pronunciation, Tsukuyomi is /tsɯ.kɯ.jo.mi/ — approximately 'TSOO-koo-yoh-mee' — the initial 'ts' is crisp, and the final vowel is clear..
Tsukuyomi means Moon reader in the japanese tradition.
Tsukuyomi is associated with Moon (The luminous body he rules), Night (The domain opposite Amaterasu's day), Sword or weapon (The means by which he killed the food goddess Uke-mochi), Crescent (The waxing and waning of the moon).
Plain ASCII tsukuyomi strips the stress, length, and script that make the name specific. Unicode restoration returns the name to its original written dignity.
After escaping Yomi, Izanagi purified himself in a river. As he washed his right eye, Tsukuyomi was born. Amaterasu was given rule over the day, Tsukuyomi over the night, and Susanoo over the sea. The three siblings divided the cosmos among themselves.
The philological foundations of this restoration
Every claim on this page is grounded in established scholarship. The orthographic restorations follow disciplinary convention. The etymological chain follows the best available reference works. This is not invention — it is resurrection through scholarship.
You have traced the name from its earliest attestation to its Unicode restoration. Now return to the myth. The story is where the name lives.
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