Ameratsu

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…showed last 75 words of 288 total…sacred mirror, a sword, and a jewel. These items became imperial symbols. His great-grandson, Jimmu, in 660 BC became the first emperor of Japan. Amaterasu's supposed role in founding Japan's imperial line served as a major part of the pro-imperial nationalist ideology that fueled Japanese modernization in the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Amaterasu's cult centers on the Shinto shrine at Ise on south central Honshu Island. She is regarded as the guardian deity of the Japanese nation.