produces

who produce…

including Izanagi and Izanami

who are charged with creating the islands of Japan from the primordial waters. In giving birth to the god of fire, Izanami is burned to death.

In his grief, the tears of Izanagi bring forth…

The Sun goddess, Amaterasu and her brothers

The Storm god (Susano-wo) and the Moon god (Tsuki-yomi)

In turn, Amaterasu gives birth to the first human beings: the Divine emperors

meanwhile, Susano-wo gives birth to lesser deities (patron gods and guardian spirits)

There are, thus, a multitude of local Kami with minimum jurisdiction

The highest deity is singular but is also most removed from (transcendent) human levels of existence. Thus it is that humans relate directly with multiple lesser divinities which are much closer to our level of existence and most directly influence our existence and lives (a common scheme in any polytheistic mythology).

But these lesser divinities also have limited power and limited jurisdiction. So in different places, different deities are worshipped at shines dedicated to the local Kami. The people (tribes) who lived in these areas naturally felt their local deity to be supreme.

The Yamoto (sun) tribe gained political superiority over ancient Japan. Their emperor and patron goddess, Amaterasu, took on supreme significance nationwide. Shinto mythology is written in support of the position of the Yamoto emperors as being of divine origin.