Yumigami

Ah...Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all... After your departure, I hid myself within the moon's reflection. Consumed by a fish, I patiently awaited this day in its belly. Now that a glimmer of hope has returned, I have returned. I, Yumigami, god of the moon, cover the earth in pale moonlight. Use this light in conjunction with your own on your perilous journey!

Yumigami

Yumigami is the Celestial Brush god of the moon. She can be seen as a rabbit with a mochi-pounding mallet and her constellation is located in Agata Forest after saving Ume from Whopper.

Crescent

Crescent's ability is quite simple, and the opposite of Sunrise. By drawing a backwards "C" in the sky, Amaterasu can turn day into night. Using it during nighttime returns the player to the beginning of the night. This is very useful for farming, as there are a lot more demons during nighttime, and Demon Scrolls also chases Amaterasu around for a distance. Crescent also is featured in the scenes during the Orochi battle, and in the final battle with Yami's second form, during which drawing Crescent will summon a giant vision of Susano, who causes Yami to be cut in half. When crescent is used, the kanji (「宵」^?; yui; evening) appears.

Trivia

• In Shinto mythology, the moon god is named Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto or Tsukiyomi. The name is a compound of "tsuki" (「月」^?; moon^[1]) and "yomi" (「読」^?; to read^[2]). In the Nihon Shoki, this name is spelled as "Tsukuyumi" (「月弓」^?; moon bow^[3]), though the spelling "yumi" is most likely a variation of the spelling of "yomi" above.^[4]
• "Yumi" means "bow" or "arc",^[5] possibly referring that the crescent moon traces an arc in the night sky.
• Yumigami's identity refers to the Japanese interpretation of the patterns on the face of the moon as a rabbit pounding out mochi.
• The traditional act of pounding mochi is usually performed by two people. In the case of the scene in which Yumigami is introduced, both Amaterasu and her were working the mochi as it is traditionally done, where one pounds while the other, in between poundings, kneads the mochi.
• Yumigami does not seem to like Amaterasu much, as she attempted to hit the sun goddess with her mallet when they first meet. This may represent the natural conflict between the moon and the sun or rabbits and wolves. However, she could have just been preventing Amaterasu from eating the mochi, as drool can be seen dripping out of her mouth.
  • This behavior of Yumigami's may be based on Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto's rivalry after the latter killed the food goddess Uke Mochi for disgusting him at the way she make food by spewing food items unto the world. This murder angered Amaterasu, so her and the moon god departed to different parts of the sky, forming the split between day and night.
  • It may also be a reference to the belief that rabbits, much like foxes, can be trickster spirits, the attack a more playful interaction than it seems at first glance, no matter the harm it may do.
• Yumigami is one of the few Celestial Brush gods to attack Amaterasu, the others being Gekigami and Itegami.

References