The Eradication of the Divine Feminine

Early imperial rule, like that of Himiko and her brother, appears to have involved a male and a female, the woman being a shaman who bore the title saigū. Thus the Empress Jingu is described as entering a state of divine possession when the Emperor Chuai played the koto (a Japanese harp) and in that state uttered words of political advice. A similar model is suggested by the Empress Suiko and her nephew, the Prince Regent Shotoku. In the mid-fifth century the emperor, ceasing to depend on the religious authority of a woman, took charge of both.