Here, Ame-no-Minakanushi - given the alias 'Ame-no-Tokotachi-no-Mikoto' (天常立尊; the name of a distinct kami in the Kojiki) - along with the deity Umashi-Ashikabi-Hikoji [ja] (宇摩志阿斯訶備比古遅神) is instead counted as the first generation that emerged after this god.

Izanagi, Izanami + Takamimusubi, Kamimusubi, Ikumusubi, Tsuhayamusubi, Furutama, Yorotama An imperially commissioned genealogical record known as the Shinsen Shōjiroku (815 CE) identifies two clans as the progeny of deities descended from Ame-no-Minakanushi:[10] There is no extant undisputed record of Ame-no-Minakanushi being worshiped at any known ancient shrines (the Engishiki, compiled in the early 10th century, never mentions any shrines to this deity); this, combined with the lack of information concerning the god outside of documents associated with the imperial court such as Kojiki and the Shoki (as seen above, even in these texts, barely any mention is made of this god), has led some scholars to consider Ame-no-Minakanushi to be an abstract deity (i.e. a god that only exists on paper, with no actual worshipers or cult dedicated to him) created under the influence of Chinese thought.

[5][11] Other scholars, however, argue that the paucity of evidence for the worship of Ame-no-Minakanushi in antiquity does not necessarily mean that the god is purely a literary invention.

[12][13][14] Konishi Jin'ichi (1984) saw the creation narratives of the Kojiki and the Shoki as a combination of three different traditions: one which traces the origin of the gods to Ame-no-Minakanushi, another that began with Umashi-Ashikabi-Hikoji, and a third one starting with Kuni-no-Tokotachi.

He considered these three 'inactive' deities to serve a mythic function as the 'hollow center' acting as a buffer zone between two opposite or conflicting forces (Kamimusubi and Takamimusubi, Amaterasu and Susanoo, Hoderi and Hoori).

[16][17] Until the medieval era, the Nihon Shoki, owing to its status as one of the six national histories, was more widely read and commented upon than the Kojiki, which was regarded as an ancillary work.

(Modern consensus holds the Kuji Hongi to actually have been compiled during the Heian period, although certain portions of it may indeed preserve genuine early traditions.

[20] It was upon the flourishing of nativist studies (kokugaku) and the rediscovery and reappraisal of the Kojiki in the Edo period that Ame-no-Minakanushi's significance was reevaluated,[5] with different authors expressing their own opinions on the god's role and importance.

Motoori Norinaga, in his commentary on the Kojiki, criticized the Watarai priesthood for laying emphasis on the importance of Ame-no-Minakanushi, arguing that the deities' order of appearance in time has no bearing on their rank or status.

In his view, while Ame-no-Minakanushi is indeed the first among the gods to manifest, he is neither the ruler of heaven nor the "first ancestor" of the imperial line (that being Amaterasu), as some in his time believed.

"[21] Tsurumine Shigenobu (1788-1859), who attempted to make a rational interpretation of the creation myths of the Kojiki and Shoki based on a synthesis with his understanding of European science and astronomy, associated Ame-no-Minakanushi with gravity: These three kami are first, Amanominakanushi, secondly Takamimusubi, and thirdly, Kamimusubi.

[21]By linking gravity to Ame-no-Minakanushi, Tsurumine identifies the deity as the "lord" who oversees the process whereby the activity of the two gods of "coalescing" (musubi) results in the creation of all things out of the basic elements represented by "particles."

[5] Ame-no-Minakanushi was also one of the patron deities of the Taikyo Institute (大教院, Taikyoin), a short-lived government organization that promoted a state-sponsored fusion of Buddhism and Shinto after the earlier separation policy was deemed as being too divisive.