Editing Three-legged crow (section)

==Japan==
{{Main|Yatagarasu}}
 [[Image:Tennō Jimmu.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Yatagarasu guides legendary [[Emperor Jimmu]] towards the plain of [[Yamato Province|Yamato]].]]
In [[Japanese mythology]], this flying creature is a [[raven]] or a [[Large-billed crow|jungle crow]] called [[Yatagarasu]] {{Nihongo||八咫烏||"eight-span crow"}}<ref>{{harvp|Ponsonby-Fane|1953| pp=143-152}}</ref> and the appearance of the great bird is construed as evidence of the will of Heaven or divine intervention in human affairs.<ref>{{harvp|Ponsonby-Fane|1963|p=11}}</ref>

Although Yatagarasu is mentioned in a number of places in [[Shintō]], the depictions are primarily seen on Edo wood art, dating back to the early 1800s wood-art era. Although not as celebrated today, the crow is a mark of rebirth and rejuvenation; the animal that has historically cleaned up after great battles symbolized the renaissance after such tragedy.

Yatagarasu as a crow-god is a symbol specifically of guidance. This great crow was sent from heaven as a guide for legendary [[Emperor Jimmu]] on his initial journey from the region which would become [[Kumano Region|Kumano]] to what would become [[Yamato Province|Yamato]], ([[Yoshino, Nara|Yoshino]] and then [[Kashihara, Nara|Kashihara]]). It is generally accepted that Yatagarasu is an incarnation of [[Kamotaketsunumi no Mikoto]], but none of the early surviving documentary records are quite so specific.<ref>{{harvp|Ponsonby-Fane|1953|p=147}}</ref> 
 
In more than one instance, Yatagarasu appears as a three legged crow not in ''[[Kojiki]]'' but in ''[[Wamyō Ruijushō]]''.

Both the [[Japan Football Association]] and subsequently its administered teams such as the [[Japan national football team]] use the symbol of Yatagarasu in their emblems and badges respectively.<ref>[http://www.jfa.or.jp/eng/general_info/index.html Organisation｜JFA｜Japan Football Association<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The winner of the [[Emperor's Cup]] is also given the honor of wearing the Yatagarasu emblem the following season.

Although the Yatagarasu is commonly perceived as a three-legged crow, there is in fact no mention of it being such in the original ''[[Kojiki]]''. Consequently, it is theorised that this is a result of a later possible misinterpretation during the Heian period that the Yatagarasu and the Chinese ''Yangwu'' refer to an identical entity.