Amaterasu is the beautiful, radiant goddess of the sun, but she is more than just the shining sun: she is a great goddess who provides for people and protects them. Amaterasu was the first to cultivate rice, albeit in heaven. (Her grandson, Ninigi, eventually brought rice to Earth from her celestial paddies.) She also invented and taught people the arts of weaving and cultivating silkworms. Rice, silk, fabric: all are gifts of Amaterasu.
