Traditional Japanese Literature

by Haruo Shirane

  Next there came into existence Eternally Standing Land God and then Abundant Clouds Field God. These two deities also came into existence as single deities, and their forms were not visible. Next there came into existence Clay Male God and then his spouse, Silt Female God. Next, Emergent Form God and then his spouse, Living Form God. Next, Great Male Organ God and then his spouse, Great Female Organ God. Next, Ample Face God and then his spouse, Awe-Inspiring God. Next, Izanagi, He Who Invites God, and then his spouse, Izanami, She Who Invites God. The deities in the preceding section, from Eternally Standing Land God through Izanami, are known collectively as the Seven Generations of the Age of the Gods….

  SOLIDIFYING THE LAND

  At this time the heavenly deities, acting jointly, commanded the two deities Izanagi and Izanami: “Complete and solidify this drifting land.” Giving them the Heavenly Jeweled Spear, they entrusted the mission to them. Thereupon, the two deities stood on the Heavenly Floating Bridge and, lowering the jeweled spear, stirred, churning the brine with a resonating sound, and when they lifted it up, the brine dripping down from the tip of the spear piled up and became an island. This was Onogoro, Self-Congealing Island.

  Descending from the heavens to this island, they erected a heavenly pillar and a spacious palace. At this time Izanagi asked his spouse Izanami, “How is your body formed?” She replied, “My body, formed though it be formed, has one place that is formed insufficiently.” Then Izanagi said, “My body, formed though it be formed, has one place that is formed to excess. Therefore I would like to take that place in my body that is formed to excess and insert it into that place in your body that is formed insufficiently and give birth to the land. How would this be?” Izanami replied, “This would be good.” Then Izanagi said, “Then let us, you and me, walk in a circle around this heavenly pillar and meet and have conjugal intercourse.”

  Having thus agreed, Izanagi then said, “You walk around from the right, and I will walk around from the left and meet you.” After having agreed to this, they circled around. Then Izanami said first, “O, how good a lad!” after which Izanagi said, “O, how good a maiden!” After each had finished speaking, Izanagi said to his spouse, “It is not proper that the woman speak first.”

  Nevertheless, they commenced procreation and gave birth to a leech-child. They placed this child into a boat made of reeds and floated it away. Next, they gave birth to an island of foam. This also is not reckoned as one of their children. Then the two deities consulted together and said, “The children that we have just borne are not good. It is best to report this matter to the heavenly deities.” Then they ascended together and sought the will of the heavenly deities. The heavenly deities thereupon performed a grand divination and said, “Because the woman spoke first, the outcome was not good. Descend once more and say it again.” Then they descended again and walked once more in a circle around the heavenly pillar as before.

  Then Izanagi said first, “O, how good a maiden!” Afterward, his spouse Izanami said, “O, how good a lad!” After they had finished saying this, they were united and bore, as a child, Awaji Island.

  Next they bore the double island of Iyo. This island has one body and four countenances, each with a separate name. Thus, the land of Iyo is named Darling Woman; the land of Sanuki is named Grain Spirit Possessed Man; the land of Awa is called Great Food Woman; and the land of Tosa is called Fierce Spirit Possessed Man. Next they bore the triple island of Oki….

  When they finished giving birth to countries, they began giving birth to deities anew…. Then they gave birth to the Swift Burning Fire Deity. As a result of giving birth to this child, Izanami’s genitals were burned, and she lay down sick. In her vomit there came into existence the Metal Mountain God. Next, in her feces, there came into existence the Clay Earth God and the Clay Earth Goddess. Next, in her urine, there came into existence the Goddess of Irrigation and the God of Agricultural Creation. The child of this deity was the Goddess of Food. Thus, at last, Izanami, because she had given birth to the fire deity, divinely passed away.

  A grieving Izanagi buries his spouse and kills the fire deity, whose birth caused Izanami’s death. Still grieving, Izanagi decides to visit Izanami in the land of Yomi.

  VISIT TO THE LAND OF YOMI

  At this time, Izanagi, wishing to meet again his spouse Izanami, went after her to the land of Yomi. When she came out of the door of the hall to greet him, Izanagi said, “O, my beloved spouse, the lands that you and I were making have not yet been completed. You must come back.”

  Then Izanami replied, saying, “How I regret that you did not come sooner. I have eaten at the hearth of Yomi. But, O, my beloved husband, how honored I am that you have come here! Therefore I will go and discuss for a while with the deities of Yomi my desire to return. Pray do not look at me.” Thus saying, she went back into the hall, but she was gone so long that Izanagi could no longer wait. So he broke off one of the large end-teeth of the comb he was wearing in his left hair bunch, lit a fire, and entered the hall to look. Maggots squirmed and rolled; on her head sat Great Thunder; on her breast sat Fire Thunder; on her belly sat Black Thunder; on her genitals sat Crack Thunder; on her left hand sat Young Thunder; on her right hand sat Earth Thunder; on her left foot sat Sounding Thunder; and on her right foot sat Reclining Thunder. All together, eight thunder deities were there.

  Upon seeing this, Izanagi became afraid and turned and fled. Then his spouse Izanami said, “He has shamed me.” Right away she dispatched the hags of Yomi to pursue him. Then Izanagi undid the black vine securing his hair and flung it down. Immediately it bore grapes. While the hags were picking the grapes and eating them, he fled. Still they pursued him. Next Izanagi pulled out the comb he was wearing in his right hair bunch and flung it down. Immediately bamboo shoots sprouted forth. While the hags were pulling the bamboo shoots and eating them, he fled. Later, Izanami dispatched the eight thunder deities and a horde of warriors of Yomi to pursue him. Then Izanagi unsheathed the ten-hands-long sword that he wore at his side and waved it behind him as he fled. The pursuit continued. When Izanagi reached the foot of the Steep Pass of Yomi, he took three peaches that were at the foot of the pass and ambushed his pursuers. They all turned and fled. Then Izanagi said to the peaches, “Just as you have saved me, if in the Central Land of the Reed Plains, any of the race of mortal men should fall into painful straits and suffer in anguish, please save them also.” Saying this, he bestowed on the peaches the name Oho-kamu-zu-mi, Great Divine Spirit God.

  Finally, his spouse Izanami herself came in pursuit of him. Then Izanagi picked up an enormous boulder, requiring the strength of a thousand men to move, and blocked the Steep Pass of Yomi. They stood facing each other, one on each side of the boulder, and broke their troth. At this time, Izanami said, “O, my beloved husband, if you do thus, I will each day strangle to death one thousand of the populace of your land.” To this Izanagi said, “O, my beloved spouse, if you do thus, I will each day build fifteen hundred birthing huts.” This is the reason why one thousand people inevitably die and fifteen hundred people inevitably are born every day. Therefore, the deity Izanami is also called the Great Deity of Yomi. Also, because she joined in the pursuit, she is called the Great Deity Who Lays the Road. The boulder that closed the Steep Pass of Yomi is called the Great Deity Who Repels Enemies on the Road. It is also called the Great Deity Who Blocks the Door of Yomi. This Steep Pass of Yomi is said to be now the Ifuya Pass in the land of Izumo.

  At this point Izanagi said, “I have been to a most unpleasant land, a horrible, unclean land. Therefore I shall purify myself.” Arriving at the plain of Awaki by the river mouth of Tachibana in Himuka in Tsukushi, he purified and exorcised himself.

  When he flung down his stick, there came into existence a deity named Cane in the Road Bend.

  As Izanagi cleanses himself, many deities are born.

  Then when he washed his left eye, there came into existence a deity named Amaterasu, the Great Heaven Shining Goddess. Next, when he washe
d his right eye, there came into existence a deity named Tsukuyomi, the Moon-Counting God. Next, when he washed his nose, there came into existence a deity named Susano-o, Ferocious Virulent Male God.

  The fourteen deities in the preceding section, from the Many Afflictions Spirit through Susano-o, are deities born from bathing his body.

  At this time Izanagi, rejoicing greatly, said, “I have borne child after child, and finally in the last bearing I have obtained three noble children.” Then he removed his necklace, shaking the beads on the string so that they jingled, and, giving it to the deity Amaterasu, he entrusted her with a mission, saying: “You shall rule the Plain of High Heaven.” …

  Next he said to the deity Tsukuyomi, entrusting him with this mission: “You shall rule the realms of night.”

  Next he said to the deity Susano-o, entrusting him with this mission: “You shall rule the ocean.”

  Although Susano-o is given the rule of the ocean, he weeps and howls for his mother and neglects the realm entrusted to him. Angered by Susano-o’s disobedience, Izanagi expels Susano-o.

  SUSANO-O AND AMATERASU

  At the time, Susano-o said, “In that case, before I go I will take my leave of the Great Deity Amaterasu.” When he ascended to the heavens, all the mountains and rivers roared, and all the land trembled. Amaterasu heard this, was startled, and said, “It is certainly not with any good intentions that my brother is coming up. He must wish to usurp my lands.” So, undoing her hair, she wrapped it in hair bunches. She wrapped long strings of myriad magatama beads2 in the hair bunches on the left and right of her head, on the vine securing her hair, as well as on her left and right arms. On her back she bore a thousand-arrow quiver; at her side she strapped a five-hundred-arrow quiver and also put on a magnificent bamboo arm-cover. Shaking the upper tip of her bow, stamping her legs up to her very thighs into the hard earth, and kicking the earth about as if it were light snow, she let out a tremendous war cry and stamped her feet with fury. Thus waiting for him, she asked, “Why have you come?”

  Then Susano-o replied, “I have no evil intentions. It is merely that the Great Deity Izanagi divinely inquired about my weeping and howling, so I said that I was weeping because I wished to go to the land of my mother. Then the Great Deity said, ‘You may not live in this land’ and expelled me with a divine expulsion. Whereupon I came up intending to take leave upon my departure. I have no other intentions.” Then Amaterasu said, “If that is so, how am I to know that your intentions are pure and clear?” Then Susano-o replied, “Let us swear oaths and bear children.”

  Then they each stood on opposite sides of the Serene River of Heaven and swore their oaths. At this time, Amaterasu first asked for the ten-hands-long sword that Susano-o wore at his side. Breaking the sword in three pieces, she rinsed them in the heavenly well, the jewel-like ringing resonating clearly, chewed them to pieces, and spat them out. In the misty spray there came into existence a deity named Lady Mist, also named Lady of Oki Island. Next, Lady of Ichiki Island, also named Lady Sayori. Next, Lady Gushing Water.

  Susano-o, asking for the long strand of myriad magatama beads wrapped on Amaterasu’s left hair bunch, rinsed them in the heavenly well, the jewels’ ringing resonating clearly, chewed them to pieces, and spat them out. In the misty spray there came into existence a deity named Truly-I-Have-Won Victorious-Virulent-Spirit-Heavenly-Majestic-Grain-Force. Again, he asked for the beads wrapped on her right hair bunch, chewed them to pieces, and spat them out. In the misty spray there came into existence a deity named Heavenly Grain Spirit. Again, he asked for the beads wrapped on the vine securing her hair, chewed them to pieces, and spat them out. In the misty spray there came into existence a deity named Heavenly Male Child. Again, he asked for the beads wrapped on her left arm, chewed them to pieces, and spat them out. In the misty spray there came into existence a deity named Vibrant Male Child. Again, he asked for the beads wrapped on her right arm, chewed them to pieces, and spat them out. In the misty spray there came into existence a deity named Wondrous Spirit of Kumano. All together there were five deities.

  At this time, Amaterasu said to Susano-o, “The latter-born five male children came into existence from my possessions and are therefore naturally my children. The firstborn three female children came into existence from your possessions and are therefore your children.” Thus, she determined the allotment of the offspring….

  Then Susano-o said to Amaterasu, “It was because my intentions were pure and clear that in the children I begot I obtained graceful maidens. By this it is obvious that I have won.” Thus saying, he raged with victory, breaking down the ridges of Amaterasu’s rice paddies and filling up the ditches. Also he defecated and strewed his feces about in the hall where the first fruits were tasted. Even though he did this, Amaterasu did not reprove him but said, “What appears to be feces must be what my brother has vomited and strewn about while drunk. Also, as to his breaking down the ridges of the rice paddies and filling up the ditches, my brother must have done so because he felt land was being wasted.” Even though she spoke this way, hoping for a remedy, his misdeeds did not cease but became even more flagrant. When Amaterasu was inside the sacred weaving hall, seeing to the weaving of the divine garments, he opened a hole in the roof of the weaving hall and dropped into it the heavenly dappled horse, which he had skinned backward. The heavenly weaving maiden, shocked at the sight, struck her genitals against the shuttle and died.

  Now Amaterasu, seeing this, became afraid, and opening the door of the Heavenly Rock-Cave, went in and shut herself inside. Then the Plain of High Heaven was completely dark, and the Central Land of the Reed Plains was entirely dark. Because of this, constant night reigned, and the cries of the myriad deities filled the air like flies in the summer, and all manners of calamities arose.

  Then the eight hundred myriad deities assembled in a divine assembly on the banks of the Serene River of Heaven. They called upon the deity Profound Thinker, child of the deity High Creative Force, to think. They gathered together the long-crying birds of Tokoyo, the Everlasting Realm, and caused them to cry. They took the heavenly hard rock from the upper streams of the Serene River of Heaven, took iron from the Fragrant Mountain of Heaven, sought the smith Heavenly Mara, and commissioned Stone-Cutting Woman to make a mirror. They commissioned Forefather of Jewel Workers to make long strings of myriad magatama beads. They summoned Heavenly Koyane and Futo-tama, the Magnificent Jewel God, to remove whole the shoulder bone of a male deer of the Fragrant Mountain of Heaven and take heavenly hahaka wood from the Fragrant Mountain of Heaven and perform divination. They uprooted by the very roots the flourishing masakaki tree of the Fragrant Mountain of Heaven. To the upper branches they affixed long strings of myriad magatama beads; in the middle branches they hung a mirror many spans wide; and in the lower branches they suspended white strips of nikite cloth and blue strips of nikite cloth. Magnificent Jewel carried these various objects as solemn offerings; Heavenly Koyane intoned a solemn liturgy; the deity Heavenly Powerful-Handed Male stood concealed beside the door; and Uzume, the Heavenly Woman-with-Hair-Piece Goddess, bound up her sleeves with a cord of the heavenly hikage vine, tied around her head a head band of the heavenly masaki vine, and bound together bundles of sasa leaves to hold in her hands. Overturning a bucket before the door of the Heavenly Rock-Cave, she stamped thunderously and, becoming divinely possessed, exposed her breasts and pushed her skirt band down to her genitals. Then the Plain of High Heaven shook as the eight hundred myriad deities laughed at once.

  At this time, Amaterasu, thinking this strange, opened a crack in the door of the Heavenly Rock-Cave and said from within, “Because I have shut myself in, I thought that the Plain of High Heaven would be dark and the Central Land of the Reed Plains would be completely dark. Why is it that Uzume, Heavenly Woman-with-Hair-Piece, sings and dances and all the eight hundred myriad deities laugh?”

  Then Uzume, Heavenly Woman-with-Hair-Piece, said, “We rejoice and dance because there is here a deity superior
to you.” While she was saying this, Heavenly Koyane and Magnificent Jewel brought out the mirror and showed it to Amaterasu. Then Amaterasu, thinking this more and more strange, gradually came out of the door and approached the mirror. Then the deity Heavenly Powerful-Handed Male, who had hidden himself, grasped her hand and pulled her out. Immediately Magnificent Jewel extended a sacred rope behind her, and said, “You may not go back behind this.” When Amaterasu came forth, the Plain of High Heaven and the Central Land of the Reed Plains naturally became light. At this time the eight hundred myriad deities deliberated together and imposed on Susano-o a fine of a thousand platters of restitutive goods. In addition, they cut off his beard and the nails of his hands and feet, had him exorcised, and expelled him with a divine expulsion.

  SUSANO-O SLAYS THE EIGHT-TAILED SERPENT

  Therefore Susano-o was expelled and descended to the upper reaches of the Hi River in the land of Izumo, to a place called Torikami. At that time a chopstick came flowing down the river. Thinking that there were people upstream, Susano-o set out in search of them. He came upon an old man and an old woman, with a maiden between them, crying. He asked them, “Who are you?” The old man replied, “I am a child of an earthly deity, the Great Deity of the Mountains. My name is Rubbing Feet; my wife’s name is Rubbing Hands; and our daughter’s name is Hair Comb Fields.”