Izanagi and Izanami: The Creation of the Islands and the Land of Yomi
In the beginning, heaven and earth were not yet clearly divided and the world drifted like oil on water. From the High Plain of Heaven, the gods entrusted a pair of deities, the male Izanagi and the female Izanami, with the task of shaping the land.
The creation and Yomi myths that open the Kojiki explain the origin of the land, the birth of the gods, and the boundary between life and death.
The Heavenly Jeweled Spear and Onogoro Island
Standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, the two gods thrust a jeweled spear into the churning sea and stirred. Drops of brine falling from its tip piled up and formed the first island, Onogoro. They built a heavenly pillar and held a marriage rite there. The first child, Hiruko, was born malformed and set adrift in a reed boat, and a divination blamed the fact that the goddess had spoken first. When the rite was repeated with the god speaking first, the islands of the Great Eight Islands, beginning with Awaji, were born one after another.
Kagutsuchi and the Descent to Yomi
The pair went on to bear the gods of mountains, rivers, seas, winds and trees. But in giving birth to the fire god Kagutsuchi, Izanami was fatally burned and departed to Yomi, the land of the dead. Grieving, Izanagi cut down Kagutsuchi, and many more gods were born from the blood. He then descended to Yomi to bring his wife back, a tale often compared with the Greek myth of Orpheus.
The Boulder at Yomotsu Hirasaka
Through the palace door, Izanami answered that she had already eaten the food of Yomi and could not simply return; she would consult the gods of Yomi, but he must not look at her. Izanagi could not wait. He broke a tooth from his comb, lit it as a torch and looked, and saw his wife in a terrible state. Shamed and enraged, Izanami sent the hags of Yomi and her armies after him. Izanagi escaped, throwing grapes, bamboo shoots and peaches to delay his pursuers, and sealed the pass with a huge boulder.
Across the boulder they spoke their final words. Izanami vowed to strangle a thousand people of his land each day; Izanagi replied that he would build fifteen hundred birthing huts each day. The myth explains why people die each day and yet new lives are born.
Purification and the Three Noble Children
Returning from Yomi, Izanagi purified himself in the sea at Himuka in Tsukushi. This misogi is said to be the origin of Shinto purification. As he washed his left eye, the sun goddess Amaterasu was born; from his right eye, the moon god Tsukuyomi; from his nose, the storm god Susanoo. He entrusted them with the heavens, the night and the sea.
After passing through death and defilement, life and light are renewed by clear water. This is often seen as an ancient Japanese view of death that acknowledges its darkness while affirming the strength of life.
Color the Sacred Figures of Japan
The Mori no Akari Series offers a Buddhist deities coloring set with color samples as a download edition. The product name in the store appears in Japanese.
▶ View the Buddhist Deities Coloring Set 01 (Download Edition)
Related Reading
References
- Kurano Kenji, ed., Kojiki, Iwanami Bunko, 1963
- Kojima Norimitsu, Kojiki no Sekaikan, Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1986
- Saigo Nobutsuna, Kojiki Chushaku, Heibonsha, 1975
- Ueda Masaaki, Nihon no Shinwa, Iwanami Shinsho, 1970