Well, Well, Well, the last post stirred up some argument regarding the Japanese mythology and as the nice and solution giving princess that i am, i'm here to bring clarity😎. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo, let's get itttttttt.
Japanese creation mythology is diverse, with various stories and beliefs. One prominent myth involves Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and her role in shaping the world. Another myth is the Kojiki which describes the creation of Japan and it's gods. It begins with the cosmic couple, Izanagi and Izanami, who create the Islands and various deities. Izanagi and Izanami will be our creation story for today.
In Japanese mythology, Izanagi and Izanami were a divine couple, brother and sister (it's giving incest but let's move), who had a principle role in creating the Islands of Japan and from whom many important gods had their birth. Before the formation of the world, when the land was formless like a jellyfish, the first deities came into being at Takamagahara, the high plain of heaven (don't bite your tongue if you cannot pronounce it, we love you regardless). Beginning with the three primal kami: Amenominakanushi, Takamimusubi and Kamimisubi, seven successive generations of god and goddesses came into being, the seventh generation consisting of the male kami Izanagi and the female kami Izanami. To help them accomplish their tasks, the couple were given a jewelled spear called Ama no Nuboko (all these names are sounding like Igbo ancestral names). They didn't know how to begin the work of creation, so they tried stirring the chaos with the point of the spear, as the spear was lifted back up, a drop fell from it, creating the Island of Onogoro. They decided to make their home there, and built a palace called the Eight measure palace. In the centre of the palace stood a pillar, the Heavenly August Pillar.
Izanagi and Izanami decided to start a family in their new home, they circled the Heavenly August Pillar, Izanagi turning to the left while Izanami moved to the right, so they met each other coming around. In delight, Izanami exclaimed, "What a fine young man!" "What a fine young woman!" said Izanagi in response. He then complained that Izanami should have left it to him to take the initiative. Confused on what to do next, they received advice from two helpful wagtails and in due course, Izanami gave birth to a son, Hiruko, but the child was without limbs and boneless. The baby was put on a boat made of reeds and abandoned to float away to his fate (feels like Moses' story except, brother Moses was not abandoned and he was complete). They tried making another child, but it was the same result, they returned to heaven to ask the elder kami what went wrong and the gods confirmed that it was because Izanami had done wrong by greeting her husband first. They went back and decided to give it another try, doing it appropriately and soon after, Izanami gave birth successively to the Islands of Awaji, Shikoku, Oyi Kyushu, Tsushima and Honshu. Having given birth to land, Izanami began to give birth to the kami that would give it shape. She brought forth the kami of the sea, wind, trees and mountains. While giving birth to the kami of fire, Kagutsuchi, she was burned to death, despite her husband's attempt to save her. As Izanami died, death and sorrow entered the world.
Grief-stricken, Izanagi wept, and from his tears emanated further kami. Filled with rage, he cut off the head of Kagutsuchi, whose birth had killed his wife. After grieving for his wife for a long time, Izanami became determined to bring her back and set off for Yomi, the land of the dead. Eventually, he arrived at a great mansion guarded by fearsome demons. Creeping through the back entrance, Izanagi found his wife, and there was a joyful reunion. Izanagi begged Izanami to return to the world with him, but she sadly replied that this was not possible because she had taken food while in Yomi. She however agreed to go into the mansion to ask the resident kami if she could possibly go with him. Before she went, Izanami asked her husband to promise not to go right inside the mansion, he agreed, but after a whole day had passed, and she did not return, Izanami went inside the mansion, looking for her using a tooth of his comb as a torch. Wandering within the mansion by the frail light of his torch, Izanagi was horrified to come across the body of his wife, now apparent as just a rotten decaying corpse. In terror, Izanagi turned to flee, pursued by the spurned corpse of his wife, the thunder kami and the hag of the house of the head. After fighting off his pursuers, Izanagi managed to imprison Izanami in the house of the dead by rolling a huge rock to block the way. Thenceforth, Izanami became known as the goddess of the dead (Yomotsu-o-kami). A story without "And they lived happily ever after......".
A beautiful read as always.
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