Mythology Book

222

ALL MANNER

OF CALAMITIES

AROSE

EVERYWHERE

SUSANOO AND AMATERASU

A

materasu, goddess of

the sun, and her younger

brother Susanoo, god

of the sea, quarreled constantly,

and Susanoo often played tricks

on his sister. Tired of his mischief,

their father, Izanagi, ordered

Susanoo to go into exile in the

Underworld. Before he left, however,

Susanoo journeyed to the heavens

in order to see his sister.

Believing he had come to steal

her realm, Amaterasu was alarmed

at her brother’s arrival. She parted

her hair and strung it with precious

pendants, which she also hung from

her arms. She then armed herself

with a bow and 1,500 arrows,

and when Susanoo arrived, she

IN BRIEF

THEME

Sibling rivalry

SOURCE

Kojiki (“Records of Ancient

Matters”), O no Yasumaro,

712 ce.

SETTING

Japan in the Age of Spirits.

KEY FIGURES

Izanagi Creator deity.

Amaterasu Goddess of the

universe; daughter of Izanagi.

Susanoo God of the sea and

storms; son of Izanagi.

Omoikane God of wisdom.

O-ge-tsu-hime Food spirit.

Ashinazuchi Old man spirit,

whose daughter Kushi-nada-

hime marries Susanoo.

Yamata-no-Orochi An

eight-headed dragon.

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223

stomped on the ground and

demanded to know the reason

for his visit. Saying that he had

only come to say farewell, Susanoo

suggested that they give each

other a personal possession and

use them to produce spirit-offspring

as a sign of good faith.

To show that his intentions

were good, Susanoo handed

Amaterasu his sword. She broke it

in three and rinsed the pieces in

the well of the heavens. She then

put them in her mouth, chewed

them, and spat them out, producing

three female sea spirits. Susanoo

then asked Amaterasu for her

pendants. He bit them into small

pieces and spat them out, creating

five male spirits.

Sibling conflict

After this exchange, relations

between Amaterasu and Susanoo

were initially peaceful. However,

Susanoo quickly resumed his

former bad behavior. He declared

that the children born from his

sword were “weak-limbed women”

and ran amok through his sister’s

heavenly realm in a destructive

rampage. He devastated her rice

paddies and threw excrement

about the hall where she had

celebrated the harvest feast.

Susanoo then went to the hall

where Amaterasu and other spirits

were weaving cloth. He broke a ❯❯

ASIA

Susanoo, armed with his sword,

sets about killing the dragon who had

slain seven sisters. The god’s previous

behavior would be forgiven when he

saved the final sister from the dragon.

Kojiki

The Kojiki (“Records of Ancient

Matters”) is Japan’s oldest

surviving written work. Based

on oral tradition, it is a mixture

of dialogue, song, narration, and

commentary, and provides a

long and wide-ranging history

of the four islands of Japan.

The first book, set in the Age

of Spirits, recounts the story of

how Japan and its spirits were

created and developed. The

second and third books are set

in the Age of Mortals and detail

the deeds of legendary human

heroes and the imperial lineages

of the rulers of Japan, all the

way to the death of Empress

Suiko in 628 ce.

The compiler of the Kojiki

was a nobleman and chronicler

called O no Yasumaro. He

carried out the task on the

orders of Empress Genmei,

who reigned from 707 to 715 ce

and wanted Japan’s myths and

legends to be recorded more

accurately. Once completed, the

Kojiki became highly influential

in the development of beliefs,

practices, and customs in the

Shinto religion.

When he went up to

heaven, all the mountains

and rivers boomed and

the land shook.

Kojiki

See also: Ahura Mazda and Ahriman 198–99 ■ Pangu and the creation of the world 214–15 ■ Izanagi and Izanami 220–21

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