Amaterasu and Susanoo – From the Kojiki

Most people who like Japanese history have probably heard of Amaterasu, the sun goddess and divine ancestor of the emperors and empresses of Japan, but where did the story come from?

I read the Kojiki a few years ago, the Gustav Heldt translated version and since then I have researched the early history of the Yamataikoku and the Kingdom of Wa (the early Chinese name for Japan). With this information in my databank (my terrible memory) I will do my best to tell the story of Amaterasu. Why?  Well, the first time I started reading it, I got about halfway through book 1 and thought, what the hell did I just read?  I put it down and started looking for different resources to try and get a grip on the story.  It was so confusing.  I went to some Japanese sites and also searched through some academic journals in English.  Anyway, after doing this on and off for about a year, I kinda got an idea what was going on.  Therefore, I have tried to keep the fundamental story but filled in the gaps to let the story flow a bit better. The Kojiki was written to legitimize the imperial family’s position and the positions of the most important noble families of their court in 712AD, which sits in the very early Nara period. The original text was still very much Chinese as the Japanese language was still in its infancy. This time of Japanese history is so interesting and I hope readers can also get an appreciation of this time period. 

This story is divided into three parts. First, it describes the realms given to the three noble children by Izanagi no Mikoto. Then, we reveal the whiny actions of Susanoo (actually written like Susa-no-o, but I’ll keep it easy) and finally, the story ends with the rock cave myth. All right, let’s go.

Three Noble Children and the Three Divine Commands

After cleansing himself of the impurities he received during his journey to the Land of Yomi (Yomi can be known as land of the dead or the land beneath the earth’s roots), the last living creator god, Izanagi, gave birth one last time. I have given birth to kami (baby) after kami, but finally I have made three noble children. He removed his necklace which was decorated with gleaming comma shaped jewels (pendants). He shook it so that the stones rattled and sounded throughout the land. Then he gave the necklace to Amaterasu Ōmikami the sun goddess. Placing it around her neck, he commanded her to rule the Heavenly High Plains and the Central Land of Reed Plains. This mighty necklace beckons the great spirit of Mikuratana, rice and sustenance.  Then, he commanded Tsukuyomi to rule the realm of the night and Susanoo to rule the storms and seas.

Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were obedient and followed their father’s wishes, worthy of being called noble. However, Susanoo was the petulant child, not obedient and did not rule over his realm. Instead, he threw tantrums, wept and howled until his beard grew down well past his chest. (He was a man baby) In fact, he cried so much that it caused the green mountains to turn brown and the rivers and seas to dry up. As a result, the wicked, evil kami throughout the Central Land of Reeds also began to cry causing all kinds of calamities all over the world.

All of this weeping and wailing was also annoying all the other kami and living creatures, so finally Izanagi came to Susanoo and scolded him. “Why are you weeping and howling like a baby when you should be ruling the storms and seas that I entrusted to you?” asked his father. “I wish to go to the land of my mother, Izanami – the Land of Yomi,” sniffled Susanoo. “That is why I weep.”

“That is not possible!” Izanagi roared. “That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard. You’re destroying the world Izanami that I created. If you can’t rule properly like Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, then I forbid you from living in my lands!”

“So that is how it is going to be?” Susano said.  “Very well, I would like to speak to the great and mighty spirit Amaterasu and bid farewell”.

Still sulking, Susanoo went to Amaterasu to say goodbye.  She was holding a mirror and was wearing the pendant necklace given to her by her father. Her head dress is both sun-shaped and mirror-shaped.  She is a beauty but also uncompromising in her demeanour. As Susanoo ascended to the Heavenly High Plain, the mountains and rivers and all the lands shook violently.

Amaterasu, ruling the heavens, was startled by the commotion and said “What is this, it can’t be good. Surely my brother wants to take my lands in the High Plains of Heaven and in the Central Land of Reeds.” She parted her long hair and looped them to her left and right, in the manner of a man. (This hair style became the ‘go to’ style for the Yayoi people). She decorated her looped hair with strings of pendants, and on her arms mighty wreaths of vines. She donned a 1000-arrow quiver on her back and a 500-arrow quiver on her chest. She also put a bamboo arm-guard on her left arm and then shook the tip of her bow and stamped her feet on the ground of the courtyard kicking up dust to her thighs and let out a war cry.

“Why have you come here?” she asked.

“It’s all good. Honestly, I have no bad intentions.” Susanoo declared. “Our father, Izanagi, asked why I have been weeping and howling for years, and so I told him that I wanted to visit the land of my mother, so he banished me from this land. Therefore, I have come here to bid goodbye to you.”

“You are strange. Anyway, how do I know your intentions are pure and bright?” Amaterasu asked.

“Let us swear an oath and make children, then I will be off”.  Susanoo answered.

“Give me your sword that you have by your side!” Amaterasu ordered.  Susanoo handed it over and she broke it into three pieces and rinsed in the Heaven’s well.

Amaterasu and Susanoo got down to business making babies.  Not quite the way we human do but in the end eight offspring were created. Amaterasu waffles on and on about the new genealogies linking herself and Susanoo to the birth of a handful of divine ancestors of the most elite clans of the future Yamato Court, they assess the quality of their respective offspring. Ultimately, Amaterasu popped out five sons while Susanoo popped out three daughters.

Susanoo bragged, “Look at this! Because my intentions were pure and clean my Three Divine Girls are purer, brighter, and more beautiful than your stupid five sons.” And thus, self-proclaimed total victory in this nonsensical competition. He proceeded to run amok with victory by breaking down the ridges between Amaterasu’s rice paddies causing them to flood. This destroyed all of her crops which meant there would be no harvest in the coming autumn. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he ran into the great hall, pulled down his pants and proceeded to poop in the dining hall, flinging faeces everywhere.

Amaterasu was furious but she didn’t show it. She didn’t want to give Susanoo the satisfaction. She looked around her palace inspecting each room and said “Hmmmm. What is all this stuff on the walls and the ceiling”.  Susano’o didn’t say anything. “Umm, this stuff that looks like…uh, poop? No, this must be vomit from the last time you passed out drunk at the last party,” she suggested. “And you probably trashed my rice paddies because you thought good lands were going to waste, right?” She literally just gave him time to calm down and move on without consequences, but instead his actions became even more brazen.

After cleaning up the poop her brother smeared throughout her entire palace, Amaterasu went to oversee the making of sacred robes in her weaving hall. Seeking more attention, Susanoo went and took a heavenly pie-bald colt (foal) and skinned it alive – yes, you read that correctly, he literally skinned it alive – from the tail up to the head.  He dragged the dying animal with him, climbed up to the thatched hall roof, punched a hole in it, and tossed the bloody carcass into the weaving hall. As you can imagine, this startled the weaving maiden who was so terrified she accidentally pierced her vagina with the loom’s shuttle and died right there on the spot.  Well, you couldn’t make this stuff up could you?

As you can imagine, Amaterasu was livid and scared.  She went and opened the Heavenly Rock Cave, went inside and locked herself in. Thus, plunging the High Plains of Heaven and the Central Land of Reeds into eternal darkness.

Well, everyone was hysteric.  The kami decided to hold a sacred meeting together beside the Tranquil Stream of Heaven which flowed past the Heavenly Rock Cave. They set up a camp where they could all work together to plead with Amaterasu to come out and restore sunlight to the heavens and earth.

First, the kami gathered a number of roosters together to crow in hopes that they could trick the sun into rising again. Then, they brought a large stone to use as an anvil from the upper stream of the river and they took metal from Ame no Kanayama the Heavenly Metal Mountain. The kami then commanded Amatsumara and Ishikoridome no Mikoto to use the metal and anvil to forge a mighty bronze mirror. And finally, they brought out the big guns. They ordered Tama no Ya no Mikoto the kami of jewellery to make a long string necklace with thousands of pendants from vines of heaven. But that wasn’t all.

They ordered two kami, Futodama no Mikoto and Ame no Koyane no Mikoto, to climb Ame no Kaguyama to remove the whole shoulder of a stag, gather up bird cherry wood which they would use to perform divination rituals. They uprooted a large, verdant evergreen and brought it to the encampment in front of the cave. The kami tied the long strings of pendants to the upper branches. Next, they hung the large sacred mirror on the middle branches. And lastly, on the lower branches, they draped white mulberry paper and blue hemp. After everything was prepared, Futodama held up sacred objects in his hands as a sacred offering while Amenokoyane chanted sacred words. However, they were to be disappointed.  All of this fanfare was still not enough to soften Amaterasu’s heart and coax her out of the Heavenly Rock Cave.

Then Amenouzume no Mikoto had an idea. An idea, as they say, so crazy it just might work. She ordered the kami of physical strength to run up to the Heavenly Rock Cave and hide next to the door. Then, she grabbed the vines, strapped them to her sleeves. She fitted a wreath of ivy to her hair so she looked sexy and grabbed rustling leaves from a dwarf bamboo in both hands.  She overturned a wooden tub to make an impromptu stage in front of the cave. Amenouzume hopped up on to the tub and began to dance. She stamped her feet upon the wooden tub so hard that caused the ground to shake which got the attention of the surrounding kami.

She became divinely possessed and her dancing became more intense. Each move, each turn entranced the other kami who followed her closely with their eyes. She raised one hand to her breast and slowly opened her shirt exposing her cleavage. The kami cheered with loud voices, and Amaterasu could hear all this from inside the cave. Continuing her dance, Amenouzume pulled open her top exposing her breasts which caused the gods to clap, cheer and whistle.  The kami wanted to see more! Sensually, she pushed down her skirt past her belly button. Entranced, the kami cheered her on. She pulled her skirt down further and further until her young glorious privates became exposed. And so, the High Plains of Heaven shook with excitement and cheering.

Naturally, all of the noise outside had Amaterasu’s curiosity at a peak. She just had to see what was going on outside, so she nervously looked out of a small crack in the rock but couldn’t really see what was happening. She moved up a little farther to get a better look and saw Amenouzume dancing half naked and the hundreds of other kami falling out of their seats with laughter.

Amaterasu shouted from behind the rock, “I locked myself in this cave and thought the High Heavenly Plain and Central Plain of Reeds would be plunged into darkness. And, yet Amenouzume is singing, dancing and getting naked out here and all of you can see it and are laughing! What’s going on?” Adjusting her skirt, Amenouzume replied to her, “Just sitting around in the dark was boring, so we’re just having a little fun. Oh, and guess what? We found another kami who is more magnificent than you O mighty one!”

Just then, Amenokoyane and Futodama grabbed the bronze mirror and shined in Amaterasu’s eyes. To her astonishment, she saw what looked like another sun goddess. “Wait, what?” she thought, “how can there be another…?” She crept closer to the entrance of the cave to get a better look when…

Thereupon, Tajikarao no Kami, the god of strength hiding next to the door of the Heavenly Rock Cave grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the cave. Suddenly, light came back to the heavens and earth. Futodama ran behind her and blocked the entrance with a sacred boundary rope. “You shall not run back into the cave!” he said. And thus, the sun was restored to both the Heavenly High Plain and Central Land of Plain of Reeds, and the natural order of things returned.  After all the fun, the kami had a meeting. They decided to cut his beard, nails, and toe nails, then expelled him with a spirit expulsion.

Well, there you go.  The most famous story from the Kojiki.  Interesting isn’t it.  You can read it too if you like.  I have the Gustav Heldt translated version, but there are a couple of versions.  It is rewarding to read albeit a little difficult.  There is a great reference section at the back to help you through the difficult bits.  Enjoy!! 

Stu