Izanagi and Izanami; The Beginning and Creation of Japanese Mythology

In the beginning, like in most mythologies, there was nothing but silent chaos. But then suddenly, particles and light appeared and began to shake. They then started to move. The light and the feather-like particles began to rise, while the heavy-like particles were left behind. Being just slightly faster than the particles, light sat at the top of the universe, while the feather-like particles formed below into the clouds of Takamagahara, the high plane of heaven. The heavy-like particles that were left behind at the bottom gathered together as well, forming a great mass called the Earth. After the forming of heaven and earth, five gods, also called kami, came into existence within heaven. These five were called the Kotoamatsukami, meaning the distinguishing heavenly kami. These five were also known as Hitorigami, meaning lone god because they came into existence genderless and alone, as opposed to coming into existence as a male and female pair. Although all five had separate names, they went into hiding soon after their spontaneous appearance, and thus were never seen or heard of again within mythology. Next were the group of twelve kami known as the Kamionaneo, meaning the seven divine generations. The first of the group were two more Hitorigami, who after coming into existence quickly hid away, never to be heard of again. Following were five pairs of male and female kamis, or a total of ten kami. Each were paired together as lovers, but it was the last pair who became the most important. Izanagi, meaning he who invites, and his sister-slash-consort, Izanami, meaning she who invites. Of the seventeen kami who came into existence at the beginning of creation, Izanagi and Izanami were the most important, for they were the parents of Japan and all the kami to come. After coming into existence, Izanagi and Izanami's older siblings commanded the two to birth the land. At the time, the earth's entire surface resembled floating oil and drifted like a jellyfish. So their siblings gave them the heavenly jeweled spear known as Ame-no-Nuhoko. And so the two went to the floating bridge of heaven, which was connected to the earth. There, Izanagi and Izanami churned the earth with the great spear, and when they lifted the spear out of the muddy water, brine dripped down from the spear's tip and created the first island named Onogoroshima. There on the island, Izanagi and Izanami made their home in the form of a great heavenly pillar. Once settled, the two decided to get married and have children, so they devised a ceremony where they both walked around the heavenly pillar. Once they met in the middle, Izanami spoke first, saying, how good a lad, while Izanagi responded with, how good a maiden. Irritated that Izanami spoke before him, Izanagi told her that it didn't bode well that she spoke first. Nevertheless, they laid together on the newly formed island, and soon after, Izanami gave birth to their first child. The baby's name was Hiroko, the leech child, for he was born without any bones or limbs. Unhappy with the child, Izanagi and Izanami put Hiroko into a boat made of reeds and cast him out to sea. Now if you were worried for Hiroko's safety, you have no need for concern. Hiroko and luck had a special bond, because someday Hiroko would change his name and become one of the seven gods of fortune. Not knowing what went wrong, Izanagi and Izanami consulted with their older siblings. Their siblings told them that because Izanami spoke first during their wedding ceremony, the child was destined to go wrong. So Izanagi and Izanami redid the ceremony, except this time Izanagi spoke first, and once again the two laid together. But this time their children were wondrous, for Izanami had given birth to the islands of Japan. There was Awaji, Io, Oki, Tsukushi, Iki, Tsushima, Sado, and Yamato. These were the Oyashima, meaning the eight great islands. After giving birth to the eight islands, Izanagi and Izanami gave birth to six lesser islands, and then 35 Kami, each who would populate the great islands with more Kami and also the first humans. Izanagi and Izanami would have probably had more children, but it wasn't meant to be, because their last child came with a misfortune, and the name of that child was Kakutsuchi, the god of fire. As Izanami gave birth to Kakutsuchi, her genitals burned horribly, which caused her to suddenly feel extremely ill. From her vomit, feces, and urine, Izanami gave existence to six more Kami, and then died from her fatal wound. Stricken with grief, Izanagi cried for his dead wife, and as the tears fell to the ground, another Kami was born. After burying Izanami, Izanagi trembled with rage, and as he stood above fiery Kakutsuchi, unleashing his sword Ame-no-Ohabari, Izanagi swung down and cut off the head of his son. The blood that fell from the sword formed into eight Kami, and from the dead body of Kakutsuchi came eight more. Ignoring these new Kami, Izanagi walked away in silence. Wishing to see his wife again, Izanagi journeyed to Yomi, the land of the dead. Passing through the gates of Yomi, Izanagi found Izanami, although the shadows hid her appearance. Oh, my beloved wife, the lands you and I were making have not been completed. You must come back with me, Izanagi said with great relief. But Izanami responded, Oh, I wish you came sooner, beloved. I have already eaten food from this land of Yomi, and so cannot leave. But it brings me such joy to see you again. So wait here, and I will convince the Kamis that rule this kingdom to let me leave. But in the meantime, you must promise to wait here and not look upon my face. Promising to do so, Izanagi waited and waited until he couldn't wait any longer. Breaking a tooth off the comb he wore, Izanagi lit it on fire and began to search for his wife. When he found Izanami, the light from his torch lit up her appearance, revealing rotting flesh infected with ravaging maggots. Jumping back in horror, Izanagi dropped his torch and ran towards the entrance of Yomi, abandoning his wife. Furious that her husband broke his promise and rejected her, Izanami gave birth to eight Kami of Thunder, each from a different part of her body. In the next moment, Izanami's anger and power became so great that she stole control of Yomi. You have shamed me, dear husband, Izanami yelled as she sent hags chasing after him. As he was being chased, Izanagi took the black vine that was securing his hair and threw it behind him. The vine immediately grew grapes upon itself, thus distracting half of the hags. For the other half, Izanagi took the second comb from his hair and threw it behind him. When the comb hit the ground, bamboo shoots shot up and distracted the hags. Irritated with her husband's sly moves, Izanami sent the eight Thunder Kami after him. Reaching the entrance of Yomi, Izanagi found a peach tree and picked three peaches. He then threw them at the Thunder Kami, driving them away. Blessing the peach fruit to heal mortals in anguish as thanks, Izanagi was about to return to the land of the living when suddenly he heard a monstrous screech coming from behind him. Izanami was running full blast towards him. Shivering in fear, Izanagi took a tremendous boulder and blocked the entrance of Yomi. As they stood across from each other with only the boulder in the way, Izanami declared that if he didn't move the boulder, she would strangle one thousand mortals each day. Izanagi then shrunk, declaring that he would build fifteen hundred birthing huts each day. Thus began an eternal cycle of fifteen hundred births and a thousand deaths a day. As Izanagi made his way to cleanse his body of his journey, Izanami made her way deeper into her new kingdom as the Empress and Great Deity of Yomi. When Izanagi reached the river, he disrobed which funny enough resulted in the birth of twelve Kami, each from an article of clothing. Once in the river, Izanagi began to wash, scrubbing away the grime and evil of Yomi. But in doing so, Izanagi brought into existence eleven Kami, six of which were Kami of water and the sea. Finally, only Izanagi's face had yet to be washed. And as he washed his left eye, the Kami Amaterasu was born. And as he washed his right eye, Tsukuyomi was born. And as he washed his nose, Suzano was born. Overjoyed with his final children, he declared Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Suzano as the three precious children. He then first walked up to Amaterasu and handed her his necklace, declaring her the new ruler of heaven and the Kami of the sun. He then walked up to Tsukuyomi and declared him the Kami of night and the moon. Lastly, he walked up to Suzano, declaring him the Kami of the sea and storms. With that, creation was now complete. And with the birth of the three precious children, a new age was about to begin. Hey, hope you enjoyed my video. If you did, give it a like and subscribe. I have plenty more videos on the way, so make sure you keep updated. Well, until next time on Wild Mythology.