The Birth of the Land (Kuniumi)

Before there was solid ground, the cosmos existed as a formless expanse of primordial matter, floating like oil on water and drifting like a jellyfish. From this chaos, the first deities spontaneously emerged and then concealed themselves. Eventually, the last pair of the Age of the Gods—Izanagi and Izanami—received a divine command: to solidify and give form to the drifting land below.

Standing upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven, the divine pair thrust the Heavenly Jeweled Spear (Ame-no-nuboko) into the watery chaos beneath and stirred. When they withdrew the spear, brine dripping from its tip coalesced into an island—Onogoro-shima, the first solid land. Descending to this island, they erected a great pillar (Ame-no-mihashira) and constructed a palace for their marriage.

Their first attempt at creation went awry. Walking around the pillar in opposite directions, Izanami spoke her admiration first when they met, violating the proper order. The offspring of this union were the malformed Hiruko ('Leech Child') and the island of Awashima, both deemed failures and set adrift. Consulting the heavenly deities, the couple was told that the woman speaking first had been the error.

Repeating the ritual with Izanagi speaking first, the creation proceeded successfully. They gave birth to the eight great islands of Japan—Awaji, Shikoku, Oki, Kyushu, Iki, Tsushima, Sado, and the great island of Honshu—followed by numerous smaller islands and a host of nature deities governing winds, trees, mountains, and plains. This creative harmony continued until the birth of the fire god Kagutsuchi, whose flames fatally burned Izanami and brought the age of joyful creation to a devastating end.