Ama-no-Iwato- Japanese LocationLocation · Landmark"Cave of the Sun Goddess"

Susanoo's Outrages

Susanoo, the storm god, arrived in Takamagahara claiming he wished only to bid farewell to his sister Amaterasu before departing for his father Izanagi's exile. Amaterasu, suspicious, armed herself and met him at the border of heaven. They performed a ritual exchange to test intentions: Amaterasu bit Susanoo's sword and produced three goddesses; Susanoo bit her jewels and produced five gods. Susanoo claimed victory and grew wild.

His behavior turned destructive. He broke down Amaterasu's rice paddies and defecated in her sacred hall. Amaterasu made excuses for him. Then Susanoo flayed a piebald horse and reversed its hide. The Kojiki notes the reversal specifically. He hurled the carcass through the roof of the sacred weaving hall. A weaving maiden, startled by the falling body, struck her genitals against her shuttle and died.

Amaterasu retreated into Ama-no-Iwato and sealed the entrance with a great rock. Light vanished from heaven and earth. The Nihon Shoki says evil spirits ran riot in the darkness, their voices buzzing like summer flies.

The Dance

The eight million gods gathered on the dry bed of the Tranquil River of Heaven. Omoikane, god of wisdom, devised the plan: they would create such a celebration that Amaterasu's curiosity would overcome her resolve.

Ame-no-Uzume danced on an overturned tub before the cave entrance, stamping until it boomed like a drum. As her dancing grew wilder, she loosened her clothing, exposing her breasts and then her genitals. The assembled gods burst into laughter so tremendous that Takamagahara shook. Meanwhile, the smith god Ishikoridome forged a great mirror, the Yata no Kagami. The gods hung it from a sakaki tree uprooted from the slopes of Mount Kagu, draped jewel strands and cloth from its branches, and gathered roosters to crow at a dawn that had not yet come.

The Return of Light

Amaterasu heard the laughter. Puzzled that the gods should celebrate while darkness covered heaven and earth, she called out to ask why Ame-no-Uzume danced. Ame-no-Uzume answered that a goddess superior to Amaterasu had appeared.

Curiosity overcame her. She pushed the rock door open to peer out. The mirror was tilted toward her face. For the first time, Amaterasu beheld her own radiance reflected back at her. She moved forward to look more closely at this "superior goddess." Ame-no-Tajikarao, who had been hiding beside the entrance, seized her arm and pulled her out. Other gods stretched a shimenawa, a sacred rope, across the cave behind her and declared she could not return. Light came back to heaven and earth.

Susanoo's Banishment

The gods turned on Susanoo. They imposed a great expiatory fine of one thousand tables of offerings, cut off his beard and the nails of his hands and feet, and banished him from Takamagahara. Susanoo descended to Izumo, where the destructive storm god became something else entirely: the slayer of Yamata no Orochi, the discoverer of the sword Kusanagi.