Ashihara no Nakatsukuni- Japanese LocationLocation · Realm"The Mortal Realm"

The Spear and the Sea

Before the land existed, the Kojiki says, it "floated like oil and drifted like a jellyfish." Izanagi and Izanami stood on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and thrust the jeweled spear Ame-no-Nuhoko into the ocean below. They stirred. The brine that dripped from the spear's tip coagulated into Onogoro-shima, the first solid land. From their union on this island came the eight great islands of Japan and the kami of mountains, rivers, seas, and wind. The early earth swarmed with unruly spirits whom the Kojiki describes as shining "like fireflies" and buzzing "noisy as summer flies." A world alive with power, but wild.

Ōkuninushi's Rule

Ōkuninushi, descendant of Susanoo, became the sovereign of this wild realm. His rise began with an act of compassion. While his eighty brothers traveled to woo the princess Yagami-hime, the young Ōkuninushi trailed behind as their bag-carrier. On the shore of Inaba they passed a hare stripped of its fur, writhing in pain. The brothers told it to bathe in salt water and dry itself in the wind, which only worsened its agony. Ōkuninushi instructed the hare to wash in fresh water and roll in cattail pollen. The grateful Hare of Inaba prophesied that he, not his brothers, would win the princess.

His brothers tried twice to kill him. He survived, fled to the underworld, endured Susanoo's trials, and returned with weapons and a wife. Together with Sukunabikona, a diminutive wisdom god who arrived across the sea in a boat of bark, Ōkuninushi developed the land: they established agriculture and taught medicine. But his rule existed outside Amaterasu's authority, and heaven would not tolerate that.

The Failed Envoys

Amaterasu sent envoys to claim the realm. The first, Ame-no-Hohi, was won over by Ōkuninushi and sent no report for three years. The second, Ame-no-Wakahiko, married Ōkuninushi's daughter and abandoned his mission entirely. When heaven sent a pheasant to inquire about his silence, Ame-no-Wakahiko shot it with an arrow. The arrow flew up to heaven. A deity hurled it back. It struck Ame-no-Wakahiko in his sleep and killed him.

The Kuniyuzuri

Heaven sent warriors. Takemikazuchi, the thunder god born from the blood of Kagutsuchi, descended to the shore at Inasa in Izumo with Futsunushi. They thrust a sword point-down into the crest of a wave and sat cross-legged on its tip, demanding Ōkuninushi's submission.

Ōkuninushi's son Kotoshironushi consented and withdrew, capsizing his boat and enclosing himself behind a fence of green reeds. His other son Takeminakata challenged Takemikazuchi to a contest of strength. Takemikazuchi seized his hand, which turned to ice and then to a blade. He hurled Takeminakata to Lake Suwa, where the defeated god surrendered and pledged never to leave.

Ōkuninushi ceded sovereignty over the visible world in exchange for authority over the invisible world of spirits and the construction of Izumo Taisha, a shrine built with pillars reaching to heaven.

Ninigi's Descent

Amaterasu sent her grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto through the clouds to rule the earthly realm. At the crossroads where the paths to heaven, earth, and the underworld converged, the god Sarutahiko stood waiting, his radiance illuminating both realms. He guided Ninigi to Mount Takachiho. Ninigi bore the Three Imperial Treasures: the Yata no Kagami mirror, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi sword, and the Yasakani no Magatama jewels.

Ninigi married Konohanasakuya-hime, daughter of the mountain god Ōyamatsumi, but refused her elder sister Iwanaga-hime. The mountain god said that had Ninigi accepted both daughters, his descendants would have lived as long as stone. Having chosen only the beautiful one, they would bloom and die like flowers. This is why humans in the middle world are mortal. Ninigi's line produced Jimmu, the legendary first emperor, who founded the dynasty that would rule from this reed-covered land.