Izanagi and Izanami, the divine couple who shaped the islands of Japan, brought forth a host of kami — Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo among the greatest, alongside Kagutsuchi whose birth killed Izanami, the mountain lord Ōyamatsumi, Shinatsuhiko, Kukunochi, Ōgetsu-hime, Ebisu, and Awashima.
⚠ The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki disagree on whether Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo were born to both Izanagi and Izanami or emerged from Izanagi's purification alone.
Izanagi's misogi purification at Tachibana in Hyūga birthed kami from every layer of water and light — the Watatsumi sea gods from the ocean depths, and from Izanagi's own face the Three Noble Children: Amaterasu from his left eye, Tsukuyomi from his right eye, and Susanoo from his nose.
⚠ The Nihon Shoki main text attributes the three noble children to both Izanagi and Izanami, while the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki alternate accounts describe them emerging from Izanagi's purification alone.
During the ukei oath trial with Amaterasu, Susanoo's sword Totsuka-no-Tsurugi was chewed and spat forth as three female kami — Tagorihime, Tagitsuhime, and Ichikishimahime — the Munakata goddesses whom he claimed as his daughters.
⚠ The Kojiki attributes the three goddesses to Susanoo as the owner of the sword, though Amaterasu performed the chewing. The Nihon Shoki offers variant attributions.
Susanoo and Kamu-Ōichihime produced Ōtoshi and Uka no Mitama, linking the storm god's lineage to Japan's agricultural and grain deities.
Susanoo married Kushinadahime in Izumo after slaying Yamata no Orochi. Their children include Yashimajinumi, ancestor of Okuninushi, and Suseri-hime.
⚠ The Kojiki names only Yashimajinumi as the child of Susanoo and Kushinadahime; Suseri-hime is called Susanoo's daughter in the Okuninushi narrative without naming her mother.
Through shinbutsu-shūgō syncretism at Yasaka Shrine, the continental plague deity Gozu Tennō was absorbed into Susanoo — binding the storm god's wild power to the Gion cult of pestilence prevention, a fusion that gave rise to Kyoto's greatest festival.
Susanoo's violent rampage through heaven — destroying Amaterasu's rice paddies and hurling a flayed horse into her weaving hall — drove Amaterasu to withdraw into the cave Ama-no-Iwato, plunging the world into darkness.
Susanoo slew Ōgetsu-hime after discovering she produced food from her own body. From her corpse grew the five grains and silkworms, making this killing the mythological origin of Japanese agriculture and of the food kami tradition that includes Inari.
⚠ The Kojiki attributes this killing to Susanoo. The Nihon Shoki assigns the parallel food-deity murder to Tsukuyomi, who kills Uke Mochi instead.
Susanoo hurled a flayed heavenly piebald horse through the roof of the sacred weaving hall, and Wakahirume fell against her shuttle and died — her death drove Amaterasu into the rock cave and plunged the world into darkness.
Susanoo tricked Yamata no Orochi into drinking eight vats of sake, then hacked apart the stupefied serpent to rescue Kushinadahime, discovering the sword Kusanagi in one of its tails.
In later Kojiki narratives, Susanoo rules Ne-no-Kuni as lord of the underworld, where he tests Okuninushi with deadly trials before acknowledging him as successor to the earthly realm.
After the misogi purification, Izanagi appointed Amaterasu to rule Takamagahara, Tsukuyomi to govern the realms of night, and Susanoo to rule the sea plains.
Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi brewed eight vats of sake on Susanoo's instructions to intoxicate Yamata no Orochi, enabling the serpent's slaying (Kojiki).
During the ukehi oath ritual in Takamagahara, Amaterasu took Susanoo's ten-span sword Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, broke it into three pieces, chewed the fragments, and breathed forth three goddesses to prove Susanoo's intentions were pure.
Susanoo's rampage in heaven drove Amaterasu into hiding in Ama-no-Iwato. Ame-no-Uzume performed her ecstatic dance to lure Amaterasu out, restoring sunlight to the world as told in the Kojiki.
Susanoo presented Kusanagi to Amaterasu as a peace offering after finding it in Yamata no Orochi's tail. The gift partially healed the breach between the storm god and his sister the sun goddess (Kojiki).
Susanoo discovered Kusanagi no Tsurugi hidden in one of Yamata no Orochi's eight tails after slaying the serpent. He named it Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi for the clouds that gathered above the beast (Kojiki).
Susanoo encountered Kushinadahime about to be sacrificed to Yamata no Orochi. He transformed her into a comb tucked in his hair for safekeeping, then slew the serpent with a sake trap to win her hand in marriage.
Suseri-hime secretly aided Okuninushi through Susanoo's deadly trials in Ne-no-Kuni — giving him scarves to repel snakes and centipedes, and guiding his escape with Susanoo's bow, sword, and koto.
Susanoo wielded the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi to hack apart the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi after plying it with sake, and discovered the sacred sword Kusanagi embedded in one of its tails.
Susanoo was banished from Takamagahara for his violent rampage and descended to Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, arriving in Izumo where he slew the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi.
Susanoo wept ceaselessly and refused to rule the seas as Izanagi commanded. His grief withered mountains and dried rivers, prompting Izanagi to banish him from heaven.
In the Nihon Shoki, Susanoo wept ceaselessly for his mother Izanami and wished to visit her in Ne-no-Katasukuni, leading to his banishment from Takamagahara by Izanagi.
Susanoo was banished from Takamagahara after his violent rampage destroyed Amaterasu's rice paddies and desecrated her weaving hall, with his beard cut and nails torn off as punishment.
Susanoo crunched Amaterasu's Yasakani no Magatama between his teeth and blew out a mist from which gods were born, proving his heart was pure in the ukei oath trial that decided whether he came to Takamagahara with honest intent.
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