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.
Amaterasu banished Tsukuyomi from her presence after he killed the food goddess Uke Mochi at a feast, deeming his violence unforgivable. This separation of sun and moon is why day and night never meet.
⚠ This episode appears in the Nihon Shoki, which attributes the killing to Tsukuyomi. The Kojiki instead has Susanoo kill the food goddess Ōgetsu-hime, with no corresponding Amaterasu-Tsukuyomi estrangement.
Tsukuyomi killed Ōgetsu-hime (called Uke Mochi in the Nihon Shoki) after she produced food from her body to honor him. From her corpse sprang rice, millet, wheat, beans, and silkworms — the staples of Japanese agriculture.
⚠ The Nihon Shoki attributes this killing to Tsukuyomi (calling the victim Uke Mochi). The Kojiki assigns a parallel killing of the food goddess Ōgetsu-hime to Susanoo instead.
Takamagahara, the High Plain of Heaven, is the celestial realm where Amaterasu reigns supreme among the heavenly kami — the primordial Kotoamatsukami, the wisdom god Omoikane, the mighty Ame-no-Tajikarao, the dancer Ame-no-Uzume, and the moon god Tsukuyomi.
After the misogi purification, Izanagi appointed Amaterasu to rule Takamagahara, Tsukuyomi to govern the realms of night, and Susanoo to rule the sea plains.
Amaterasu sent Tsukuyomi as her envoy to visit Ōgetsu-hime. His killing of the food goddess caused Amaterasu to banish him permanently, separating sun and moon into day and night (Nihon Shoki).
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