Wakahirume, the young sun maiden, weaves alongside Amaterasu in the celestial hall — her name and solar nature mark her as an earlier or subordinate form of the great sun goddess, absorbed into Amaterasu's expanding cult.
⚠ The Nihon Shoki main text has Amaterasu herself injured at the shuttle; a variant account substitutes Wakahirume. Whether Wakahirume is an independent deity, Amaterasu's attendant, or an older solar figure absorbed into the Amaterasu tradition remains debated.
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.
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