Yasogami- Japanese GroupCollective

The White Hare and the Courtship

The eighty elder brothers of Ōkuninushi all desired Yakami-hime of Inaba and traveled together to court her, forcing their youngest brother to carry their baggage like a servant. Along the road they encountered a hare lying skinless on the beach at Keta, weeping from its wounds. The hare had tried to cross from the island of Oki by tricking a line of wani (sea creatures) into forming a bridge, but when it boasted of the deception on the last crossing, the final wani tore off its fur. The Yasogami mocked the hare and told it to bathe in salt water and dry itself in the wind, advice that only worsened its agony as the salt cracked and split the raw skin.

Ōkuninushi, arriving last under the weight of their baggage, found the hare still weeping. He advised it to wash in fresh river water and roll in cattail pollen. The hare's fur grew back, and it revealed itself to be a deity, prophesying that Yakami-hime would choose Ōkuninushi over all his brothers. When the eighty brothers arrived at Inaba, the princess indeed refused them and declared she would marry Ōkuninushi alone (Kojiki, Ōkuninushi cycle).

The Murders and the Flight

Enraged by their rejection, the Yasogami conspired to kill their brother. In their first attempt, they heated a great boulder until it glowed red and rolled it down the slope of Mount Tema, calling to Ōkuninushi to catch a "red boar" they claimed to be driving toward him. He caught the stone and was burned to death. His mother, Sashikuni-wakahime, petitioned the heavenly gods, and they sent Kisagai-hime and Umugihime to restore him: one gathered shell powder and the other mixed it with mother's milk, applying the salve to his body until he revived, whole and handsome.

The brothers struck again. They wedged Ōkuninushi into the split of a great tree and let the trunk snap shut, crushing him. Again his mother restored him to life, but this time she warned him that the eighty brothers would not stop until he was permanently dead. She urged him to flee to the underworld realm of Ne-no-Kuni to seek the protection of Susanoo. Ōkuninushi obeyed, and in Ne-no-Kuni he endured Susanoo's trials, won the love of Suseri-hime, and escaped with Susanoo's weapons and instruments of power (Kojiki, Ōkuninushi cycle).

When Ōkuninushi returned, he was no longer the servant who carried their bags. Armed with divine authority, he drove the eighty brothers from every cape and river-mouth in Izumo, scattering them until he stood as sole ruler of the terrestrial realm. The Yasogami, who had been many against one, could not prevail against the brother they had despised (Kojiki, Ōkuninushi cycle).