Japan Festivals: The birth of Japan

Japan's mythological origins could have come from the pen of J.R.R. Tolkien. According to the oldest written records, the Kojiki and the Nihon-shoki, the god Izanagi-no-Mikoto and goddess Izanami-no-Mikoto leant down from the Floating Bridge of Heaven and stirred the ocean with a jewelled spear. Drops of brine falling from the spear created the first island of Japan, Onogoro-jima, where the couple gave birth to an "eight-island country", complete with kami. Amaterasu, the sun goddess and ultimate ancestress of the imperial family, was created out of a bronze mirror held in Izanagi's left hand and sent to rule the heavens. Her younger brother, Susanoo, was put in charge of the earth. Unhappy with this situation, he started causing turmoil in the heavens, and so upset Amaterasu that she hid herself in a celestial cave, plunging the world into darkness.

The other gods banished Susanoo to the underworld. Then, in an effort to coax Amaterasu out of the cave, they performed a comical dance involving a spear. Upon hearing the somewhat ribald laughter, Amaterasu's curiosity got the better of her and she poked her head out to see the fun. Enticed out a little further by a beautiful jewel, Amaterasu was then captivated by a bronze mirror. While she was preoccupied, the gods quickly sealed the cave entrance and sunlight returned to the world.

In time, Amaterasu's grandson, Ninigi, was sent down to rule Japan. She gave him three gifts which were to be his imperial regalia: a bronze mirror, a sword and a curved jewel. Here myth finally merges into proto-history, when Jimmu, said to be Ninigi's great grandson, became the first emperor of Japan on the first day of spring 660 BC.

Back to Japan Festivals