Izanami and Izanagi
Izanami ('she who invites') and Izanagi ('he who invites') are the primordial gods of the Shinto religion who are believed to have created the islands of Japan and given birth to many of the other Shinto gods or kami.
The myths of Japanese popular religion derive from oral traditions codified for posterity in two books: the Nihon Shoki, published in 720 CE and the Kojiki written by an official of the Empress Gemmyo between 708 and 714 CE. An additional source, the Kogoshui was written in c. 807 CE by Imibe-no-Hironari who collected together oral traditions omitted from the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki.
The Creation of Japan
The islands of Japan are the subject of a particularly colourful creation myth. Standing on the bridge or stairway of heaven (known as Ama-no-hashidate and which connected heaven - Ama - to earth), the two gods Izanami and Izanagi used a jewel encrusted spear to stir the ocean. Withdrawing the spear, salt crystallised into drops on the tip and these fell back into the ocean as islands. In another version, the spear dripped mud from the as yet murky and chaotic seas.
The first island to be created was Onogoro-shima and the gods immediately used the island to build a house and host their wedding ceremony. The ritual involved circling around a pillar (or in some versions the spear) with the two gods moving in opposite directions. However, during this sacred marriage ritual Izanami wrongly spoke first when they passed each other and as a consequence of this impiety their first child was a miscarriage and born an ugly weakling without bones. This was the god Hiruko (later Ebisu) who would become the patron of fishermen and one of the seven gods of good luck. Hiruko was abandoned by his parents and set in a basket for the sea to take it where it would. The second child was the island of Awa but Izanami and Izanagi were still not satisfied with their offspring and they asked their parents the seven invisible gods the reason for their misfortune. Revealing that the reason was their incorrect performance of the marriage ritual, the couple repeated the ceremony, this time making sure Izanagi spoke first.
The couple then continued to create more auspicious offspring, including the eight principal islands of Japan - Awaji, Shikoku, Oki, Tsukushi (Kyushu), Iki, Tsu, Sado, and Oyamato. Also created were a prodigious number of other gods. in fact, more than 800 kami (gods, spirits and natural phenomena) exist in the Shinto pantheon. Other notable children were Oho-wata-tsu-mi (god of the sea), Kuku-no-shi (god of the trees), Oho-yama tsu-mi (god of the mountains) and Kagutsuchi (god of fire), often referred to in hushed tones as Homusubi during ritual prayers.
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