古事記 上巻

When heaven and earth first parted, three gods came into being on the Plain of High Heaven. Their names were Ame-no-Minakanushi, then Takamimusuhi, then Kamimusuhi. Each of these three came into being alone, and each then hid himself from sight.

The land at that time was still young. It floated like oil upon water and drifted like a jellyfish. Out of it something pushed up in the manner of a reed shoot, and from that came Umashiashikabihikoji, and after him Ame-no-Tokotachi. These two also came into being alone, and they too hid themselves from sight.

These five are the gods set apart in heaven.

Next came Kuni-no-Tokotachi, and after him Toyokumono. These two also came into being alone, and they too hid themselves from sight.

Next came Uhijini, and after him his sister Suhijini.

Next Tsunuguhi, and his sister Ikuguhi.

Next Ōtonoji, and his sister Ōtonobe.

Next Omodaru, and his sister Ayakashikone.

Next Izanaki, and his sister Izanami.

From Kuni-no-Tokotachi down to Izanami these are called the seven generations of the gods. The two who came into being alone are each counted as one generation. The ten who follow are counted two at a time, each pair as one generation.

The gods of heaven together gave a command to Izanaki and Izanami: put this drifting land in order, make it firm, and finish making it. They handed the pair a jewelled spear and left the work to them.

The two stood on the floating bridge of heaven, lowered the spear, and stirred the sea with it. They stirred until the water thickened and rang, and when they drew the spear up again the brine that dripped from its point piled up and hardened into an island. That island is Onogoro.

The two came down to that island, set up a heavenly pillar, and built a hall eight fathoms across.

Izanaki asked his sister: how is your body made? Izanami answered: my body is fully formed, but there is one place that is not filled in. Izanaki said: my body is fully formed, and there is one place on it that is left over. I mean to take the place on me that is left over and press it into the place on you that is not filled in, and so give birth to the land. How would it be to give birth in this way? Izanami answered that it would be good.

Then Izanaki said: you and I will walk around this heavenly pillar, and where we meet we will join. Having agreed on this, he said: you go around from the right, I will go around from the left. And so they went.

When they met, Izanami spoke first and said: what a fine man. Izanaki spoke after her and said: what a fine woman. When they had finished speaking, Izanaki said to his sister: it is not good that the woman spoke first.

All the same they lay together, and the child they bore was Hiruko, the leech-child. They put this child into a boat of reeds and let it float away. Next they bore the island of Awa. This one too they did not count among their children.

The two talked it over and said: the child we have just borne is not good. Let us go up and tell the gods of heaven. They went up together and asked what should be done. The gods of heaven divined the matter and told them: it went badly because the woman spoke first. Go back down and say the words again in the right order.

So they went down and walked around the pillar as before. This time Izanaki spoke first and said: what a fine woman. Izanami spoke after him and said: what a fine man.

When they had finished speaking they joined, and the children they bore were these. First the island of Awaji-no-Ho-no-Sawake.

Next the island of Iyo-no-Futana. This island has one body and four faces, and each face has a name. The land of Iyo is called Ehime, the land of Sanuki is called Iiyorihiko, the land of Awa is called Ōgetsuhime, and the land of Tosa is called Takeyoriwake.

Next the island of Oki-no-Mitsugo, also called Ame-no-Oshikorowake.

Next the island of Tsukushi. This island too has one body and four faces, each with a name. The land of Tsukushi is called Shirahiwake, the land of Toyo is called Toyohiwake, the land of Hi is called Takehimukahi-Toyokujihinewake, and the land of Kumaso is called Takehiwake.

Next the island of Iki, also called Ame-hitotsubashira.

Next the island of Tsu, also called Ame-no-Sadeyorihime.

Next the island of Sado.

Next the island of Ōyamato-Toyoakizu, also called Ame-no-Mizora-Toyoakizune-wake.

Because these eight islands were born first, the land is called Ōyashimaguni, the land of the eight great islands.

Afterwards, on their way back, they bore these islands as well: Kibi-no-Kojima, also called Takehikatawake;

next Azuki Island, also called Ōnodehime;

next Ō Island, also called Ōtamaruwake;

next Hime Island, also called Ame-hitotsune;

next Chika Island, also called Ame-no-Oshio;

next Futago Island, also called Ame-futaya.

When they had finished giving birth to the lands, they began giving birth to gods. The first was Ōkotooshio.

Next they bore the gods of the house: Iwatsuchibiko, then Iwasuhime, then Ōtohiwake, then Ame-no-Fukio, then Ōyabiko, then Kazamotsuwake-no-Oshio.

Next they bore the god of the sea, Ōwatatsumi.

Next they bore the gods of the river mouths, Hayaakitsuhiko and his sister Hayaakitsuhime.

Hayaakitsuhiko and Hayaakitsuhime divided the rivers and the sea between them, and the gods they bore were Awanagi, then Awanami, then Tsuranagi, then Tsuranami, then Ame-no-Mikumari, then Kuni-no-Mikumari, then Ame-no-Kuhizamochi, then Kuni-no-Kuhizamochi. Eight in all.

Next Izanaki and Izanami bore the god of the wind, Shinatsuhiko; then the god of the trees, Kukunochi; then the god of the mountains, Ōyamatsumi; then the god of the moors, Kayanohime, who is also called Nozuchi.

Ōyamatsumi and Nozuchi divided the mountains and the moors between them, and the gods they bore were Ame-no-Sazuchi, then Kuni-no-Sazuchi, then Ame-no-Sagiri, then Kuni-no-Sagiri, then Ame-no-Kurato, then Kuni-no-Kurato, then Ōtomatoiko, then Ōtomatoime. Eight in all.

Next Izanaki and Izanami bore Tori-no-Iwakusubune, also called Ame-no-Torifune.

Next they bore Ōgetsuhime.

Next they bore Hi-no-Yagihayao, who is also called Hi-no-Kagabiko, and also called Hi-no-Kagutsuchi.

Because she bore this child, Izanami's genitals were burned, and she fell sick and lay down.

From what she vomited came Kanayamabiko, and then Kanayamabime.

From her faeces came Haniyasubiko, and then Haniyasubime.

From her urine came Mitsuhanome, and then Wakumusuhi. The child of Wakumusuhi is Toyouke.

And so Izanami died, because she had given birth to the fire god.

Izanaki and Izanami together bore fourteen islands and thirty-five gods. All of these were borne before Izanami died. Onogoro, however, was not borne, and Hiruko and the island of Awa are not counted among the children.

Izanaki said: that I should have traded my beloved wife for a single child. He crawled at her head and crawled at her feet and wept. From his tears came Nakisawame, who lives at the foot of the trees at Uneo on Mount Kagu.

Izanaki buried the dead Izanami on Mount Hiba, on the border between the land of Izumo and the land of Hahaki.

Then Izanaki drew the long sword at his waist and cut off the head of his child Kagutsuchi. The sword is named Ame-no-Ohabari, and it is also called Itsu-no-Ohabari.

The blood on the point of the sword flew onto the clean rocks, and from it came Iwasaku, then Nesaku, then Iwatsutsunoo.

The blood at the base of the blade also flew onto the clean rocks, and from it came Mikahayahi, then Hihayahi, then Takemikazuchi-no-O, who is also called Takefutsu, and also called Toyofutsu.

The blood that gathered on the hilt ran out between his fingers, and from it came Kuraokami, then Kuramitsuha.

From the body of the slain Kagutsuchi came these gods: from the head, Masakayamatsumi; from the chest, Odoyamatsumi; from the belly, Okuyamatsumi; from the genitals, Kurayamatsumi; from the left hand, Shigiyamatsumi; from the right hand, Hayamatsumi; from the left foot, Harayamatsumi; from the right foot, Toyamatsumi. Eight in all.

Izanaki wanted to see his wife again, and he followed her all the way to the land of Yomi. When Izanami opened the door of the hall and came out to meet him, he said: my beloved wife, the land you and I made is not yet finished. Come back.

Izanami answered: it is a pity. You should have come sooner. I have already eaten food cooked at the hearth of this land. But since my beloved husband has come all this way, I would like to go back. Let me talk it over with the gods of Yomi. While I do, do not look at me.

She went back inside the hall and stayed a long time. Izanaki could not go on waiting. He broke off one thick tooth from the comb in the left bunch of his hair, lit it as a torch, and went in to look.

Maggots were swarming and rustling over Izanami's body. On her head sat Ōikazuchi, on her chest Hoikazuchi, on her belly Kuroikazuchi, on her genitals Sakuikazuchi, on her left hand Wakaikazuchi, on her right hand Tsuchiikazuchi, on her left foot Naruikazuchi, and on her right foot Fushiikazuchi. Eight thunder gods in all had been born there.

Izanaki took fright and fled. Izanami said: you have shamed me. And she sent the hags of Yomi after him. Izanaki tore off his black headband and threw it down, and it turned at once into wild grapes. While the hags stopped to pick them up and eat them, he ran on. When they came after him again, he broke the teeth from the comb in the right bunch of his hair and threw them down, and they turned at once into bamboo shoots. While the hags pulled them up and ate them, he ran on again.

After that Izanami sent the eight thunder gods with fifteen hundred warriors of Yomi to chase him. Izanaki drew the long sword at his waist and ran, swinging it behind him. They still came on. But when he reached the foot of the Even Slope of Yomi, he picked three peaches that were growing there, waited for the pursuers, and threw the peaches at them, and every one of them turned back.

Izanaki said to the peaches: as you have helped me, so help every living person in the Central Land of the Reed Plains whenever they fall into trouble and suffer. And he gave the peaches the name Ōkamuzumi-no-Mikoto.

Last of all, Izanami herself came after him. Izanaki dragged a boulder that a thousand men could barely move and set it across the Even Slope of Yomi to block the way. The two of them stood on either side of the rock and spoke their parting words.

Izanami said: my beloved husband, if you do this, then every day I will strangle a thousand of the people of your land.

Izanaki answered: my beloved wife, if you do that, then every day I will set up fifteen hundred huts for giving birth.

And this is why a thousand people die each day, and fifteen hundred are born each day.

This Izanami is called Yomotsu-Ōkami, the great god of Yomi. Because she caught up with him, she is also called Chishiki-no-Ōkami. The rock that blocked the way is called Chigaeshi-no-Ōkami, and also Sayarimasu-Yomido-no-Ōkami. The Even Slope of Yomi is what is now the Ifuya Slope in the land of Izumo.

Izanaki said: I have been to a filthy and polluted land, so I will cleanse my body. He went to Awakihara, by the narrow river mouth at Tachibana in Himuka in Tsukushi, and there he purified himself.

From the staff he threw away came Tsukitatsu-Funado.

From the sash he threw away came Michi-no-Nagachiha.

From the bag he threw away came Tokihakashi.

From the robe he threw away came Wazurahi-no-Ushi.

From the trousers he threw away came Chimata.

From the headgear he threw away came Akigui-no-Ushi.

From the bracelet on his left arm came Okizakaru, then Okitsunagisabiko, then Okitsukaibera.

From the bracelet on his right arm came Hezakaru, then Hetsunagisabiko, then Hetsukaibera.

These twelve, from Funado to Hetsukaibera, were born from the things he took off and threw away.

Then Izanaki said: the current in the upper reach runs too fast, and the current in the lower reach runs too slack. So he went down into the middle reach and washed himself.

The gods who came into being then were Yasomagatsuhi, and then Ōmagatsuhi. These two came from the filth he had picked up in that polluted land.

Next, to set right the harm those two had brought, came Kamunaobi, then Ōnaobi, then Izunome.

Next, when he washed at the bottom of the water, came Sokotsu-Watatsumi, and then Sokotsutsunoo.

When he washed in the middle of the water, came Nakatsu-Watatsumi, and then Nakatsutsunoo.

When he washed at the surface of the water, came Uwatsu-Watatsumi, and then Uwatsutsunoo.

The three Watatsumi gods are the ancestral gods worshipped by the Azumi no Muraji, who descend from Utsushihikanasaku, the child of Watatsumi. The three gods Sokotsutsunoo, Nakatsutsunoo and Uwatsutsunoo are the three great gods of Suminoe.

Next, when he washed his left eye, Amaterasu came into being.

When he washed his right eye, Tsukuyomi came into being.

When he washed his nose, Susanoo came into being.

These fourteen, from Yasomagatsuhi to Susanoo, were born from the washing of his body.

Izanaki was greatly pleased and said: I have borne child after child, and at the last I have got three noble children. He took the string of beads from his neck, shook it until it swayed and rang, and gave it to Amaterasu, saying: you shall rule the Plain of High Heaven. That string of beads is named Mikuratana-no-Kami.

Then he said to Tsukuyomi: you shall rule the realm of the night.

Then he said to Susanoo: you shall rule the plain of the sea.

Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu each ruled as they had been told. Susanoo alone did not rule the realm given to him. He wept and howled until his beard grew down to his chest.

He wept so hard that the green mountains withered into bare hills and every river and sea dried up. Because of this the voices of harmful gods filled the air like summer flies, and every kind of disaster broke out.

Izanaki asked him: why do you weep and howl instead of ruling the realm I gave you?

Susanoo answered: I want to go to my mother's land, Ne-no-katasukuni. That is why I am weeping.

Izanaki was furious and said: then you shall not live in this land. And he drove him out on the spot.

Izanaki settled at Taga in Ōmi.

Susanoo said: then I will take my leave of Amaterasu before I go. As he climbed up to heaven, every mountain and river shook and roared, and all the land quaked.

Amaterasu heard it and was alarmed. She said: my brother is not coming up with any good purpose. He means to take my realm from me.

So she undid her hair and bound it up into bunches at either side of her head, and around both bunches, around her hair ornament, and around both hands she wound long strings of five hundred curved beads. On her back she slung a quiver holding a thousand arrows, and at her side a quiver holding five hundred, and she put on a loud-sounding guard for her forearm. She brandished her bow, kicked the hard ground of the courtyard until it scattered like light snow and she had trodden herself in up to the thighs, and stood shouting her challenge. She asked: why have you come up here?

Susanoo answered: I mean no harm. Our father asked me why I was weeping, and I told him I wanted to go to my mother's land. He said I could not stay in his country and drove me out. I came only to tell you before I go. I have nothing else in mind.

Amaterasu said: then how am I to know that your heart is clean?

Susanoo said: let each of us swear an oath and bring forth children.

So the two of them stood facing each other across the Tranquil River of Heaven.

Amaterasu first asked for the long sword at Susanoo's waist. She broke it into three pieces, rinsed them in the water of the true well of heaven, chewed them and chewed them, and blew them out. Out of the mist of her breath came Takiribime, also called Okitsushimahime; then Ichikishimahime, also called Sayoribime; then Takitsuhime.

Then Susanoo asked for the string of five hundred beads wound around the left bunch of Amaterasu's hair. He rinsed it in the water of the true well of heaven, chewed it and chewed it, and blew it out. Out of the mist of his breath came Ame-no-Oshihomimi.

From the beads of the right bunch of her hair came Ame-no-Hohi.

From the beads of her hair ornament came Amatsuhikone.

From the beads on her left hand came Ikutsuhikone.

From the beads on her right hand came Kumanokusubi.

Five in all.

Amaterasu said to Susanoo: the five male children born afterward came from things of mine, so they are mine. The three female children born first came from a thing of yours, so they are yours. That is how she divided them.

The three goddesses born first were settled as the gods of Munakata. Takiribime is at the shrine of the offing at Munakata, Ichikishimahime at the middle shrine, and Takitsuhime at the shore shrine. These three are the great gods worshipped by the lords of Munakata.

Of the five born afterward, Takehiratori, the child of Ame-no-Hohi, is the ancestor of the governors of Izumo, of Musashi, of Upper Unakami, of Lower Unakami, of Ijimu, of the district heads of Tsushima, and of the governors of Tōtsuōmi.

Amatsuhikone is the ancestor of the governors of Ōshikōchi, of the Nukatabe-no-Yue no Muraji, of the governors of Ubaraki, of the Tanaka no Atae of Yamato, of the governors of Yamashiro, of Umakuta, of Kihe in Michinoshiri, and of Suō, of the Amuchi no Miyatsuko of Yamato, of the district heads of Takechi, of the Kamō no Inagi, and of the Sakikusabe no Miyatsuko.

Susanoo said to Amaterasu: my heart was clean and bright, and that is why the children I brought forth were gentle girls. By this it follows that I have won.

In the flush of victory he broke down the ridges between the rice fields Amaterasu had made and filled in their ditches, and he scattered excrement through the hall where she tasted the first fruits of the harvest.

Even so Amaterasu did not rebuke him. She said: what looks like excrement is surely what my brother threw up when he was drunk, and if he broke the ridges and filled the ditches, he must have done it because he grudged the waste of good ground.

But his misconduct did not stop. It grew worse. While Amaterasu was in the sacred weaving hall having the garments of the gods woven, Susanoo broke a hole in the roof of that hall and dropped through it a piebald horse of heaven that he had flayed from the tail forward. The heavenly weaving woman saw it, was startled, struck her genitals against the shuttle, and died.

Seeing this, Amaterasu took fright. She opened the door of the rock cave of heaven, went inside, and shut herself in. The Plain of High Heaven went dark, and the Central Land of the Reed Plains went dark as well, and the night went on without end. The voices of all the gods filled the air like summer flies, and every kind of disaster broke out.

So the eight hundred myriad gods gathered in the bed of the Tranquil River of Heaven, and they had Omoikane, the child of Takamimusuhi, think out what to do. First they collected the long-crowing birds of the everlasting land and made them crow. They took hard stones from the upper reaches of the Tranquil River of Heaven and iron from the metal mountain of heaven, and sought out the smith Amatsumara. They set Ishikoridome to make a mirror, and Tamanoya to make a long string of five hundred curved beads.

They called Ame-no-Koyane and Futodama, had them pull out whole the shoulder blade of a stag from Mount Kagu of heaven, take bark of the cherry that grows on Mount Kagu of heaven, and read the omens.

They dug up by the roots a thick-branched sakaki tree from Mount Kagu of heaven. On its upper branches they hung the string of five hundred curved beads, on its middle branches they hung the mirror of eight spans, and from its lower branches they let fall offerings of white cloth and blue cloth.

Futodama held all of this out as an offering, Ame-no-Koyane chanted the words of the ritual, and Ame-no-Tajikarao stood hidden beside the door.

Ame-no-Uzume bound up her sleeves with a cord of hikage vine from Mount Kagu of heaven, made a headband of masaki vine, took bundles of bamboo grass leaves from Mount Kagu of heaven in her hands, turned a tub upside down before the door of the rock cave, and stamped on it until it thundered. She fell into a trance, pulled out her breasts, and pushed the cord of her skirt down past her genitals. Then the Plain of High Heaven shook, and the eight hundred myriad gods all laughed together.

Amaterasu wondered at this. She opened the door of the rock cave a crack and spoke from within: since I shut myself in, the Plain of High Heaven should be dark and the Central Land of the Reed Plains dark as well. Why then does Ame-no-Uzume make merry, and why do the eight hundred myriad gods all laugh?

Ame-no-Uzume answered: we are glad and laughing because there is a god here more noble than you.

While she was speaking, Ame-no-Koyane and Futodama held out the mirror and showed it to Amaterasu. Amaterasu wondered more and more, came little by little out from behind the door, and leaned forward to look. Then Ame-no-Tajikarao, who was hidden there, took her hand and drew her out. Futodama at once stretched a rope of plaited straw behind her and said: you may not go back inside.

So when Amaterasu came out, the Plain of High Heaven and the Central Land of the Reed Plains grew bright of themselves.

The eight hundred myriad gods took counsel together. They laid on Susanoo a fine of a thousand tables of goods, cut off his beard, had the nails of his hands and feet pulled out, and drove him away.

Susanoo asked Ōgetsuhime for food. She brought food of many kinds out of her nose, her mouth and her backside, prepared it in various ways, and set it before him. Susanoo watched her doing this. Thinking that she meant to feed him filth, he killed her on the spot.

Things grew from the body of the murdered goddess. Silkworms grew in her head, rice seed in her two eyes, millet in her two ears, red beans in her nose, wheat in her genitals, and soybeans in her backside.

Kamimusuhi had these gathered up and made them into seed.

Driven out, Susanoo came down at a place called Torikami, at the head of the Hi River in the land of Izumo. Just then a pair of chopsticks came floating down the river. Taking this to mean that there were people upstream, he went up to look for them, and found an old man and an old woman with a girl between them, weeping.

Susanoo asked: who are you?

The old man answered: I am an earthly god, a child of Ōyamatsumi. My name is Ashinazuchi, my wife is Tenazuchi, and our daughter is Kushinadahime.

Why are you weeping?

We had eight daughters. But the eight-forked serpent of Koshi comes every year and eats one of them. The time of its coming is near again, and that is why we weep.

What does it look like?

Its eyes are like red ground-cherries. It has one body with eight heads and eight tails. Moss and cypress and cedar grow on its body. It is as long as eight valleys and eight ridges, and its belly is everywhere oozing and raw with blood.

Susanoo said: will you give me your daughter?

We do not know your name.

I am the brother of Amaterasu. I have just now come down from heaven.

Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi said: in that case we are honoured. We give her to you.

Susanoo at once turned the girl into a close-toothed comb and stuck it in the bunch of his hair. Then he said to Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi: brew liquor refined eight times over. Build a fence all around, and make eight gates in that fence. At each gate tie a platform, and on each platform set a liquor vat, and fill each vat with the liquor refined eight times over. Then wait.

They made everything ready as they had been told and waited, and the eight-forked serpent came, exactly as they had said. It put one head into each vat, drank, grew drunk, lay down, and fell asleep.

Then Susanoo drew the long sword at his waist and cut the serpent to pieces, until the Hi River ran as blood. When he cut the middle tail, the blade of his sword chipped. He thought this strange, and split the tail open with the point of his sword, and out of it came a keen great sword. Susanoo took it, and thinking it a remarkable thing, told Amaterasu about it and presented it to her. This is the sword Kusanagi.

Susanoo looked through the land of Izumo for a place to build his palace. He came to a place called Suga and said: coming to this place, my heart is clear. And there he built a palace and lived in it. That is why the place is called Suga to this day.

When this god first built the palace at Suga, clouds rose up from the ground. So he made a song:

Clouds rise in their eights.

Izumo, the eightfold fence.

To keep my wife within

I raise an eightfold fence —

oh, that eightfold fence.

Then he called Ashinazuchi and said: I make you the head of my palace. And he gave him the name Inada-no-Miyanushi-Suga-no-Yatsumimi-no-Kami.

The child Susanoo had by Kushinadahime was Yashimajinumi.

Susanoo also took Kamu-Ōichihime, the daughter of Ōyamatsumi, and had by her Ōtoshi, and then Ukanomitama.

Yashimajinumi took Konohanachiruhime, the daughter of Ōyamatsumi, and had by her Fuhanomojikunusunu.

Fuhanomojikunusunu took Hikawahime, the daughter of Okami, and had by her Fukabuchi-no-Mizuyarehana.

Fukabuchi-no-Mizuyarehana took Ame-no-Tsudoechine, and had by her Omizunu.

Omizunu took Futemimi, the daughter of Funuzuno, and had by her Ame-no-Fuyukinu.

Ame-no-Fuyukinu took Sashikuni-Wakahime, the daughter of Sashikuni-Ōkami, and had by her Ōkuninushi.

Ōkuninushi has other names as well. He is called Ōnamuji, and Ashiharashikoo, and Yachihoko, and Utsushikunitama. Five names in all.

Ōkuninushi had eighty brothers. But all eighty of them gave up the land to him, and this is how it came about.

Each of the eighty wanted to marry Yagamihime of Inaba, and they went off to Inaba together. They made Ōnamuji carry their bag and brought him along as their servant.

When they reached Cape Keta, a hare was lying there with no fur on it. The eighty said to the hare: bathe in the salt water of the sea, then lie on a high mountain ridge where the wind blows across you.

The hare did as it was told, and as the salt water dried, the wind split the skin of its body. So it lay there weeping in pain.

Ōnamuji, coming along last, saw it and asked: why are you lying here weeping?

The hare answered: I was on the island of Oki and wanted to cross over to this land, but I had no way to do it. So I lied to the sea creatures called wani. I said: let us count our kin and see which of us has more. Bring out all your kin and have them lie down in a line from this island to Cape Keta, and I will run across their backs and count them, and then we will know which of us is the greater number. They were taken in and lay down in a line. I ran across their backs counting them, and just as I was about to step onto the shore I said: I have tricked you. At that the wani lying last seized me and stripped off every bit of my fur. While I was crying over it, the eighty who came ahead of you told me to bathe in salt water and lie in the wind, and I did what they said, and my whole body was torn to pieces.

Ōnamuji told the hare: go at once to the river mouth, wash yourself in the fresh water, take the pollen of the cattails growing there, spread it out and roll about on it. Your body will come back as it was.

The hare did as it was told, and its body was as before. This is the white hare of Inaba, now called the hare god.

The hare said to Ōnamuji: those eighty will never have Yagamihime. You will have her, though you carry their bag.

Yagamihime answered the eighty brothers: I will not listen to you. I will marry Ōnamuji.

The eighty were angry and plotted to kill him. When they came to the foot of Mount Tema in the land of Hōki they said to him: there is a red boar on this mountain. We will drive it down, and you are to be waiting for it and catch it. If you do not catch it, we will certainly kill you.

Then they heated a great stone shaped like a boar in a fire and rolled it down the mountain. Ōnamuji took hold of it and caught it, and the stone burned him, and he died.

His mother wept and lamented, and she went up to heaven and appealed to Kamimusuhi. Kamimusuhi at once sent Kisagaihime and Umugihime to bring him back to life. Kisagaihime scraped and gathered, and Umugihime carried water and spread it on him like mother's milk, and Ōnamuji became a fine young man and walked away.

Seeing this, the eighty deceived him again. They took him into the mountains, felled a great tree, drove a wedge into the split, put him inside it, and knocked the wedge away. Ōnamuji was crushed and died.

His mother came weeping and searching for him again. She found him, split the tree open at once, took him out and brought him back to life. Then she said: if you stay here, the eighty will destroy you in the end. And she sent him away to Ōyabiko in the land of Ki.

The eighty came after him, fitted arrows to their bows and demanded that he be handed over. Ōyabiko let Ōnamuji slip out through the fork of a tree and put him out of their sight.

Ōyabiko said: go to the Land of Roots, where Susanoo is. He will surely see to it for you.

Ōnamuji went to Susanoo as he had been told. Susanoo's daughter Suserihime came out, and the two looked at each other and were joined. Suserihime went in and said to her father: a very beautiful god has come. Susanoo came out and looked at him and said: this is the one called Ashiharashikoo. He called him in and made him sleep in the chamber of snakes.

Suserihime gave Ōnamuji a snake-scarf and said: if the snakes try to bite you, wave this scarf three times and drive them off. He did as she said. The snakes grew quiet of themselves, and he slept peacefully and came out.

The next night Susanoo put him in the chamber of centipedes and wasps. Suserihime gave him a centipede-and-wasp scarf and told him the same as before, and he came out unharmed.

Then Susanoo shot a whistling arrow far into a broad moor and told him to fetch it. When Ōnamuji went into the moor, Susanoo set fire to it all around. He could not find the way out. A mouse came and said: inside it is hollow, hollow; outside it is narrow, narrow. He stamped where the mouse had spoken and the ground gave way beneath him, and while he was hidden there the fire burned over his head and passed. Then the mouse came out carrying the whistling arrow in its mouth. The feathers of the arrow had all been eaten by the mouse's young.

Suserihime came weeping, carrying the things for a funeral. Her father the great god also came out to the moor, thinking him dead. Then Ōnamuji came out with the arrow and handed it to him.

Susanoo took him into the great hall of eight spans and had him pick the lice from his head. There were many centipedes in that head. Suserihime gave Ōnamuji berries of the muku tree and red clay. He chewed the berries to pieces and held the red clay in his mouth and spat them out together. Susanoo thought he was chewing the centipedes and spitting them out, and his heart softened toward him, and he slept.

Then Ōnamuji took Susanoo's hair and tied it to the rafters of the hall, blocked the door with a rock that five hundred men would draw, took his wife Suserihime on his back, took Susanoo's life-sword and life-bow-and-arrows and the sounding lute of heaven, and fled. As he went, the lute brushed against a tree and the earth rang. Susanoo woke at the sound and pulled the hall down. But while he was untying his hair from the rafters, Ōnamuji got far away.

Susanoo pursued him as far as the Flat Slope of Yomi, and looking after him from a distance he called out: with that life-sword and that life-bow-and-arrows of yours, drive your half-brothers down to the foot of the slopes and sweep them off into the river shallows. Become Ōkuninushi, and Utsushikunitama as well. Make my daughter Suserihime your chief wife. At the foot of Mount Uka set the pillars of your hall deep in the rock below and raise its beams high toward the Plain of High Heaven, and live there, you wretch.

With that sword and bow Ōnamuji drove off the eighty brothers, running them down at the foot of every slope and sweeping them off into every river shallow, and he began to make the land.

He took Yagamihime as he had promised her before. But Yagamihime feared his chief wife Suserihime, and she set the child she had borne in the fork of a tree and went home. So the child is called Kinomata, and also Mii.

Yachihoko went to the land of Koshi to woo Nunakawahime, and standing before her house he sang:

I am Yachihoko.

In the Land of Eight Islands I found no wife,

and hearing that in far Koshi there was a wise woman,

hearing that there was a fair woman,

I set out to woo, I came to woo.

My sword-cord not yet loosened,

my cloak not yet laid aside,

I stand pushing and pulling

at the plank door where the girl sleeps.

On the green mountain the nue is calling,

the pheasant of the moor cries out,

the cock of the yard crows the hour.

These hateful birds —

I would beat them until they were silent.

Messengers that go through the sky: this is the word that is handed down.

Nunakawahime did not open the door. From inside she sang back:

Yachihoko,

I am a woman soft as bending grass,

and my heart is a bird on the sandbank of the shore.

Now it is still my own bird,

but later it will be your bird.

Do not die of this, I beg you.

Messengers that go through the sky: this is the word that is handed down.

When the sun has gone behind the green mountains,

when the night comes, black as jet,

I will come out smiling like the morning sun.

Your arms, white as rope of mulberry bark,

will pat my young breast, soft as foam of snow,

and our hands will twine,

and pillowed on each other's jewelled arms

we will lie with our legs stretched out.

So do not long for me so hard.

Yachihoko: this is the word that is handed down.

So that night they did not come together, but on the night of the next day they came together.

Suserihime, the chief wife of this god, was fiercely jealous. Her husband was at a loss, and made ready to go up from Izumo to the land of Yamato. Dressed for the journey, with one hand on his horse's saddle and one foot in the stirrup, he sang:

I put on my black robe,

black as jet, and wear it well,

and looking down at my breast like a bird on the open sea

I raise my sleeves and lower them — it does not suit me.

I throw it off at the edge of the waves.

I put on my blue robe,

blue as the kingfisher, and wear it well,

and looking down at my breast I raise my sleeves and lower them — this does not suit me either.

I throw it off at the edge of the waves.

I put on the robe dyed with madder

sown in the mountain field and pounded,

and wear it well,

and looking down at my breast I raise my sleeves and lower them — this one suits me.

My dear one.

When I go off with my company like a flock of birds,

when I am led away like a bird,

you say you will not weep,

but you will bow your head like a single stalk of grass at the foot of the mountain

and weep, and your tears will rise like mist in a morning rain.

My wife, young as new grass: this is the word that is handed down.

Then his wife took a great cup, came close to him, held it out and sang:

Yachihoko, my Ōkuninushi.

Being a man,

on every island headland you round,

on every rocky headland you round,

you have a wife young as new grass.

But I am a woman.

I have no man but you,

I have no husband but you.

Under the sway of the patterned hangings,

under the softness of the silk quilt,

under the rustle of the mulberry-cloth quilt,

pat my young breast, soft as foam of snow,

with your arms white as rope of mulberry bark,

and twine your hands with mine,

and pillowed on jewelled arms

lie with your legs stretched out and sleep.

Now take this rich liquor.

When she had sung, they drank the pledge from the cup at once, with their hands about each other's necks, and they have been at peace to this day. These are called the words of the gods.

Ōkuninushi took Takiribime, who dwells in the inner shrine of Munakata, and had by her Ajishikitakahikone, and then Takahime. Takahime is also called Shitateruhime. This Ajishikitakahikone is the one now called the great god of Kamo.

Ōkuninushi also took Kamuyatatehime, and had by her Kotoshironushi.

He also took Torimimi, the daughter of Yashimamuji, and had by her Torinarumi.

Torinarumi took Hinaterinukatabichi-o-ikochini, and had by her Kuni-oshitomi.

Kuni-oshitomi took Ashinadaka, who is also called Yagawaehime, and had by her Hayamika-no-Takesahayajinumi.

Hayamika-no-Takesahayajinumi took Sakitamahime, the daughter of Ame-no-Mikanushi, and had by her Mikanushihiko.

Mikanushihiko took Hinarashibime, the daughter of Okami, and had by her Tahirikishimarumi.

Tahirikishimarumi took Ikutamasakitamahime, the daughter of Hihiragi-no-Sonohanamazumi, and had by her Mironami.

Mironami took Aonumanuoshihime, the daughter of Shikiyamanushi, and had by her Nunoshitomi-Torinarumi.

Nunoshitomi-Torinarumi took Wakatsukushime, and had by her Ame-no-Hibara-Ōshinadomi.

Ame-no-Hibara-Ōshinadomi took Tōtsumachine, the daughter of Ame-no-Sagiri, and had by her Tōtsuyamasakitarashi.

From Yashimajinumi named above down to Tōtsuyamasakitarashi, these are called the gods of seventeen generations.

While Ōkuninushi was at the cape of Miho in Izumo, a god came riding in on the crests of the waves, in a boat made of a kagami pod, wearing the skin of a moth flayed off whole.

Ōkuninushi asked his name, and the god did not answer. He asked the gods who attended him, and they all said they did not know. Then a toad said: Kuebiko will surely know this.

So he called Kuebiko and asked, and Kuebiko answered: this is Sukunabikona, the child of Kamimusuhi.

He reported this to Kamimusuhi, who said: this is truly my child. Of all my children, he is the one who slipped through between my fingers. So you, Ashiharashikoo, become brothers with this child and make this land and make it firm.

From that time Ōnamuji and Sukunabikona together made this land and made it firm. Later Sukunabikona crossed over to the Eternal Land.

Kuebiko, who named him, is what is now called the scarecrow of the mountain fields. This god cannot walk, but he knows everything under heaven.

After this Ōkuninushi grieved and said: how can I make this land alone? With what god can I make this land?

At that moment a god came toward him, lighting up the sea. The god said: if you worship me well, I will join you in making the land. If you do not worship me, the land will not be made.

Ōkuninushi asked: then how am I to worship you?

The god answered: worship me on the top of the mountain to the east, within the green hedge of Yamato.

This is the god who dwells on Mount Mimoro.

Ōtoshi took Inohime, the daughter of Kamu-Ikusubi, and had children by her: Ōkunimitama, then Kara, then Sohori, then Shirahi, then Hijiri. Five in all.

He also took Kaguyohime, and had by her Ōkaguyamatomi, and then Mitoshi. Two in all.

He also took Ameshirukarumizuhime, and had children by her: Okitsuhiko, then Okitsuhime. Okitsuhime is also called Ōbehime, and she is the god that people worship at the hearth.

Then Ōyamakui, who is also called Yamasue-no-Ōnushi. This god dwells on Mount Hie in the land of Chikatsu-Ōmi, and also dwells at Matsuo in Kazuno, and is the god of the whistling arrow.

Then Niwatsuhi, then Asuha, then Hahiki, then Kaguyamatomi, then Hayamato, then Niwatakatsuhi, then Ōtsuchi, who is also called Tsuchi-no-Mioya.

Hayamato took Ōgetsuhime, and had children by her: Wakayamakui, then Wakatoshi, then his sister Wakasaname, then Mizumaki, then Natsutakatsuhi, who is also called Natsunome, then Akibime, then Kukutoshi, then Kukuki-Wakamurotsunane. Eight in all.

Amaterasu gave the command: the Land of Abundant Reed Plains and Fresh Rice Ears is the land my child Ame-no-Oshihomimi is to rule. And she sent him down from heaven.

Ame-no-Oshihomimi stood on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and looked down, and said: the Central Land of Reed Plains is in a violent uproar. And he turned back and reported this to Amaterasu.

Then Takamimusuhi and Amaterasu gave orders, gathering the eight hundred myriad gods in the dry bed of the Tranquil River of Heaven, and they had Omoikane consider the matter, saying: this Central Land of Reed Plains is the land we have assigned to our child to rule. But they say the land is full of unruly earthly gods. Which god shall we send to bring them to submission?

Omoikane and the eight hundred myriad gods took counsel and said: Ame-no-Hohi should be sent.

So they sent Ame-no-Hohi. But Ame-no-Hohi curried favour with Ōkuninushi, and for three years he sent back no report.

Takamimusuhi and Amaterasu asked the eight hundred myriad gods again: Ame-no-Hohi, whom we sent to the Central Land of Reed Plains, has long sent back no report. Which god shall we send next?

Omoikane answered: send Ame-no-Wakahiko, the child of Amatsukunitama.

So they gave Ame-no-Wakahiko the heavenly bow and the heavenly feathered arrows, and sent him down. But as soon as he arrived in that land, Ame-no-Wakahiko took Shitateruhime, the daughter of Ōkuninushi, and schemed to take the land for himself, and for eight years he sent back no report.

So Amaterasu and Takamimusuhi asked the gods again: Ame-no-Wakahiko has long sent back no report. Which god shall we send to ask him why he stays so long? The gods and Omoikane answered: send the pheasant called Nakime.

And they charged her: go and ask Ame-no-Wakahiko this. You were sent to the Central Land of Reed Plains to bring its unruly gods to submission and to pacify them. Why have you sent back no report for eight years?

Nakime came down from heaven and perched on a branching katsura tree at Ame-no-Wakahiko's gate, and said exactly what she had been told to say.

Then Ame-no-Sagume heard the bird and said to Ame-no-Wakahiko: this bird's cry is a very bad one. You should shoot it down. Ame-no-Wakahiko took the heavenly feathered arrow and shot the pheasant dead.

The arrow passed through the pheasant's breast and flew on upward, and it reached the place at the dry bed of the Tranquil River of Heaven where Amaterasu and Takagi were. Takagi took up the arrow and saw blood on its feathers. He said: this is the arrow we gave to Ame-no-Wakahiko. He showed it to the gods and said: if this is an arrow Ame-no-Wakahiko shot at an evil god without disobeying our command, let it not strike him. If his heart is foul, let Ame-no-Wakahiko be struck by this arrow and die.

Then he took the arrow and thrust it back down through the hole it had made. It struck Ame-no-Wakahiko in the breast as he lay on his bed in the morning, and he died. This is the returning arrow. And the pheasant did not come back. What people still call the one-way errand of the pheasant comes from this.

Shitateruhime's weeping was carried on the wind and reached heaven. Ame-no-Wakahiko's father Amatsukunitama, and the wife and children he had left in heaven, heard it and came down, and wept and mourned, and built a mourning house there. They made the river goose the bearer of the offerings, the heron the bearer of the broom, the kingfisher the server of food, the sparrow the woman at the mortar, and the pheasant the woman who wails, and for eight days and eight nights they made music and sang for the dead.

Then Ajishikitakahikone came to offer condolence. Ame-no-Wakahiko's father and his wife wept and said, my child was not dead after all, my lord was not dead after all, and they clung to his hands and feet — for the two of them looked very much alike.

Ajishikitakahikone was furious and said: I came to mourn because he was my dear friend. Why do you liken me to a filthy corpse? He drew the sword of ten hand-spans at his waist, cut down the mourning house, and kicked it away with his foot. That is Mount Mo, at the upper waters of the Aimi River in the land of Mino. The sword is called Ōhakari, and also Kamudo-no-tsurugi.

As Ajishikitakahikone flew away in his anger, his sister Takahime sang, wanting to make his name known:

The strung jewels at the throat

of the young weaving girl in heaven —

oh, the jewels of that string:

he who crosses over two valleys shining like them

is the god Ajishikitakahikone.

This song is of the kind called hinaburi.

Amaterasu said: which god shall we send this time?

Omoikane and the gods answered: send Itsu-no-Ohabari, who is in the rock cave at the upper waters of the Tranquil River of Heaven. If not him, then his child Takemikazuchi. But Itsu-no-Ohabari has dammed the waters of the Tranquil River of Heaven back on themselves and blocked the road, so no other god can go. Send Ame-no-Kaku to ask him.

So they sent Ame-no-Kaku to ask, and Itsu-no-Ohabari answered: I will serve, with respect. But for this errand it is better to send my child Takemikazuchi. And he gave him up at once.

So Ame-no-Torifune was sent with Takemikazuchi.

The two came down to the little shore of Inasa in the land of Izumo. They drew a sword ten hand-spans long, stood it upside down on the crest of a wave, sat cross-legged on its point, and put this to Ōkuninushi: we are sent by the command of Amaterasu and Takagi. The Central Land of Reed Plains that you rule is the land assigned to our child to rule. What is your mind in this?

Ōkuninushi answered: I cannot speak to it. My son Yaekotoshironushi will speak. But he has gone to the cape of Miho to take birds and fish, and he has not yet returned.

So they sent Ame-no-Torifune to summon Kotoshironushi and put the question to him. Kotoshironushi said to his father: with respect, I give this land up to the child of the gods of heaven. Then he trod on the boat he had come in and tipped it over, clapped his hands in the reversed clap of heaven and turned it into a fence of green branches, and hid himself inside it.

Then they asked: your son Kotoshironushi has spoken. Is there any other son who should speak? Ōkuninushi answered: there is one more son, Takeminakata. Beyond him there is none.

While he was still speaking, Takeminakata came, carrying on his fingertips a rock that a thousand men would draw, and said: who is it that has come into our land and speaks in whispers? Come, let us try our strength. I will take your hand first.

He let him take his hand, and the hand turned at once into a pillar of ice, and then into the blade of a sword. Takeminakata drew back in fear. Then Takemikazuchi took Takeminakata's hand, crushed it as one crushes a young reed, and threw him away, and Takeminakata fled.

Takemikazuchi went after him, ran him down at the sea of Suwa in the land of Shinano, and was about to kill him. Takeminakata said: do not kill me. I will go nowhere but this place. I will not go against the word of my father Ōkuninushi. I will not go against the word of Kotoshironushi. I give up this Central Land of Reed Plains as the child of the gods of heaven commands.

So Takemikazuchi came back and put it to Ōkuninushi: your sons Kotoshironushi and Takeminakata have said that they will not go against the command of the child of the gods of heaven. What is your mind?

Ōkuninushi answered: as my two sons have said, so I too will not go against it. I give up this Central Land of Reed Plains as commanded. But let the place where I live be built like the hall in which the child of the gods of heaven holds the succession of the sun — its pillars set thick on the rock foundations below, its beams raised high toward the Plain of High Heaven — and I will withdraw and hide in the eighty far bends of the road. And of my hundred and eighty children, if Yaekotoshironushi goes before them and behind them and serves, not one of the gods will disobey.

When he had said this, they built the heavenly hall on the little shore of Tagishi in Izumo. Kushiyatama, the grandson of Minato, served as steward and set out the heavenly feast. He turned into a cormorant, went down to the bottom of the sea, brought up clay in his mouth and made eighty heavenly dishes. He cut the stalks of seaweed and made a fire drill's base, cut the stalks of komo and made the drill, drilled out fire, and said:

Let this fire I have drilled burn on until in the Plain of High Heaven the soot of the new hall of Kamimusuhi, our ancestor, hangs down long, and below the ground it bakes hard down to the rock foundations; and let the thousand-fathom rope of mulberry cord be paid out, and the sea bass with its wide mouth and spreading tail that the fisherman lands be hauled in with a rattling of the boards; and I will offer the true fish-food of heaven till the split-bamboo stands bend under it.

Then Takemikazuchi went up to heaven and reported that he had brought the Central Land of Reed Plains to submission and pacified it.

Amaterasu and Takagi commanded Ame-no-Oshihomimi: word has come that the Central Land of Reed Plains is now pacified. So go down and rule it, as was assigned to you before.

Ame-no-Oshihomimi answered: while I was preparing to go down, a child was born to me. His name is Ame-nigishi-kuni-nigishi-amatsuhiko-hiko-ho-no-Ninigi. It is right that this child should go down instead. The child had been born of Yorozuhatatoyoakizushihime, the daughter of Takagi.

So they commanded Ninigi: this Land of Abundant Reed Plains and Fresh Rice Ears is the land you are to rule. Go down as you are commanded.

When Ninigi was about to go down, there was a god standing at the eight-forking road of heaven whose light shone up to the Plain of High Heaven above and down to the Central Land of Reed Plains below. Amaterasu and Takagi commanded Ame-no-Uzume: you are a slight woman, but you are a god who can face another down and win. So go alone and ask him: who is it that stands like this on the road by which our child is to go down?

Ame-no-Uzume asked, and the god answered: I am an earthly god. My name is Sarutahiko. I heard that the child of the gods of heaven was coming down, and I have come out to go before him and lead the way.

Then they sent down with Ninigi the heads of five groups: Ame-no-Koyane, Futodama, Ame-no-Uzume, Ishikoridome, and Tamanooya.

And they gave him the curved jewels of eight spans and the mirror, the ones used when Amaterasu was drawn out of the rock cave, and the sword Kusanagi as well, and with them Omoikane, Ame-no-Tajikarao, and Ame-no-Iwatowake. They charged him: take this mirror to be my own spirit, and serve it in worship exactly as you would worship me before you. And: let Omoikane take charge of the matters that stand before me, and carry on the government.

These two gods are worshipped at the shrine of Isuzu. Toyuke is the god who dwells at Watarai, at the outer shrine. Ame-no-Iwatowake is also called Kushiiwamado, and also Toyoiwamado. This god is the god of the gate. Ame-no-Tajikarao dwells at Sananagata.

Ame-no-Koyane is the ancestor of the Nakatomi no Muraji. Futodama is the ancestor of the Inbe no Obito. Ame-no-Uzume is the ancestor of the Sarume no Kimi. Ishikoridome is the ancestor of the Kagamitsukuri no Muraji. Tamanooya is the ancestor of the Tamanooya no Muraji.

At the command of Amaterasu and Takagi, Ninigi left his seat of rock in heaven, pushed apart the eightfold clouds that trail across the sky, cleared a way before him with a mighty clearing, stood on the floating bridge of heaven, stood on the floating island, and came down to the peak Kujifuru of Takachiho in Himuka, in Tsukushi.

Ame-no-Oshihi and Amatsukume went before him and attended him: stone quivers on their backs, mallet-headed swords at their waists, bows of hazel in their hands, true deer-arrows gripped under their arms. Ame-no-Oshihi is the ancestor of the Ōtomo no Muraji. Amatsukume is the ancestor of the Kume no Atae.

Ninigi said: this land faces the land of Kara, and the way runs straight to the cape of Kasasa; it is a land where the morning sun strikes full upon it, a land where the evening sun shines bright. So this is a very good place.

And he set the pillars of his palace firm on the rock below and raised its beams high toward the Plain of High Heaven, and there he lived.

Ninigi said to Ame-no-Uzume: it was you who found out Sarutahiko, the god who went before me as my guide. So it is you who shall see him home. And you shall take that god's name upon you and serve me under it.

For this reason the women of the Sarume no Kimi bear the name of that male god Sarutahiko, and the women are called Sarume no Kimi.

While Sarutahiko was at Azaka he went out fishing, and a hirabu shellfish closed on his hand and pulled him under, and he drowned. His name while he sank at the bottom is Sokodokumitama; his name when the seawater bubbled up is Tsubutatsumitama; his name when the bubbles burst is Awasakumitama.

Ame-no-Uzume, having seen Sarutahiko home, came back and drove together all the fish, the wide-finned and the narrow-finned, and asked them: will you serve the child of the gods of heaven? They all said that they would serve. Only the sea cucumber gave no answer. Ame-no-Uzume said to it: is this a mouth that gives no answer? And she slit its mouth with the small knife at her belt. That is why the sea cucumber's mouth is slit to this day.

And so, in every reign, when the first catch is offered up from Shima, a share of it is given to the Sarume no Kimi.

At the cape of Kasasa, Ninigi met a beautiful woman. He asked whose daughter she was, and she answered: I am a daughter of Ōyamatsumi. My name is Kamuatatsuhime, and I am also called Konohanasakuyabime.

He asked whether she had brothers or sisters, and she answered: I have an elder sister, Iwanagahime.

Ninigi said: I wish to marry you. What do you say? She answered: I cannot answer that. My father Ōyamatsumi will answer.

So he sent to ask for her, and Ōyamatsumi was very glad, and sent both daughters together, the elder sister with the younger, and with them a great quantity of bridal goods carried on a hundred tables.

But the elder sister was very ugly. Ninigi took fright at the sight of her and sent her back, and kept only the younger, Konohanasakuyabime, and lay with her for one night.

Ōyamatsumi was deeply ashamed that Iwanagahime had been sent back, and he sent word: my reason for offering both daughters together was this. I sent them with a pledge — that by taking Iwanagahime the life of the child of the gods of heaven would stand firm and unmoved as rock, though the snow fall and the wind blow, and that by taking Konohanasakuyabime it would flower and flourish as the blossoms of the trees flower. But now you have sent Iwanagahime back and kept only Konohanasakuyabime. So the life of the child of the gods of heaven will be frail, like the blossom of a tree.

And that is why, down to this day, the lives of the emperors are not long.

Afterwards Konohanasakuyabime came to Ninigi and said: I am with child, and the time has come for me to give birth. It is not right that I should bear the child of a god of heaven in secret, so I am telling you.

Ninigi said: Sakuyabime, in a single night you conceived? This cannot be my child. It must be the child of an earthly god.

She answered: if the child I carry is the child of an earthly god, the birth will not go safely. If it is the child of a god of heaven, it will go safely.

Then she built a birth hut of eight fathoms with no door in it, went inside, sealed it up with clay, and when the time came she set fire to the hut and gave birth in the flames.

The child born while the fire burned at its height is named Hoderi. He is the ancestor of the Ata no Kimi of the Hayato. The child born next is named Hosuseri. The child born next is named Hoori, who is also called Amatsuhiko-hiko-hohodemi. Three in all.

The elder brother Hoderi took the luck of the sea: he caught the wide-finned fish and the narrow-finned fish. The younger brother Hoori took the luck of the mountain: he caught the rough-haired game and the soft-haired game.

Hoori said to his brother: let us trade our lucks and each try the other's. He asked three times, and three times his brother refused. In the end the exchange was made.

Hoori took the luck of the sea and fished with it, but he did not catch a single fish, and he lost the hook in the sea besides.

His brother Hoderi asked for the hook back, and said: the luck of the mountain is a luck of its own, and the luck of the sea is a luck of its own. Let each of us give the other his luck back now. The younger answered: I fished with your hook and caught nothing at all, and in the end I lost the hook in the sea. But his brother pressed him hard for it.

So the younger broke the ten-span sword he wore, made five hundred hooks out of it, and offered them in compensation, and his brother would not take them. He made a thousand hooks and offered those, and his brother would not take them either. He said: I want the original hook itself.

Hoori wept and grieved on the shore of the sea. Shiotsuchi came and asked him: why does the child of the gods of heaven weep and grieve? Hoori told him how he had traded lucks with his brother and lost the hook, and how he had offered many hooks in its place but his brother would not take them and demanded the original hook.

Shiotsuchi said: I will arrange this well for you. He made a small boat of close-woven bamboo, put Hoori into it, and told him: when I have pushed this boat out, go on for a while. There is a good road of the tide. Follow it, and you will come to a palace roofed like the scales of a fish. That is the palace of Watatsumi. When you reach its gate there is a well beside it, and over the well a thick-branched katsura tree. Sit up in that tree, and the sea god's daughter will see you and know what to do.

He went as he had been told, and everything was as Shiotsuchi had said. Hoori climbed the katsura tree and sat there.

Then the serving women of Toyotamabime came with a jeweled vessel to draw water, and there was a light on the well. They looked up and saw a beautiful young man, and they thought it very strange. Hoori saw them and asked for water. They drew water at once and offered it to him in the jeweled vessel. He did not drink. He loosened the jewel from his neck, held it in his mouth, and spat it into the vessel. The jewel stuck fast to the vessel and the women could not get it off, so they carried the vessel to Toyotamabime with the jewel still stuck to it.

Toyotamabime looked at the jewel and asked her women: is there someone outside the gate? They answered: there is a man sitting in the katsura tree above our well. He is a very beautiful young man, more noble even than our lord. He asked for water and we gave it to him, and he did not drink it but spat this jewel into the cup. We could not get it off, so we have brought it as it is.

Toyotamabime thought it strange. She went out and looked at him, and at the sight of him her heart was taken, and their eyes met. She went in and said to her father: there is a beautiful person at our gate. The sea god went out himself and looked and said: this is Soratsuhiko, the child of Amatsuhiko. He brought him inside, spread eight layers of sea-lion skins and eight layers of silk rugs on top of them, seated him there, laid out gifts on a hundred tables, held a feast, and gave him his daughter Toyotamabime in marriage.

Hoori lived in that land for three years. Then he remembered what had happened before, and gave one deep sigh. Toyotamabime heard it and said to her father: in three years he has never once been heard to grieve, but last night he gave one deep sigh. Is there some reason for it?

Her father asked Hoori: this morning my daughter told me that in three years you have never once been heard to grieve, but that last night you gave one deep sigh. Is there a reason? And what was the reason you came here?

Hoori told him in full how his brother had pressed him for the lost hook.

Then the sea god called together all the fish of the sea, great and small, and asked them: is there a fish that has taken this hook? Many of the fish said: lately the sea bream has been complaining of something caught in its throat that keeps it from eating. That must be the one that took it. They looked into the sea bream's throat, and the hook was there. They took it out, washed it, and presented it to Hoori.

Watatsumi instructed him: when you give this hook back to your brother, say to him — this is a gloomy hook, a restless hook, a poor hook, a foolish hook — and hand it to him with your hand behind your back. After that, if your brother makes his fields high, make your fields low; if he makes his fields low, make your fields high. I rule the water, and within three years your brother will certainly be poor. If he resents this and attacks you, bring out the tide-raising jewel and let the water drown him; and if he suffers and begs, bring out the tide-ebbing jewel and let him live. Harry him and wear him down in this way. And he gave him the two jewels, the tide-raising jewel and the tide-ebbing jewel.

Then he called together all the wani and asked them: the child of the gods of heaven is now setting out for the upper land. Which of you will see him there in how many days, and bring word back? Each wani answered according to its own length. One wani of a single fathom said: I will see him there in one day and come straight back. So he said to that one-fathom wani: then you shall take him. And while you cross the middle of the sea, do not frighten him. He set Hoori on the wani's neck and sent him off. The wani saw him across in one day, as it had promised. When it was about to go back, Hoori loosened the small knife at his belt and fastened it to the wani's neck and sent it home. That one-fathom wani is now called Sahimochi no Kami.

Hoori gave the hook back to his brother exactly as the sea god had taught him.

From then on his brother Hoderi grew poorer and poorer, and he turned violent in his heart and came to attack him. When he attacked, Hoori brought out the tide-raising jewel and let the water drown him; and when his brother suffered and begged, he brought out the tide-ebbing jewel and let him live. He harried and wore him down in this way, until his brother bowed his head and said: from this time on I will be your guard, by day and by night, and serve you.

And so, down to this day, the gestures of that drowning have never ceased to be performed in service.

Afterwards Toyotamabime, the daughter of the sea god, came herself and said: I am already with child, and now the time has come for me to give birth. It seemed to me wrong that a child of the gods of heaven should be born out on the sea plain, so I have come here.

Then a birth hut was built for her at the water's edge on that shore, thatched with cormorant feathers. Before the thatching was finished the child inside her would not wait, and she went into the hut. As she was about to give birth she said to her husband: everyone from another country takes the shape of their own country when they give birth. I too will take my true shape to give birth. Please do not look at me.

Hoori thought her words strange, and while she was giving birth he looked in secretly. She had become a wani of eight fathoms, crawling and writhing. Hoori was frightened and fled.

Toyotamabime knew that he had looked, and she was ashamed. She left the child behind and said: I had meant always to come and go by the road of the sea. But you have looked at my true shape, and that shames me deeply. Then she closed the sea border behind her and went back down.

So the child that was born is named Amatsuhiko-hiko-nagisatake-Ugayafukiaezu.

Afterwards, though she resented his having looked at her, Toyotamabime could not bear the longing of her heart, and she sent her younger sister Tamayoribime to bring up the child, and sent a song with her:

Red jewels shine, and the string they are strung on shines too; but the white jewel, your look, my lord, was nobler still.

Hoori answered with a song:

On the island where the ducks, the birds of the offing, come in to rest, I lay with my wife; I will not forget her while the world lasts.

Hoori lived in the palace of Takachiho for 580 years. His tomb is west of Mount Takachiho.

Ugayafukiaezu married his aunt Tamayoribime, who had brought him up, and they had children: Itsuse, then Inahi, then Mikenu, then Wakamikenu, who is also called Toyomikenu and also called Kamuyamato-iwarebiko. Four in all.

Mikenu trod the crests of the waves and crossed over to the Eternal Land. Inahi went into the sea plain, it being his mother's country.