Japan's creation myth says the islands were born when gods stirred the sea
In Japanese myth, a pair of sibling gods dipped a jewelled spear into primordial waters and the first island took shape. Their later children included the eight great islands of Japan. Written down in the eighth century, these stories also underpinned the imperial family's claim to descend from the sun goddess.
Shinto belief sits at the heart of Japanese mythology, which counts kami, gods or spirits, beyond number. Yet the stories also absorbed thousands of years of contact with Chinese and Indian traditions, including Buddhist and Hindu myth. Because many communities were isolated for long stretches, local legends grew up around the particular hills, rivers and coastlines where their tellers lived.
Two books from the Yamato state are the oldest and most cited sources: the Kojiki, finished in 712, and the Nihon Shoki, completed in 720. The Kojiki, whose title means Record of Ancient Matters, has an unusual origin. Emperor Temmu had a court figure, Hiyeda no Are, memorise earlier histories; Temmu died before the project ended, and it was completed under later empresses. Much of today's understanding still leans on the Edo-period scholar Motoori Norinaga, whose commentary on the Kojiki remains influential.
The creation narrative splits into the birth of the gods and the birth of the land. Out of primordial oil came a trio of deities, followed by seven generations more, ending with the siblings Izanagi and Izanami. Using the Heavenly Jeweled Spear, Izanagi formed the first island, Onogoro. Their first union went wrong because Izanami spoke before her partner; told by older gods that the male must speak first, they repeated the ritual and produced many islands, including Awaji, Sado and Yamato.
The early myths dwell on death, decay and contamination, which gives purification and ceremonial order huge importance. Izanami's final child was the fire god Kagutsuchi, whose flames killed her. Scholars have read some of these tales as early evidence of male-centred thinking. Their most consequential legacy was political: on the basis of these texts, the imperial line claims descent from Amaterasu and her grandson Ninigi, and the origin story has been used to treat emperors as divine.
Source: Japanese mythology
