Character of Japanese Myth.—Japanese myth covers much the same ground as the myths of other countries. We have the explanatory myth, invented in order to account for some custom or rite, some natural phenomenon, a name of a place or person, etc. There is an abundance of highly frivolous, revolting, childish, and unmeaning—to us at least—matter, and the various versions of the stories which have come down to us are often wholly inconsistent with one another. From the sketch of the mythical narrative which is given below, many details of this description have necessarily been omitted. There are, however, two leading ideas by which Japanese myth is redeemed from summary condemnation as a mere farrago of childish nonsense. In the first place, it is permeated by the conception of the so-called inanimate universe as being in reality instinct with sentient life. The old Shintoists had not grasped the more general and philosophic notion of the Immanence of Deity in all things. With their limited scientific knowledge this was impossible. But they had the same idea in a more desultory, fragmentary way. To them, the Sun, the Wind, the Sea, were Kami who could hear and answer prayer, and exercise a providential care over mankind. But the synthesis of these and other aspects of nature and humanity into one divine whole is necessarily wanting. The second idea which inspires Japanese myth corresponds to our European notion of the divine right of kings, which, apart from the accident of heredity, is not such a negligible quantity as is sometimes supposed. The Mikados are represented as deriving their authority, whether as high-priests or sovereigns, from their ancestor, the Sun-goddess, and have, therefore, a divinely ordered right to the reverence and obedience of their subjects.

There is no summer and winter myth in the old records, no deluge myth, and no eclipse myth. The stars are strangely neglected. Earthquakes are hardly noticed. There is no Returning Saviour myth, and no Journey of the Dead, though the expressions ‘Even Pass of Hades’ and Yaso-kumade (eighty-road-windings, an alternative word for the land of Darkness) suggest that this idea was not unknown. The creation of mankind generally is not accounted for; but the origin of many of the ruling caste is ascribed to direct descent from the principal divinities, just as the Mikado is said to be descended from the Sun-goddess.

First Gods.—Four different first gods are mentioned by the various authorities. None of these ever attained to much importance. They were no doubt collected or invented with the purpose of eking out a genealogical tree for the greater divinities who came afterwards. One of these, called Ame yudzuru hi ame no sagiri Kuni yudzuru tsuki Kuni no sagiri, is described as the Heavenly Parent. But we know nothing more about him or her—the sex is doubtful—and it is impossible to regard this interminable title as the name of a real god, any more than we can think that Shakespeare’s honorificabilitudinitatibus was ever meant for a genuine word. The derivation, however, shows that this, like the other first gods, was intended as a nature-deity. The four generations which follow consist of obscure personages, all of whom disappear at once from the record. Their names, too, are suggestive of nature, and more especially agriculture-deities. In the sixth generation we find two deities, named Kami-musubi and Taka-musubi, i.e. High-growth and Divine-growth, who were of some importance in later times.

Izanagi and Izanami.—With these two deities Japanese myth really begins.

The Nihongi tells us that—

‘Izanagi and Izanami stood on the floating bridge of Heaven (the rainbow) and held counsel together, saying “Is there not a country beneath?” Thereupon they thrust down the “Jewel-Spear of Heaven,” and groping about with it, found the ocean. The brine which dripped from the point of the spear coagulated and formed an island which received the name of Onogoro-jima or the “Self-Coagulating Island.” The two deities thereupon descended and dwelt there. Accordingly they wished to be united as husband and wife, and to produce countries. So they made Onogoro-jima the pillar of the centre of the land.’

The Kojiki says that Izanagi and Izanami were commanded by all the heavenly deities ‘to regulate and fully consolidate’ the floating land beneath. But all the accounts, the Kojiki included, proceed to represent the islands of Japan as having been generated by them in the ordinary manner. We have therefore three distinct conceptions of creation in Japanese myth—first, as generation in the most literal sense; second, as reducing to order; and third, as growth (Musubi).

‘The two deities having descended on Onogoro-jima erected there an eight-fathom house with an august central pillar. Then Izanagi addressed Izanami, saying, “Let me and thee go round the heavenly august pillar, and having met at the other side, let us become united in wedlock.” This being agreed to, he said, “Do thou go round from the left, and I will go round from the right.” When they had gone round, Izanami spoke first and exclaimed, “How delightful! I have met a lovely youth.” Izanagi then said, “How delightful! I have met a lovely maiden.” Afterwards he said, “It was unlucky for the woman to speak first.” The child which was the first offspring of their union was the Hiruko (leech-child), which at the age of three was still unable to stand upright, and was therefore placed in a reed-boat and sent adrift.’

Izanagi and Izanami then procreated the islands of Japan with a number of other gods, among whom were Iha-tsuchi-biko (rock-earth-prince), Oho-ya-biko (great-house-prince), the Wind-gods, a variety of marine deities, Ame no Mikumari (the heavenly water distributor), the god of Moors (who is also the god of Herbs and Grasses), the god of Trees, the gods of Mountains and Valleys, and the goddess of Food. The last deity to be produced was the god of Fire, Kagu-tsuchi, also called Ho-musubi (Fire-growth). In giving birth to him, Izanami was burnt so that she sickened and lay down. From her vomit, fÆces, and urine were born deities which personify the elements of metal, water, and clay. When Izanami died, Izanagi, in his grief and rage, drew his sword and slew Kagu-tsuchi, thereby generating a number of other deities, two of whom, named Take-mika-tsuchi and Futsunushi, were favourite objects of worship in later times.

The creation of the Sun and Moon is variously accounted for. Some say that they were the children of Izanagi and Izanami, others that they were born from the lustrations of Izanagi when he returned from Yomi. A third child, Susa no wo, the boisterous and unruly Rain-storm god, was produced at the same time.

When Izanami died she went to the Land of Yomi, whither she was followed by her husband. But as she had already eaten of the food of that region, he could not bring her back with him. She forbade him to look on her, but he persisted and saw that she was already a putrid corpse. Izanami then complained that he had put her to shame, and caused him to be pursued by the Ugly Females of Hades and other personifications of corruption and disease who dwelt there. She herself had become Death personified. Izanagi, in his flight, flung down various objects which delayed his pursuers—a well-known incident of myth—until he reached the Even Pass of Hades, where he pronounced the formula of divorce.

When Izanagi returned to earth he bathed in the sea in order to remove the pollution incurred by his visit to Yomi, and in so doing produced a number of deities, some of whom are Ocean-gods and others associated with the ancient Japanese ceremonies of religious purification.

Susa no wo and the Sun-Goddess.—Susa no wo (the Rain-storm god) was at first appointed to rule the Sea, but he preferred to join his mother, Izanami, in Hades, and was accordingly despatched thither by his father. Before taking his departure, however, he ascended to heaven to take leave of his elder sister Amaterasu, the Sun-goddess. All the mountains and rivers shook, and every land and country quaked as he passed upwards. Amaterasu, in alarm, armed herself as a warrior with sword and bow, stamped her feet into the hard ground up to her thighs, kicking away the earth like rotten snow, and, confronting him like a valiant man, challenged him to declare the reason of his coming. Susa no wo protested that it was only a friendly visit, and as a proof of his good intentions proposed that they should produce children between them by each one crunching in his mouth and spurting out fragments of the sword and jewels worn by the other. One of the children thus born was called Masaya a katsu kachi hayahi ama no oshihomimi, the forefather of the present Imperial dynasty. There were seven others who figure largely in the genealogies of the Japanese nobility.

But the true nature of the Rain-storm god was not long repressed. He destroyed his sister’s rice-fields, defiled the sacred hall where she was celebrating the harvest festival, and flung a piebald colt that had been flayed backwards into the sacred weaving-room where the garments of the gods were woven. The Sun-goddess had borne his previous outrages with calmness and forbearance, but this last (a malicious magical practice?) was beyond endurance. She retired in disgust and shut herself up in the Rock-cave of Heaven, leaving the world to darkness. This proceeding of Amaterasu was followed by dire results. ‘The voices of the evil deities were like unto the flies in the fifth moon as they swarmed, and a myriad portents of woe arose.’ The gods, in consternation, held an assembly in the dry bed of the River of Heaven (the Milky Way) to devise means for inducing her to emerge from the cave, and a number of expedients were adopted which were evidently borrowed from the ritual of the time when the myth became current. The deities who were specially concerned with this duty are obvious counterparts of the actual officials of the Mikado’s Court, and included a prayer-reciter, an offering-provider, a mirror-maker, a jewel-maker, a diviner, with—according to some accounts—many others. All this is most convenient for the genealogists of later times. Amaterasu at length reappeared, to the great delight of everybody. Susa no wo was fined in a thousand tables of offerings and expelled from Heaven. Before proceeding to Yomi, he went down to Earth. Here he appears in a totally new character as the Perseus of a Japanese Andromeda, whom he rescues from a huge serpent, having first intoxicated the monster. Of course they are married and have numerous children. Her name, Inada-hime (rice-land-lady), is probably not without significance as that of the wife of a Rain-storm god. Another story represents him as the murderer of the Food-goddess, who had offended him by producing viands for his entertainment from various parts of her body. But a different version ascribes this crime to the Moon-god, and gives it as the reason why the Sun-goddess refused to have any further relations with him. This, of course, explains why the two luminaries are not seen together.

Here it may be pointed out that, notwithstanding the anthropomorphic character of many of the above details it is evidently the sun itself which is concealed in the Rock-cave. Modern Euhemerists deny this. But the evidence is far too strong to be disregarded. Her names, Amaterasu (Heaven Shining-one) and Hirume (Sun-female), are conclusive on this point. The modern commentator MotoÖri agrees, or rather maintains, that Amaterasu is the very sun which we see in heaven. Those Japanese who in the twentieth century talk of the imperial visit to Ise as ancestor-worship are sorely puzzled to justify their position. Imbued with the philosophy of China and the science of Europe, they naturally find it difficult to understand how the Mikado can be really descended from the sun. Some resort to the Euhemeristic theory that she was a mortal Empress who lived in a place on earth called Takanna no hara (plain-of-high-heaven), and speak of rice-culture and the art of weaving being known in her reign.

The myth of the Sun-goddess and Susa no wo is the central pivot on which the old mythology turns. All that precedes may be regarded as a sort of genealogical introduction, and the subsequent narrative as an epilogue designed to complete the connexion between the living Mikados and their celestial ancestor.

Ohonamochi.—One of Susa no wo’s children was an Earth-god named Ohonamochi (great-name-possessor), who is at this day a very important deity. The Kojiki relates his adventures at great length. He was badly treated by his eighty elder brothers, but assisted by a hare to whom he had rendered service. He went down to the land of Yomi, where he married the daughter of Susa no wo. Susa no wo imposed tasks upon him which by his wife’s assistance he performed successfully, and ultimately made his escape, taking her with him. The Yomi of this narrative has little that is characteristic of the abode of the Dead. Ohonamochi is frequently referred to as the ‘God who made the land,’ and his various names show that he is an Earth-god. He was assisted in reducing the country to order by his own mitama or double, and by a dwarf-god called Sukuna-bikona, who came from beyond the sea and is credited with having instructed mankind in the arts of medicine and brewing. Ohonamochi had a numerous progeny by various mothers. Among them were the Harvest-god and the Food-goddess. The Kojiki gives a genealogy of them and their descendants, most of whom are wholly unknown to us.

Ninigi.—Meanwhile the Sun-Goddess became desirous of establishing the rule of her own grandchild Ninigi, son of Masaya a katsu, in Japan. After several fruitless attempts to prepare the country for his reception by purging it of the swarms of evil deities which infested it, two gods named Take-mika-tsuchi (Thunder?) and Futsunushi (Fire?) were sent to summon Ohonamochi to yield over his authority. After some demur he did so, and Ninigi was accordingly despatched to earth, accompanied by a long train of attendants who provide further material for the genealogists. They descended on a mountain in Kiushiu. Here Ninigi took to wife a Mountain-god’s daughter, named Konohana Sakuya-hime (the lady who blossoms like the flowers of the trees), rejecting as too ugly her elder sister Iha-naga-hime (the rock-long-lady). The latter, indignant at this slight, uttered a curse:—‘The race of visible men shall change swiftly like the flowers of the trees, and shall decay and pass away.’ Hence the shortness of human life. By Konohana Ninigi had three children. The eldest, Ho no Susori, became a fisherman, the second son, Hohodemi, a hunter.

Ho no Susori once proposed to his brother to exchange their respective callings. Hohodemi accordingly gave over to his elder brother his bow and arrows and received a fish-hook in return. But neither of them profited by the exchange, so Ho no Susori gave back to his brother the bow and arrows and demanded from him the fish-hook.

Hohodemi, however, had in the meantime lost it in the sea. He took his sword and forged from it a number of new fish-hooks which he piled up in a winnowing tray and offered to his brother by way of compensation. But the latter would have none but his own, and demanded it so vehemently of Hohodemi as to grieve him bitterly. Hohodemi went down to the sea-shore and stood there lamenting, when there appeared to him the Old Man of the Sea, by whose advice he descended into the sea-depths to the abode of the god of the Sea, a stately palace with lofty towers and battlements. Before the gate there was a well, and over the well grew a thick-branching cassia tree into which Hohodemi climbed. The Sea-god’s daughter Toyo-tama-hime (rich-jewel-maiden) then came out from the palace to draw water. She saw Hohodemi’s face reflected in the well, and returning within reported to her father that she had seen a beautiful youth in the tree which grew by the well. Hohodemi was courteously received by the Sea-god, Toyo-tama-hiko (rich-jewel-prince), who, when he heard his errand, summoned before him all the fishes of the sea and made inquiry of them for the lost fish-hook, which was eventually discovered in the mouth of the Tai. Toyo-tama-hiko delivered it to Hohodemi, telling him when he gave it back to his brother to say, ‘a hook of poverty, a hook of ruin, a hook of downfall,’ to spit twice, and to hand it over with averted face.

Hohodemi married the Sea-god’s daughter Toyo-tama-hime and remained with her for three years. He then became home-sick and returned to the upper world. On the beach where he came to land, he built for his wife, who was soon to follow, a parturition house which he thatched with cormorant’s feathers. The roofing was still unfinished when she arrived, riding on a great tortoise. She went straight into the hut, begging her husband not to look at her. But Hohodemi’s curiosity was too strong for him. He peeped in and behold! his wife had become changed into a wani (sea-dragon) eight fathoms long. Deeply indignant at the disgrace put upon her, Toyo-tama-hime abandoned her new-born child to the care of her sister, and barring behind her the sea-path in such a way that from that day to this all communication between the realms of land and sea has been cut off, returned hastily to her father’s palace.

Hohodemi’s troubles with his elder brother were renewed on his arrival home. He was obliged to use against him two talismans given him by his father-in-law. One of these had the virtue of making the tide flow and submerge Ho no Susori and thus compel him to sue for mercy (another account says that Hohodemi whistled and thereby raised the wind and the sea). Then by a second talisman the tide was made to recede and Ho no Susori’s life was spared. He yielded complete submission to his younger brother and promised that he and his descendants to all generations would serve Hohodemi and his successors as mimes and bondservants. The Nihongi adds that in that day it was still customary for the Hayato (or Imperial guards), who were descended from Ho no Susori, to perform a mimic dance before the Mikados, the descendants and successors of Hohodemi, in which the drowning struggles of their ancestor were represented.

There are several features in this story which betray a recent origin and foreign influences. A comparatively advanced civilisation is indicated by the sword and fish-hook forged of iron. The institution of the Hayato as Imperial Guards belongs to a period not very long antecedent to the date of the Nihongi and Kojiki. The palace of the sea-depths and its Dragon-king are of Chinese, and therefore of recent origin.

One of Hohodemi’s grandchildren was Jimmu Tenno, who is usually reckoned the first human sovereign of Japan. He was the youngest of four brothers and his selection as heir shows that primogeniture, though to some extent acknowledged in Ancient Japan, was by no means the universal rule. At the age of forty-five he started from Kiushiu, which had been the home of the Imperial family since Ninigi descended there, on an expedition for the conquest of the central part of Japan, known as Yamato. This event is dated in B.C. 667, 1,792, 470 years after the descent of Ninigi from heaven. He finally succeeded in establishing his capital there in B.C. 660. From this date Japanese history is usually said to begin. In reality there is no genuine history of Japan for one thousand years more. The chronology for all this period is a colossal fraud and there is abundant intrinsic evidence that the narrative itself is no better than legend when it is not absolute fiction. There is, however, much to be learned from it of the beliefs and customs of the ancient Japanese.

The descent of the Imperial dynasty from a Sea-god has been noted as an auspicious omen for the development of Japan as a great naval power.