The Kojiki, Paraphrased

To cite this Japanese creation myth at the end of a sentence, please use the title and the section number provided at the start of that section, as in (Kojiki 2).

This narrative uses the term ‘kami’ for deity/spirit/god; the plural is still ‘kami’. This Japanese term refers to a specific type of creature more aligned with the idea of an animistic spirit than a god or deity, so the Japanese term is preserved.

The Kojiki more than many texts preserves numerous names of kami, partly because Shinto teaches that the Japanese people are descended from kami, and remembering the kami also takes on an aspect of honoring the ancestors. Most of these names are translated into English by this text. This is helpful in that it demonstrates what the function or essence of those particular kami were; it is demonstrated in their name, which is often a hyphenated phrase. The most important kami in the story, however, have their Japanese name retained (e.g., Izanagi, Izanami, and Amaterasu). These are the characters to particularly follow in the narrative.

1. Before there were islands, there was only water and the Plain of High Heaven. The names of the Kami that were born in the Plain of High Heaven when the Heaven and Earth began were the Kami Master-of-the-Majestic-Centre-of-Heaven, next the High-Majesty-Producing-Wondrous Kami, next the Divine-Producing-Wondrous-Kami. These three Kami were all Kami born alone, without parents, and they hid their persons from view. The names of the Kami that were born next from a plant stem that sprouted up like unto a reed-shoot when the earth, drifting and floating on the briny waters as if upon oil, were the Pleasant-Reed-Shoot-Prince-Elder Kami, next the Heavenly-Eternally-Standing-Kami. These two Kami were likewise born alone, and hid their persons.

The five Kami in the above list are separate Heavenly Kami.

2. The names of the two Kami that were born next were the Earthly-Eternally-Standing-Kami, next the Luxuriant-Integrating-Master-Kami. These two Kami were likewise Kami born alone, and hid their persons. The names of the Kami that were born next were the Kami Mud-Earth-Lord, then his younger sister the Kami Mud-Earth-Lady, next the Germ-Integrating-Kami, next his younger sister the Life-Integrating-Kami; next the Kami Elder-of-the-Great-Place, next his younger sister the Kami Elder-Lady-of-the-Great-Place; then the Kami Perfect-Exterior was born, next his younger sister the Kami Oh-Awful-Lady; next the Kami Izanagi, next his younger sister the Kami Izanami.

From the Earthly-Eternally-Standing Kami down to the Kami Izanami in the previous list are what are termed the Seven Divine Generations.

3. After all this all the Heavenly Kami commanded the two Kami, His Majestic Being Izanagi and Her Majestic Being Izanami, ordering them to “Make, consolidate, and give birth to this drifting land.” Granting to them a heavenly jeweled spear, the Heavenly kami charged Izanagi and Izanami with this task. So the two Kami, standing upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven, pushed down the jeweled spear and stirred with it, whereupon, when they had stiffed the brine until it curdled, and drew the spear up, the brine that dripped down from the end of the spear was piled up and became an island. This is the Island of Onogoro.

5. At this, Izanagi and Izanami descended to Onogoro to make a family. Izanagi spoke first: “Ah! what a fair and lovely maiden!” Afterwards his younger sister Izanami spoke: “Ah! what a fair and lovely youth!” Then they gave birth to the islands of Japan, beginning with the Island of Futa-no in Iyo. This island has one body and four faces, and each face has a name. Next they gave birth to the Islands of Mitsu-Go-Near-Oki, which is also called the island of Heavenly-Great-Heart-Youth. This island likewise has one body and four faces and each face has a name. Next they gave birth to the Island of Iki, another name for which is Heaven’s One-Pillar. Next they gave birth to the Island of Tsu, another name for which is Heavenly-Hand-net-Good-Princess. Next they gave birth to the Island of Sado. Next they gave birth to Great-Yamato-the-Luxuriant-Island-of-the-Dragon-Fly, another name for which is Heavenly-Majestic-Sky-Luxuriant-Dragon-fly-Lord-Youth. The name of Japan, “Land-of -the- Eight-Great-Islands,” therefore originated in these eight islands having been born first. After that, when they had returned, they gave birth to the Island of Ko-shima in Kibi, another name for which is Brave-Sun-Direction-Youth. Next they gave birth to the Island of Adzuki, another name for which is Oho-Nu-De-Hime. Next they gave birth to the Island of Oho-Shima, another name for which is Oho-Tamaru-Wake. Next they gave birth to the Island of Hime, another name for which is Heaven’s-One-Root. Next they gave birth to the Island of Chika, another name for which is Heavenly-Great-Male. Next they gave birth to the Islands of Futa-Go, another name for which is Heaven’s-Two-Houses.

6. When they had finished giving birth to countries, they began afresh giving birth to Kami. So the name of the Kami they gave birth to was the Kami Great-Male-of-the-Great-Thing; next they gave birth to the Kami Rock-Earth-Prince; next they gave birth to the Kami Rock-Nest-Princess; next they gave birth to the Kami Great-Door-Sun-Youth; next they gave birth to the Kami Heavenly-Blowing-Male; next they gave birth to the Kami Great-House-Prince; next they gave birth to the Kami Youth-of-the-Wind-Breath-the-Great-Male; next they gave birth to the Sea-Kami, whose name is the Kami Great-Ocean-Possessor; next they gave birth to the Kami of the Water-Gates, whose name is the Kami Prince-of-Swift-Autumn; next they gave birth to his younger sister the Kami Princess-of-Swift-Autumn. (There were ten Kami in all from the Kami-Great-Male-of-the-Great-Thing to the Kami Princess-of-Autumn.) Then there were eight kami born in all from the Kami Foam-Prince to the Kami Earthly-Water-Drawing-Gourd-Possessor. Then there were four kami in all born from the Kami Prince-of-Long-Wind to Moor-Elder, and then eight additional kami were born from these two kami. All these kami were born to Izanagi by Izanami.

The name of the Kami they next gave birth to was the Kami Bird’s-Rock-Camphor-tree-Boat, another name for whom is the Heavenly-Bird-Boat. Next they gave birth to the Kami Princess-of-Great-Food. Next Izanami gave birth to the Fire-Burning-Swift-Male-Kami, another name for whom is the Kami Fire-Shining-Prince, and another name is the Kami Fire-Shining-Elder.

7. Through giving birth to this child Izanami’s glorious private parts were burnt, and she sickened and lay down. The names of the Kami born from her vomit were the Kami Metal-Mountain-Prince and next the Kami Metal-Mountain-Princess. The names of the Kami that were born from her feces were the Kami Clay-Viscid-Prince and next the Kami Clay-Viscid-Princess. The names of the Kami that were next born from her urine were the Kami Mitsuhanome and next the Young-Wondrous-Producing-Kami.  The child of this Kami was called the Kami Luxuriant-Food-Princess. So the Kami Izanami, through giving birth to the Kami-of-Fire, at length divinely retired and died, having been burnt by her child Fire-Shining-Elder

The total number of islands given birth to jointly by the two Kami Izanagi and Izanami was fourteen, and of Kami thirty-five. (These are such as were given birth to before the Kami Izanagi divinely retired and died. Only the Island of Onogoro was not given birth to and moreover the Leech-Child and the Island of Aha are not reckoned among the children.)

So then His Majestic Being Izanagi said, “Oh! Your Glorious Being my lovely younger sister! Oh, that I should have exchanged you for this single child!” And as he crept round her majestic pillow, and as he crept round her glorious feet and wept, there was born from his glorious tears the Kami that dwells at Konomoto near Unewo on Mount Kagu, and whose name is the Crying-Weeping-Female-Kami. So he buried the divinely deceased kami Izanami on Mount Hiba at the boundary of the Land of Idzumo and the Land of Hahaki.

8. Then His Majestic Being Izanagi, drawing the ten-grasp sword that was he wore, cut off the head of his child the Kami Fire-Shining-Elder, whose birth had killed Izanami. Hereupon the names of the Kami that were born from the blood that stuck to the point of the glorious sword and bespattered the multitudinous rock-misses were: the Kami Rock-Splitter, next the Kami Root-Splitter, next the Rock-Possessing-Male-Kami. The names of the Kami that were next born from the blood that stuck to the upper part of the majestic sword and again bespattered the multitudinous rock-masses were: the Awfully-Swift-Kami, next the Fire-Swift-Kami, next the Brave-Awful-Possessing-Male-Kami, another name for whom is the Brave-Snapping-Kami, and another name is the Luxuriant-Snapping Kami. The names of the Kami that were next born from the blood that collected on the hilt of the glorious sword and leaked out between his fingers were: the Kami Kura-okami and next the Kami Kura-mitsuha.

All the eight Kami in the above list, from the Kami Rock-Splitter to the Kami Kura-mitsuha, are Kami that were born from the majestic sword. More kami were then born from his head, belly, hands, and feet.

9. Thereupon His Majestic Being Izanagi, wishing to meet and see his younger sister Her Majestic Being Izanami, followed after her to the underworld. He did not wish to be separated from Izanami. When from the palace she raised the door and came out to meet him, Izanagi spoke, saying: “Your Majestic Being my lovely younger sister! The lands that I and you made are not yet finished making; please come back!” Then Her Majestic Being Izanami answered, saying, “Lamentable indeed that you did not come sooner! I have eaten of the furnace of the underworld and have become ugly, as one decomposed. Nevertheless, as I reverence the entry here of Your Majestic Being my lovely elder brother, I wish to return. I will discuss it particularly with the Kami of the underworld. But do not look not at me!”

Having thus spoken, she went back inside the palace; and as she was there a very long time, he could not wait. So having taken and broken off one of the end-teeth of the comb stuck in the glorious left bunch of his hair, he lit one light and went in and looked. Maggots were swarming, and she was rotting, and in her head dwelt the Great-Thunder, in her breast dwelt the Fire-Thunder, in her left hand dwelt the Young-Thunder, in her right hand dwelt the Earth-Thunder, in her left foot dwelt the Rumbling-Thunder, in her right foot dwelt the Couchant-Thunder—altogether eight Thunder-Kami had been born and dwelt there.

Hereupon His Majestic Being Izanagi, horrified at the sight, fled back out of the underworld, and his younger sister Her Majestic Being Izanami said, “You have put me to shame.” At once sent the Ugly-Female-of-the-Underworld to pursue him. So His Majestic Being Izanagi took his black glorious head-dress and cast it down, and it instantly turned into grapes. While she picked them up and ate them, he fled on; but as she still pursued him, he took and broke the comb in the right bunch of his hair and cast it down, and it instantly turned into bamboo-sprouts. While she pulled them up and ate them, he fled on. Again Izanami sent the eight Thunder-Kami with a thousand and five hundred warriors of the underworld to pursue him. So he, drawing the ten-grasp sword that he wore, fled forward and brandished it in his back hand; and as they still pursued, he saw and took three peaches growing at the base of the entrance to the underworld. Izanagi threw them and struck his pursuers therewith, so that they all fled back. Then His Majestic Being Izanagi announced to the peaches: “As you have helped me, so must you help all living people in the Central Land of Reed-Plains when they shall fall into troublous circumstances and be harassed!”—and he declared the peaches were Great-Divine-Fruit.

Last of all his younger sister Izanami came out herself in pursuit. So he shifted an enormous rock, and blocked up the entrance of the Underworld with it. The two kami, Izanagi and Izanami, stood opposite to one another on either side of the rock, and said their goodbyes. Izanami said, “My lovely elder brother, your Majestic Being! I will in one day strangle to death a thousand of the folks of your land.” Then Izanagi replied, “My lovely younger sister, Your Majestic Being! If you do this, I will in one day make sure a thousand people would surely be born.”

So it is that Izanami is called the Great-Kami-of-the-Underworld. It is said that, owing to her having pursued and reached her elder brother, she is called the Road-Reaching-Great-Kami. The rock with which he blocked up the Pass of the Underworld is called the Great-Kami-of-the-Road-Turning-back, and again it is called the Blocking-Great-Kami-of-the-Door-of-Hades. So what was called the Entrance-of-the-Underworld is now called the Ifuya-Pass in the Land of Idzumo.

10. Looking at himself, contaminated from the underworld, the Great Kami Izanagi said, “Hideous! I have come to a hideous and polluted land, I have! I will perform the purification of my glorious person.” So he went out to a plain at a small river-mouth near Tachibana in Himuka in the island of Tsukushi, and purified and cleansed himself. And the name of the Kami that was born from the glorious staff which he threw down was the Kami Thrust-Erect-Come-Not-Place. The name of the Kami that was born from the glorious girdle which he next threw down was the Kami Road-Long-Space. The name of the Kami that was born from the majestic skirt which he next threw down was the Kami Loosen-Put. The name of the Kami that was born from the glorious upper garment which he next threw down was the Kami Master-of-Trouble. The name of the Kami that was born from the majestic trousers which he next threw down was the Road-Fork-Kami. The name of the Kami that was born from the glorious hat which he next threw down was the Kami Master-of-the-Open-Mouth. The names of the Kami that were born from the bracelet of his majestic left hand which he next threw down were the Kami Offing-Distant, next the Kami Wash-Prince-of-the-Offing, next the Kami Intermediate-Direction-of-the-Offing. The names of the Kami that were born from the bracelet of his glorious right hand which he next threw down were the Kami Shore-Distant, next the Kami Wash-Prince-of-the-Shore, next the Kami Intermediate-Direction-of-the-Shore.

The twelve Kami mentioned in the foregoing list were born from his taking off the things that were on his person.

Then, saying, “The water in the upper reach is too rapid, the water in the lower reach too sluggish,” he went down and plunged in the middle reach of water; and, as he washed, there was first born the Wondrous-Kami-of-Eighty-Evils, and next the Wondrous-Kami-of-Great-Evils. These two Kami are the Kami that were born from the filth he contracted when he went to the polluted, hideous land of the underworld.

The names of the Kami that were next born to rectify those evils were the Divine-Rectifying-Wondrous Kami, next the Great-Rectifying-Wondrous-Kami, next the Female-Kami-Idzu. As Izanagi bathed in the bottom of the water, more kami were born, as he bathed in the middle of the water more kami were born, and as he bathed in the top of the water more kami were born. The kami born from the top of the water are the Ocean-Possessing Kami from whom the chiefts of Adzumi trace their lineage.

Then, as Izanagi washed his left glorious eye the kami Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, was born. The name of the Kami that was next born as he washed his right majestic eye was His Majestic Being, Moon-Night Possessor. The name of the Kami that was next born as he washed his glorious nose was His Brave-Swift-impetuous-Male-Majestic-Being.

11. At this time His Majestic Being Izanagi greatly rejoiced, saying; “I, begetting child after child, have at my final begetting have gotten three illustrious children.” With these words, he at once jingingly took off and shook the jewel string forming his glorious necklace and he bestowed it on Amaterasu, setting her as ruler among the Plain of High Heaven. To Moon-Night-Possessor he gave the dominion of night, and to His-Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Majestic-Being he gave charge of the sea-plain. So it was Amaterasu, kami of the sun in Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, became the most beloved and honored kami of all.

To cite this reading, use the following format:

Yasumaro, Ō no. The Kojiki. Translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain, 1919. The Internet Sacred Text Archive, sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/index.htm. https://sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/index.htm