![]() ![]() (Purification is an important facet of Japanese religion.) Washing the filth from his body begets new kami, including the sun goddess Ametarasu. Izanagi then rushes to a river to purify himself. He runs away and seals the entrance to Yomi: “as they stood there with the boulder between them, they declared themselves divorced” ( The Kojiki).Įnraged, Izanami vows that she will now kill 1,000 people a day Izanagi counters he will build 1,500 birthing huts every day to thwart her. Izanagi breaks his promise not to look at her, only to discover that she has become a rotting corpse. Sadly, it is too late for Izanami-she has already eaten food from the underworld. ![]() Izanagi kills his newborn son in rage and grief, then goes to Yomi, the land of the dead, to search for his wife. When Izanagi beckons first, they begin to give birth to the Japanese archipelago and many of the kami behind its more significant natural phenomena.Įventually, Izanami dies giving birth to the fire god. When Izanami beckons first, all their offspring are malformed. This ritual is presumably why these kami (gods, for lack of a succinct alternative) are He Who Beckoned and She Who Beckoned. Before they couple, they perform a simple ritual, passing around a pillar and greeting each other in turn. As the first anthropomorphized gods, Izanami and Izanagi are also Japan’s first sexed and gendered gods. ![]()
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