The sibling deities Izanagi and Izanami are two of the most important figures in Japanese mythology, responsible for the creation of the islands of Japan as well as the births of many gods. Their children include the serpent-slaying hero Susano’o and the sun goddess Amaterasu, from whom the Imperial Family of Japan is said to descend.
Legend says that after creating mountains and forests in the forms of gods, Izanami died from the burns she suffered while giving birth to Kagutsuchi, the fire deity. Izanagi set off on a journey to the underworld, known as Yomi or Yomotsu-Kuni, in search of his deceased sister-wife. In a grim, Orphean turn of events, Izanami agreed to return to the living world but asked him not to look at her on their way back home. He did just that, of course, only to find a horrifying, rotten body festered with maggots.
Enraged and ashamed of being seen in such form, Izanami unleashed a demon army to capture the fleeing Izanagi, who managed to escape and seal the gates of hell with a massive boulder. “My love,” cried Izanami, “I shall kill a thousand mortals every day if you treat me this way.” To which Izanagi replied: “I shall create a thousand and five hundred mortals every day, then.” The pair was forever separated, and Izanami became the mistress of the underworld.
The site of the confrontation, Yomotsu-Hirasaka, is a sacred slope in the historic region of Izumo, long revered as the gateway between the worlds of the living and the dead. The path carries an otherworldly energy, bordered by a wooden arch. Large rocks stand in the surrounding forest, perhaps fragments of Izanagi’s boulder used to seal the gates to the underworld.
