Izanami


















Every Japanese emperor can trace his lineage to the deities Izanami and Izanagi, who created the islands of Japan, according to Japanese mythology.
They put the children into a boat and set them out to sea, then petitioned the other gods for an answer as to what they did wrong. They were told that the male deity should have spoken first in greeting during the marriage ceremony. So Izanagi and Izanami went around the pillar again, this time Izanagi speaking first when they met, and their marriage was finally successful.
They bore six more islands and many deities. Izanami died giving birth to the child
Izanagi-no-Mikoto lamented the death of Izanami-no-Mikoto and undertook a journey to
The news shocked Izanagi-no-Mikoto, but he refused to leave her in Yomi. While Izanami-no-Mikoto was sleeping, he took the comb that bound his long hair and set it alight as a torch. Under the sudden burst of light, he saw the horrid form of the once beautiful and graceful Izanami-no-Mikoto. She was now a rotting form of flesh with maggots and foul creatures running over her ravaged body.
Crying out loud, Izanagi-no-Mikoto could no longer control his fear and started to run, intending to return to the living and abandon his death-ridden wife. Izanami-no-Mikoto woke up, shrieking and indignant, and chased after him. She also sent
Izanami-no-Mikoto screamed from behind this impenetrable barricade and told Izanagi-no-Mikoto that if he left her she would destroy 1,000 residents of the living every day. He furiously replied he would give life to 1,500 residents.
While similar in many aspects, the version of the tale of Izanagi and Izanami in the
As Izanami gave birth to the god of Fire, his searing skin scorched her flesh. Fearful she would die, her husband, Izanagi, the man with whom she had created the world, held her close and wept. But it was too late. So grievous were the wounds, Izanami succumbed to death.
Izanami agreed to take her husband to see the Gods of Yomi, to implore them to free her. Meanwhile, remain in darkness, she cautioned him, for the realm of the dead was not meant for the living to see. Taken by foreboding, Izanagi lit a torch and laid eyes upon his wife. No longer the graceful, elegant beauty she once was, Izanami now appeared a rotting corpse, hollow and decayed, maggot ridden and foul. Frightened and disgusted, Izanagi broke his vow and fled.
Through the bowels of Yomi he ran, pursued by the fiend that was once his wife. Escaping the cave entrance, Izanagi rolled a boulder in place to block it. Sealed within, betrayed and cursed, consumed with wrathful anger, Izanami swore, one thousand lives would she take each day. One thousand to pay for the broken promise he made.