Japanese tale of the origin of the world and the archipelago
Japanese creation myth
The Japanese creation myth tells how Heaven, Earth and the archipelago came into being, as recounted in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, the literary foundation of Japanese mythology and Shinto.
The myth
At first the universe was a thick, silent, shapeless mass. The lightest matter rose to form Heaven, while the dense part sank to become Earth. Gods appeared in Takamagahara and, finally, five pairs of deities were born. The youngest pair, Izanagi and Izanami, were tasked with consolidating the land using a heavenly spear.
When they stirred the sea with the spear, the drops that fell formed the island of Onogoro. There they raised an altar around a central pillar and, circling in opposite directions until they met, they gave birth to islands and gods. The first attempt failed because she spoke first. After repeating the rite with him speaking first, the islands of the archipelago were born. They then bore gods of wind, mountains and trees, with which the myth ends.
Legacy
Its written form in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki gives Japanese mythology and Shinto much of their literary foundation.
Ancient sources: The Kojiki (712) and the Nihon Shoki (720), which describe it at the beginning, with some variations between them.