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The Kojiki - Izanagi, Izanami, and the Birth of Japan - Page 2© Wayne Kreger The second union produced more gods and goddesses. In giving birth to Kagutsuchi, the fire god, Izanami was severely burned. Through her death more gods and goddesses were produced, and she was sent to Yomi, the underworld. Izanagi, distressed by the loss of his mate, travels down to the underworld in search of her. He finds a castle she had built for herself, and though he does not lay eyes upon her he finds her and convinces her to return with him to the home they had created. She pleads with him not to look at her until they are home, but Izanagi cannot resist and sees what Izanami has become - a rotting corpse. She had eaten the food of the underworld, and had thus become a part of it. Izanami is humiliated at having been seen in her hideous state, and sends a legion of demons after Izanagi. When he is able to foil their pursuit by dropping food to distract them Izanami decides to engage him personally. Izanagi is able to escape and rolls a boulder over the entrance to Yomi, sealing the entrance permanently. The couple, from either side of the rock, declare themselves divorced. Izanagi, feeling contaminated from his journey to Yomi, washes himself in a river. From his clothes and washed body spring even more deities, including Amaterasu, the sun goddess, who is an important figure in later Japanese mythology. Izanagi divides up the realms of the universe amongst his children and retires to the island of Awaji, an island that has long had a reputed connection to the deity. For centuries a shrine to Izanagi has existed there, and some scholars feel that the Kojiki is an extrapolation of a less prominent myth from Awaji. There was another less prevalent version of this story, recorded shortly after the Kojiki, called the Nihonshoki. Many elements are similar, but this version does not include the elements of the Kojiki that seem to reflect poorly on Izanami. She does corrupt the wedding ceremony, and is not banished to the underworld. Perhaps this version of the story is a little more sensitive to Izanami - however, it did not reach as wide as acceptance. Elements of Izanami's residence in the Underworld are reminiscent of Greek mythology. Certainly the casual student of mythology recognizes Izanagi's mistake as a mirror of that of Orpheus, who also went against the wishes of his mate and looked at her while trying to free her from the underworld. As well, Izanami makes the same mistake as Persephone - eating the food of the underworld. The results are the same: continued residence in the realm of the dead.
The copyright of the article The Kojiki - Izanagi, Izanami, and the Birth of Japan - Page 2 in Mythology is owned by Wayne Kreger. Permission to republish The Kojiki - Izanagi, Izanami, and the Birth of Japan - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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