Myth of Creation
Mrs. OichiIn the beginning, Japan was not a country.
It was something softer.
Something uncertain.
A place not yet shaped,
not yet named.
Two beings stood at the edge of this formless world.
Izanagi and Izanami.
They were not rulers.
Not kings, nor gods in the way many imagine.
They were simply… there.
And from them, something began.
With a spear, they stirred the chaos below.
Drops fell.
And where they fell, land was born.
An island.
Then another.
Until what we now call Japan
slowly took shape.
From their union came more than land.
Children were born.
Among them were three
who would come to shape the world that followed.
Amaterasu,
the light that watches over all.
Tsukuyomi,
silent, distant, and unseen.
Susanoo,
wild, restless, and impossible to ignore.
They were not equal.
And they were never meant to be.
Light, darkness, and storm.
Order, silence, and chaos.
From the very beginning,
balance was never simple.
Some say these are only stories.
Stories told to children.
Stories shaped by time.
But there are voices
that do not disappear so easily.
Stories do not survive for a thousand years
without reason.
And some of them…
are still being told.
■ Tips
Where can you feel the beginning?
The story of creation may feel distant.
But in Japan,
those stories are still tied to real places.
You can visit
connected to the sun goddess Amaterasu.
Or travel to
where the land of gods is said to continue even now.
There are also quieter places—
small shrines,
hidden in forests or cities—
where these stories are still remembered.
You may not see the gods.
But sometimes…
you can feel where they once stood.
■Continue Your Journey
