The Cave of the Sun Goddess (Ama-no-Iwato)

After being entrusted with dominion over the sea, Susanoo instead wept and raged, longing for his dead mother Izanami. His tempests withered green mountains to brown and dried up the seas. Izanagi, unable to tolerate his son's destructive behavior, banished him. Before departing, Susanoo ascended to heaven to bid farewell to his sister Amaterasu—but his visit quickly turned to catastrophe.

Susanoo's arrival alarmed Amaterasu, who suspected he had come to steal her realm. She armed herself and confronted him, but Susanoo proposed a ritual oath (ukehi) to prove his peaceful intentions. Through this oath, both produced offspring: Amaterasu bore five male deities from Susanoo's sword, and Susanoo bore three female deities (the Munakata goddesses) from Amaterasu's jewels. Susanoo claimed victory, declaring the gentleness of his daughters proved his sincerity.

Emboldened by his supposed vindication, Susanoo's behavior deteriorated into outright desecration. He broke the ridges between Amaterasu's rice paddies, filled in her irrigation ditches, and scattered excrement in her ceremonial hall. Amaterasu made excuses for her brother's behavior—until the final outrage. Susanoo hurled the skinned carcass of a piebald horse through the roof of the sacred weaving hall, where the celestial maidens were weaving garments for the gods. One weaver was so startled she struck her shuttle against her body and died.

Overwhelmed with grief and rage, Amaterasu withdrew into the Heavenly Rock Cave (Ama-no-Iwato) and sealed the entrance behind her. With the sun goddess in hiding, the world—both heaven and earth—was plunged into eternal darkness. Evil spirits ran rampant, and countless calamities arose.

The eight hundred myriad deities gathered at the Tranquil River of Heaven to devise a plan. The wise god Omoikane conceived the strategy: long-crowing roosters were gathered to mimic dawn. Ishikoridome forged the sacred mirror Yata no Kagami, and Tamanooya crafted the curved jewels Yasakani no Magatama. The great sakaki tree from Mount Amakagu was uprooted and decorated with the mirror, jewels, and cloth offerings.

Then came the decisive act. Amenouzume, the goddess of revelry, overturned a tub before the cave entrance, climbed atop it, and began a frenzied, ecstatic dance. Stamping her feet until they thundered, she partly loosened her garments in a display so outrageous that the assembled eight million deities burst into roaring laughter that shook the heavens.

Amaterasu, hearing the uproar, was bewildered. 'I have hidden myself, and the world should be in darkness. Why does Amenouzume dance, and why do the gods laugh?' she called out. Amenouzume replied: 'We rejoice because a deity more radiant than you has appeared.' Curious, Amaterasu pushed the door open slightly to peer out. The mirror was thrust before her, and she saw her own brilliant reflection—a light more beautiful than she remembered. As she leaned further out to gaze at this 'new deity,' the mighty Tajikarao seized her hand and pulled her fully from the cave. A shimenawa rope was strung across the entrance, and the gods declared she must never retreat again.

Light returned to the world. Susanoo was punished with a heavy fine, had his fingernails and toenails pulled out, and was permanently expelled from heaven.