In the beginning, heaven and earth were one unformed mass, similar to a shapeless egg. The lighter, clearer part remained above and, in time, became heaven. More slowly, the heavier, denser part sank below and became earth. At first, pieces of land floated about in the void as a fish floats on the surface of the sea. A detached object, shaped like a reed-shoot when it first emerges from the mud, floated in the void between heaven and earth as a cloud floats over the sea.

This became the first god. Other gods followed, the two youngest being Izanagi no Mikoto and Isanami no Mikoto.

Izanagi and Izanami stood side by side upon the floating bridge of heaven, which we call the rainbow, and looked down from the heights. "Can you see anything below us?" Isanagi asked.

"Nothing but water, " Izanami replied. "I wonder if there is any land."

"That is something we can determine!" Izanagi replied. "Let us take the jewel-spear of heaven and thrust it into the depths. If land exists, this spear will surely reveal it."

The two gods moved the jewel-spear around in the depths and then pulled it up to see if any material had collected on its tip. Salty water dripped from the point of their spear and fell as a salty mass into the sea below, forming an island.

"Now we can live on the waters below us!" Izanami exclaimed. "We have land to rest on."

So Izanagi and Izanami left heaven and went to live upon the island they had created in the middle of the sea. They built a large palace there and placed the jewel-spear in its center as a supporting pillar. Then they married. They hoped to have many island-children, who would join together to become a country.

Once they had established their home, Izanagi said to Izanami, "Let us separate and investigate our island. You go in one direction and I will go in the other, and we will meet."

Izanagi turned to the left of the palace, Izanami turned to the right, and they walked around the island. When they came together again, Izanami exclaimed, "How wonderful! I have met a handsome young man!"

In time, Izanami gave birth to their first child. Instead of being an island, it was a disgusting leech-child, who could not stand up even at the age of three years. They had no desire to keep such a child, so they sent it floating upon the sea in a reed boat and let the winds determine its destiny.

The two gods then returned to heaven and asked the older gods, "Why did Izanami give birth to an abnormal child? Is there anything we can do to prevent her from having another one?"

The gods replied, "Izanami gave birth to a useless child because she does not appear to know her proper place. A woman should let the man be the first to speak, for that is his right. When a woman speaks first, she brings bad luck. If you wish to have proper children, then you must begin all over again. Return to your island, walk your separate ways, and try meeting and greeting each other once more."
Izanagi and Izanami obeyed the advice of the gods, and this time when they met, Izanami let Izanagi speak first. "How wonderful!" he exclaimed. "I have met a lovely young woman!"

Izanami smiled and replied, "How wonderful! I have met a handsome young man!"

In the course of time, Izanami gave birth to eight lovely children, each of whom became an island. Together the eight islands formed one country.

Izanagi then said to his wife, "The country we have created is covered with sweet morning mists, but what good are islands if no one can see them? I shall solve the problem by creating a child who will be the god of the wind."

He took a deep breath and exhaled their next child. The newborn god cloaked himself in a great blast of air. Then he flew over his sisters and brothers, scattering the mists that concealed them.

Izamani said to her husband, "Now that you have revealed the country we created we must make our islands beautiful. We must create lofty mountains and peaceful valleys, cool forests and lush meadows, sparkling waterfalls and bubbling streams." So Izanagi and Izanami created the gods of the sea, the gods of the mountains, the gods of the rivers, and the gods of the trees.

When they saw that their country was truly beautiful, Izanagi said, "Now let us create the god who will rule the universe."

Together they produced the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu Omikami. From the time of her birth, Amaterasu shone with a brilliance that illumined the entire world. Izanagi and Izanami were delighted with their youngest child. "We have many children," Izanagi said, "but not one of them can compare with our beautiful Amaterasu! Clearly our country is no place for such a great goddess. She belongs in heaven where she can shine down upon the earth! As soon as she can, let her climb the ladder of heaven."

Amaterasu was in heaven when Izanami gave birth to the god of the moon. His beauty and brilliance were almost as great as Amaterasu's. He too climbed the ladder of heaven, for in time he would become Amaterasu's husband and would rule the universe with her.

Izanagi and Izanami's next child, Susano-o-no-Mikoto, had a disposition that brought no joy to anyone. Whenever he was not creating havoc with his temper tantrums, he was crying. His parents gave him the power to rule the earth, but he misused that power. He caused the forests to wither, and he brought early deaths to many people.

Finally Izanagi and Izanami said to him, "Your love of destruction gives us no choice but to banish you. You are so cruel that it is unfair to let you rule the earth! We are sending you down to rule the netherland, where you can do less damage."

Izanagi and Izanami's next child was the god of fire. In the process of being born, he burned his mother, and Izanami died. As she was dying, she gave birth to the earth goddess and the water goddess. The god of fire married the goddess of the earth, and their daughter produced the mulberry tree and the silkworm from the hair on her head, and five kinds of grain from her navel.

Meanwhile, as Izanami lay dying, Izanagi cried, "How grieved I am!" In anger and resentment, he drew his sword and sliced the god of fire into three pieces, each of which became a god.
Overcome with sorrow and loneliness, Izanagi then followed Izanami, traveling the long path into Yomi, the dark land of death. When he found her he said, "I have come to you here in this dreadful place, Izanami, because I love you, and I cannot bear to live without you!"

To his surprise, Izanami did not welcome his words. "Izanagi, my husband and my lord, why did you take so long in coming?" she complained. "I have already eaten Yomi's food! Now I cannot go with you. If you love me, please let the darkness be a blessing, and do not look upon me. Instead, you must return the way you came, for my death has put an end to our marriage."

But Izanagi truly loved Izanami. He could not leave his beloved wife so easily, nor could he refrain from looking at her one last time. Secretly, he broke off an end tooth from the many-toothed comb that he wore in his hair and created a torch by igniting it. Then he confidently held the blazing torch toward his beautiful wife.

As the glow illuminated her figure, Izanagi recoiled with shock and revulsion. Izanami's body was now in a state of decay, and a host of maggots were voraciously feeding upon her rotting flesh. "The land of the dead is indeed a dreadful place!" he exclaimed in a whisper.

Izanami heard him and rose in a fury. "Why did you not leave as I wished?" she asked. "Now you have shamed me, and I will punish you for it!" Izanami called forth the eight ugly females of Yomi, who relentlessly pursued Izanagi.

To delay them, Izanagi removed his black headdress and tossed it on the ground. It immediately turned into a large bunch of grapes, which the pursuing females stopped and ate. When they had finished eating, they resumed their chase.

Izanagi removed his many-toothed comb from his hair and tossed it on the ground. It immediately turned into bamboo shoots, which the pursuing females stopped and ate. When they had finished eating, they resumed their chase.

By the time they caught up with Izanagi, he had reached Yomi Pass, the border between the dark land of the dead and the bright land of the living. There he blocked the path with a huge rock that it would take 1,000 men to move. From his safe position behind the rock, Izanagi remained to talk with his wife.

"Izanagi!" she exclaimed. "You have so shamed me that I am prepared to kill every one of your subjects! I can strangle 1,000 each day. In no time at all, you will rule over an empty kingdom."

"If you do so, Izanami," Izanagi replied, "I will see to it that 1,500 people are born each day!"

"Izanagi, my husband and my lord, you must accept my death," Izanami said soothingly. "We have loved one another long and well. Together we have created a beautiful country and many gods. Is this not enough? My time on earth has come to an end, and it is too late for me to return. So let us come to peaceful terms with each other."

"All right, Izanami," Izanagi replied. "I know it was weak of me to follow you into the land of death. I know that bad luck follows those who visit the land of Yomi while the wind of life blows through their bodies. Our marriage is hereby severed. As you wish, I will leave you to your life with Yomi in his dreadful land. I will return to the land of the living and will not bother you again."

True to his word, Izanagi never did.