A formless chaos stretched across heaven and earth, until the first divine spark flickered to life. From that misty void emerged Amenominakanushi (Divine Lord of the Center), Takamimusubi, and Kamimusubi—primordial forces that set the cosmos into motion. As layers of heaven and earth settled into place, a council of heavenly deities decided to create a solid world.

Two younger kami, Izanagi and Izanami, were handed a jeweled spear, called Amenonuhoko, and sent down to stir the briny depths. When droplets fell from the spear’s tip, they solidified into the first island, Onogoro. There, on a floating bridge of heaven, Izanagi and Izanami married and fashioned eight more islands—Awaji, Shikoku, Kyushu and the others—each born in turn with poetry and ceremony.

Their union gave rise to countless kami: Amaterasu Ōmikami, radiant goddess of the sun; Tsukuyomi, lord of the moon; and Susanoo, storm-wielding trickster. Yet even divine families face turmoil. Susanoo’s antics forced Amaterasu into a cave, plunging the world into darkness. Only by trickery and laughter did other deities lure her out, restoring light—an origin story still echoed in shrine festivals when lanterns blaze to scare away shadows.

These tales, recorded in the Nihon Shoki in 720 CE, remain woven into modern life: the 2019 enthronement of Emperor Naruhito at Ise Shrine nodded to Amaterasu’s legacy, and National Foundation Day on February 11 honors Izanagi and Izanami’s creative leap. At countless neighborhood shrines today, visitors clap and bow, tapping into that ancient spark—proof that Japan’s birth myth never really grows old.