A meal misread in the Kojiki
After Susanoo's expulsion, the Kojiki tells how he asks a food goddess, Ōgetsuhime, for something to eat. She produces ingredients from bodily openings and prepares dishes. Watching her, Susanoo judges the meal filthy and kills her. The narrative does not turn his disgust into evidence that the food was actually poisonous.
Useful things then arise from her dead body: silkworms, rice, millet, beans, and barley are assigned to particular parts. Kamimusubi has them collected as seed. The killing is thus followed by a transformation into resources that sustain later life. Its productivity does not require a reader to treat the attack as morally justified or to imagine that the goddess had agreed to it.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §17, Ōgetsuhime episode
Another visitor in the Nihon Shoki
Aston's translation of one alternative writing in Nihon Shoki Book I names the food goddess Ukemochi and sends Tsukuyomi to visit her at Amaterasu's request. Ukemochi turns toward land, sea, and mountains and produces their foods from her mouth. Tsukuyomi reacts with disgust and kills her, then reports what happened.
Amaterasu condemns his action and refuses to meet him face to face. Their separation is associated with day and night. She sends another messenger, Ame-kuma-bito, who finds new living resources on Ukemochi's body and brings them back. Amaterasu arranges cultivation and silkworm work. This account gives her a direct role in turning the recovered materials into sustenance.
Source: Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Nihon Shoki, Book I, alternative writing; Aston vol. I, pp. 32–33
Keep the agents separate
The two accounts share a pattern of hospitality, revulsion, killing, and subsequent productivity. Their differences nevertheless change the relationships: Susanoo and Kamimusubi act in the Kojiki sequence, while Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and her messenger act in the selected Nihon Shoki writing. Only the latter passage explains a separation of sun and moon through the incident.
Combining the names into one interchangeable food-goddess story would erase that distinction. The texts also belong to differently organized court compilations, presented in 712 and 720. These dates identify literary records, not the first telling of the motif. The juxtaposition shows how a similar narrative mechanism can support different divine biographies and explanations.
Sources: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation; Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Kojiki §17; Nihon Shoki, Book I, Aston vol. I, pp. 32–33
One story, different sources
Choose a textual witness. The summary, diagram, and cited connections below change together. This is a selective map of claims, not a complete family tree.
Kojiki · Susanoo and Ōgetsuhime
Susanoo kills Ōgetsuhime; useful life appears from her body, and Kamimusubi orders its collection as seed. The selected episode gives no separation of sun and moon.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §17
Cited connections 3
Susanoo kills after rejecting her meal Ōgetsuhime
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §17, meal and killing
Ōgetsuhime dead body produces Crops and silkworms
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §17, list of products
Kamimusubi orders collection as seed Crops and silkworms
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §17, concluding sentence
Nihon Shoki · Tsukuyomi and Ukemochi
Tsukuyomi kills Ukemochi. Amaterasu refuses to meet him, sends Ame-kuma-bito to gather the resulting resources, and arranges cultivation and silkworm work.
Source: Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Nihon Shoki Book I, alternative writing; Aston vol. I, pp. 32–33
Cited connections 5
Tsukuyomi kills after rejecting her meal Ukemochi
Source: Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Aston vol. I, p. 32
Amaterasu refuses to meet after the killing Tsukuyomi
Source: Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Aston vol. I, p. 32, separation of day and night
Ukemochi dead body produces Crops, animals, and silkworms
Source: Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Aston vol. I, pp. 32–33
Ame-kuma-bito carries to Amaterasu Crops, animals, and silkworms
Source: Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Aston vol. I, p. 33
Amaterasu organizes cultivation and silkworm work Crops, animals, and silkworms
Source: Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Aston vol. I, p. 33
See what differs across the witnesses
Kojiki · Susanoo and Ōgetsuhime
Susanoo kills Ōgetsuhime; useful life appears from her body, and Kamimusubi orders its collection as seed. The selected episode gives no separation of sun and moon.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §17
Nihon Shoki · Tsukuyomi and Ukemochi
Tsukuyomi kills Ukemochi. Amaterasu refuses to meet him, sends Ame-kuma-bito to gather the resulting resources, and arranges cultivation and silkworm work.
Source: Nihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I · Nihon Shoki Book I, alternative writing; Aston vol. I, pp. 32–33
- Period / witness
- Kojiki 712 CE and Nihon Shoki 720 CE; historical translations 1882 and 1896.
- Recording context
- Two separate Japanese court compilations, compared through Chamberlain’s Kojiki §17 and Aston’s Nihongi Book I, pp. 32–33; neither is treated as a universal account.
A recording location is not necessarily a story’s origin. Dates of texts, copies, and translations answer different questions.
Explore time & place →Read the sources
These references support the explanation above. Rights and edition notes are recorded individually.
Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation ↗
Ō no Yasumaro (compiler, as identified in the preface); translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850–1935) · Court compilation presented 712 CE; translation published Yokohama, 1882
Edition & rights noteNihongi / Nihon Shoki, Book I ↗
Japanese court compilation; translated by William George Aston (1841–1911) · Compilation completed 720 CE; translation 1896; selected passage vol. I, pp. 32–33
Edition & rights note