An arrival interpreted as a threat
Expelled after refusing his assigned work, Susanoo says he wants to visit Amaterasu before departing for his mother's realm. His ascent shakes mountains and rivers. Amaterasu interprets the disturbance as a possible attempt to seize her territory, prepares her hair and jewels, arms herself with bow and quivers, and confronts him.
Susanoo denies hostile intentions. He explains the earlier dispute with Izanagi and proposes that they swear an oath and produce children as evidence of sincerity. The encounter takes place across the heavenly river. The arrangement offers a procedure for resolving uncertainty, but the text does not present a neutral observer who can guarantee that both parties will interpret the result identically.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §§12–13
Children from exchanged possessions
Amaterasu takes Susanoo's sword, breaks it, washes the pieces, chews them, and releases a breath from which three female deities appear. Susanoo then uses jewels from different parts of her hair and arms in a corresponding act, producing five male deities. The sequence identifies the children individually and subsequently connects some with shrines and descent groups.
Amaterasu assigns parentage according to ownership of the material, rather than simply according to who performed the bodily action. The five males came from her jewels and are her children; the three females came from Susanoo's sword and are his. Object, body, and kinship therefore do not line up in the ordinary pattern of a human birth.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §§13–14
A declared victory fails to settle conduct
Susanoo treats the female children as proof of his sincerity and announces victory. He then damages Amaterasu's fields, obstructs their waterworks, and defiles a place where she eats. She initially finds excuses for him, but his later attack on the weaving hall produces a fatal crisis. Her withdrawal into the rock dwelling follows.
The oath has yielded important descendants without creating a dependable relationship. That difference is central to the episode: a claim to have passed a test does not ensure that later behavior remains harmless. The account also shows why a simple family tree is insufficient. It must explain the exchanged objects and the stated rule of attribution, while keeping this procedure distinct from alternative birth arrangements in other chronicles.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §§14–16
- Period / witness
- Kojiki presented in 712 CE; Chamberlain translation 1882. Narrative time is not a historical date.
- Recording context
- Kojiki, a Japanese court compilation attributed to Ō no Yasumaro from material recited by Hieda no Are; cited by Chamberlain’s numbered sections, not asserted as the origin of the tradition.
A recording location is not necessarily a story’s origin. Dates of texts, copies, and translations answer different questions.
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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 note