A destination named through desire and advice
Susanoo says that he wishes to go to his deceased mother's land, described by Chamberlain as the Nether-Distant-Land. Later Ōkuninushi is advised to seek Susanoo there. The repeated designation connects episodes, but their narrative details should not be flattened into a perfectly consistent map. The Kojiki offers relationships and routes between scenes rather than a systematic guide to all realms beyond ordinary habitation.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §§12, 23
A household containing several hazards
Ōkuninushi encounters Suseribime and then faces rooms filled with snakes and biting creatures, a burning grassland, and a test involving Susanoo's head. The place has architecture, family relations, and an external landscape. It is not merely a blank region of terror. The same household contains an enemy who sets conditions and an ally who understands how to overcome them.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §23, arrival and ordeals
Departure brings objects and authorization
The escape carries Suseribime, weapons, and a speaking instrument across the boundary. Susanoo's final words direct Ōkuninushi toward rule in the land he left behind. The distant realm therefore produces a changed capacity to act elsewhere. Comparing it with Yomi is useful because both involve pursuit and a pass, but one ends a partnership while this journey establishes another. Similar scenery does not make the two episodes identical.
Source: Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters, Chamberlain translation · Kojiki §§9, 23
- 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.
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 note