Episode 8On a Sword's Tip, He Demanded the KingdomThe Transfer of the Land (Kuni-yuzuri)
Episode 8. Okuninushi has guarded the land he built with his best friend all on his own. Heaven sends envoy after envoy, and none of them come back. The last to arrive is Takemikazuchi, a thunder god of few words, who sits on the point of a sword planted in the sea. After a trial of strength, the king gives up his land on one condition: a shrine whose pillars reach the sky.
Kuni-yuzuri Explained: How Okuninushi Gave Up the Land in the Kojiki
The Original Myth: A Summary
The Kojiki, compiled by O no Yasumaro in 712, tells this story in its first book. It opens with Okuninushi, the great lord of the land, building the country together with Sukunabikona, a tiny god who arrives over the waves in a boat made from a seed pod. Nobody knows his name until a toad points the way to Kuebiko, a scarecrow god who cannot walk but knows everything under heaven. Sukunabikona turns out to be a child of the creator deity Kamimusubi, who tells the two to become brothers and build the land. Later, Sukunabikona leaves for Tokoyo, a land across the sea. Okuninushi wonders how he can finish the work alone, and a god who comes shining over the water offers to help if he is worshipped on Mount Mimoro. The Kojiki does not name this god; identifying him as Omononushi comes from other sources and later tradition.
In Takamagahara, the heavenly realm, the sun goddess Amaterasu declares that the land below belongs to her son Ame-no-Oshihomimi. He looks down from the Floating Bridge of Heaven, says the land is far too noisy, and goes back. The gods meet by the Heavenly River, and on the advice of Omoikane, the god of wisdom, they send Ame-no-Hohi. He fawns over Okuninushi and sends no word for three years. The next envoy, Ame-no-Wakahiko, is given a heavenly bow and arrows, but he marries Okuninushi's daughter Shitateruhime, plans to take the land for himself, and stays silent for eight years.
Heaven sends a pheasant named Nakime to ask why. Urged on by Ame-no-Sagume, Ame-no-Wakahiko shoots the bird. The arrow flies all the way up to Heaven, where Takamimusubi (also called Takagi) sees the blood on it and throws it back with a curse: if the envoy acted with a bad heart, let it strike him. It kills him in his bed. At his funeral, which birds carry out, his look-alike friend Ajishikitakahikone is mistaken for the dead man. Furious at being taken for a corpse, he cuts down the mourning hut with his sword and kicks it away.
Finally Takemikazuchi, a warrior god, descends with Ame-no-Torifune to Inasa beach in Izumo. He plants his sword upside down in the crest of a wave, sits cross-legged on its point, and asks Okuninushi for his answer. Okuninushi lets his sons decide. Kotoshironushi agrees and withdraws. Takeminakata challenges the envoy to a contest of strength, but Takemikazuchi's hand turns into ice and then a blade, and he crushes Takeminakata's hand like a young reed. Takeminakata flees to the sea of Suwa and surrenders there. Okuninushi then offers up the land, asking for a grand dwelling with pillars sunk deep in the bedrock and roof beams rising to Takamagahara. A palace is built at Tagishi beach, the god Kushiyatama kindles a sacred fire and offers a feast, and Takemikazuchi returns to report.
Main Characters
Okuninushi is the builder and ruler of the land, and the one asked to give it up. He is not shown simply surrendering. He hands the decision to his sons, then names his own price. Takemikazuchi, the thunder and sword god, is the envoy who succeeds where the others failed. The failed envoys, Ame-no-Hohi and Ame-no-Wakahiko, show that Heaven's plan did not go smoothly. Behind them, Amaterasu and Takamimusubi give the orders, and Omoikane plans each move.
What the Myth Is About: Cultural Background
The Kojiki was compiled for the imperial court, and this episode explains why Amaterasu's descendants, rather than the gods of Izumo, came to rule the land. Many scholars read it as a mythic version of how the Yamato court came to dominate the Izumo region, though this is an interpretation and not something the text says outright.
What stands out is that the land is negotiated for, not simply taken. Okuninushi gets a magnificent residence in return, and this is commonly linked to Izumo Taisha, one of Japan's oldest and most important shrines. The story also explains where things came from: the returning arrow, the phrase for a messenger who never comes back, and the Mourning Mountain in Mino. The defeated Takeminakata promises to stay in Suwa, which ties him to the Suwa region, where he is still worshipped.
What the Manga Changes
The order of events, the names, and the key images come from the Kojiki: the sword point on the wave, the hand turning into ice and then a blade, and the condition about the pillars. Much else is the manga's own invention. The Kojiki says almost nothing about how the gods look, so their faces, clothes, and ages are all the artist's design. Conversations at the gods' council and scenes of married life between Ame-no-Wakahiko and Shitateruhime are made up for the manga.
The original also gives no reasons for Ame-no-Hohi's three years of silence, Ame-no-Wakahiko's feelings, or who Ame-no-Sagume really is. The manga fills these gaps. The bird funeral is shortened, Takeminakata's escape route to Suwa is imagined, and Okuninushi's emotions when he gives up the land are added. In the Kojiki he simply states his terms. The Sukunabikona section is squeezed into one opening page as a summary, and the shrine's design is based only on the Kojiki's brief words about pillars and roof beams.
Where to Read It
If you want to see the thunder god sitting on his sword above the waves, Episode 8 of KOJIKI: Chronicle of the Gods tells the whole story, from the lonely builder-king to the shrine that reaches the sky. Every episode is free to read on Manga Portal, with no sign-up needed, so you can start here or go back to the beginning of the Kojiki's creation myth.
Characters in this episode
Okuninushi
The great lord of the land, who built the country and finally gives it to Heaven in exchange for a grand shrine.
Takemikazuchi
A thunder and sword god who sits on the tip of a sword in the waves and wins the land for Heaven.
Sukunabikona
A tiny god, child of Kamimusubi, who helps Okuninushi build the land before leaving for Tokoyo across the sea.
Ame-no-Wakahiko
Heaven's second envoy, who marries Okuninushi's daughter, kills the pheasant messenger, and is struck down by his own returning arrow.
Takeminakata
Okuninushi's son, who challenges Takemikazuchi to a contest of strength, loses, and surrenders at Suwa.
Amaterasu
The sun goddess, who declares that the land below belongs to her son and sends envoys to claim it.
FAQ
What is Kuni-yuzuri in Japanese mythology?
Kuni-yuzuri, or the Transfer of the Land, is the Kojiki episode in which Okuninushi hands the land over to the heavenly gods. After several failed envoys, the god Takemikazuchi secures his agreement, and the way is opened for Amaterasu's descendants to rule.
Why did Okuninushi give up his land?
In the Kojiki, Okuninushi gives up the land after one son agrees and the other, Takeminakata, loses a contest of strength to Takemikazuchi. He does not give it away for nothing. He asks for a grand dwelling with pillars set in the bedrock and roof beams reaching the heavens.
Who is Takemikazuchi?
Takemikazuchi is a warrior god connected with thunder and swords, and the son of Itsu-no-Ohabari. He is famous for sitting on the point of a sword planted upside down in the waves while he demanded the land from Okuninushi.
Is Izumo Taisha the shrine promised to Okuninushi?
The Kojiki describes a palace built at Tagishi beach in Izumo but does not use the name Izumo Taisha. Tradition commonly links Okuninushi's promised dwelling to Izumo Taisha, where he is still worshipped today.
Who was Sukunabikona?
Sukunabikona is a tiny god, said to have slipped through the fingers of his parent Kamimusubi. He arrived by boat over the sea, built the land together with Okuninushi as his brother, and later left for Tokoyo.
