Episode 5To Slay a Dragon, First Get It DrunkYamata no Orochi
Cast out of the heavens and convinced he has lost everything, Susanoo lands by the upper Hi River in Izumo. There he meets an elderly couple who have lost seven daughters to a giant serpent, and their last daughter, Kushinadahime, who calmly waits her turn. He turns her into a comb and sets her in his hair, has the family brew sake eight times over, and lures the eight-headed Yamata no Orochi into drinking itself to sleep. Mid-battle he snatches the falling comb from the air, slays every head, and finds a great sword inside the serpent's tail. For the first time he gives something away of his own will, presenting the sword to his sister Amaterasu, then returns to Izumo, where clouds rise from the earth and he sings of the eightfold fence he builds for his bride.
Yamata no Orochi: Susanoo Slays the Eight-Headed Serpent
The Original Myth: What Happens in the Kojiki
The story of Yamata no Orochi comes from the first book of the Kojiki ("Record of Ancient Matters"), Japan's oldest surviving chronicle, compiled by the court official O no Yasumaro and presented in 712 CE. It follows directly on from the exile of Susanoo, the storm god. The other gods have punished him for his rampage in the heavens: he has been fined heavily, his beard has been cut off, his fingernails and toenails pulled out, and he has been driven away.
Susanoo comes down at a place called Torikami, on the upper reaches of the Hi River in the land of Izumo (western Japan). He sees chopsticks floating down the river, guesses that people must live upstream, and goes looking. He finds an old man and an old woman weeping, with a young girl between them. The old man explains that he is an earthly deity, a son of the mountain god Oyamatsumi, and that his name is Ashinazuchi, his wife is Tenazuchi, and the girl is their daughter Kushinadahime. They once had eight daughters, but every year the Yamata no Orochi, a serpent from the land of Koshi, came and ate one. Now it is time for it to come again.
Asked what the creature looks like, the old man describes eyes as red as ground-cherries, one body with eight heads and eight tails, moss, cypress and cedar growing on its back, a length stretching across eight valleys and eight hills, and a belly that is always raw and bloody. Susanoo asks for the daughter's hand. When the old man politely says he does not know who his guest is, Susanoo announces that he is the full younger brother of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, newly come down from heaven. The parents agree.
The Plan, the Battle, and the Sword
Susanoo turns the girl into a sacred comb and tucks it into his hair, which he wears looped at both sides of his head. He then tells her parents to brew yashiori sake, usually understood as a powerful liquor refined again and again, to build a fence with eight gates, to put a platform at each gate with a vat of sake on it, and to wait.
Just as the old man said, the serpent arrives. It dips one head into each vat, drinks, and falls into a drunken sleep. Susanoo draws his long sword and hacks the serpent to pieces, and the Hi River runs red with blood. When he cuts into the middle tail, the edge of his blade chips. Puzzled, he cuts the tail open and finds a great sword inside. Thinking it a strange and remarkable thing, he presents it to Amaterasu. The Kojiki notes that this is the sword later known as Kusanagi.
Afterward Susanoo looks for a place in Izumo to build a palace. Reaching a place called Suga, he says that his heart feels refreshed there, and the text explains that this is how Suga got its name. As the palace goes up, clouds rise from the ground, and Susanoo composes a song about the many-layered clouds of Izumo and the eightfold fence he builds to keep his wife safe inside. He makes Ashinazuchi the head of his palace and gives him a new, long title.
What This Myth Tells Us
The episode marks a turning point for Susanoo. In heaven he was a destroyer; on earth he becomes a hero who protects a family, wins a wife, and founds a home. He also brings the sword back to the heavenly line by giving it to his sister, which ties the earthly land of Izumo to the gods of heaven.
The number eight runs through the whole story: eight daughters, eight heads, eight gates, eightfold fences, many-layered clouds. In old Japanese, eight often meant "many" or "complete" as much as an exact count. Scholars have read the serpent in different ways. One theory sees it as a flooding river, with its bloody belly linked to iron-rich sand in the region's rivers; others connect the sword in its tail with Izumo's ancient ironworking. These are interpretations, not things the Kojiki itself says.
Susanoo's song is often called the first waka, the classic Japanese short poem. The Hi River is commonly identified with today's Hii River in Shimane Prefecture, and Suga Shrine there is traditionally said to stand where his palace once stood.
Changes in the Manga
The Kojiki tells this story very briefly, so the manga fills in a lot. The battle itself is the biggest addition. The original only says that Susanoo cut the sleeping serpent to pieces; the manga's fight, including the comb slipping from his hair and Susanoo grabbing it in midair, is new. The serpent's scales, voice and dramatic arrival are also invented.
Kushinadahime never speaks in the original, and it does not say she was calm; the text describes weeping. Her quiet courage in the manga is a creative choice. The Kojiki also never describes her turning back from a comb into a woman. She simply turns up later as Susanoo's wife.
Finally, the idea that giving away the sword is the first time Susanoo acts generously by his own choice is the manga's reading of his character. The Kojiki only says that he found the sword strange and offered it to Amaterasu, and it records no reaction from her.
Where to Read It
If you want to see this myth told visually, from Susanoo's lonely landing by the river to the clouds rising over Suga, Episode 5 of KOJIKI: Chronicle of the Gods tells the whole story. Every episode on Manga Portal is free to read, with no sign-up required, so you can start at the beginning with the creation of Japan or go straight to the dragon. When you finish, come back to this guide to see which parts come from the 1,300-year-old original and which the manga added.
Characters in this episode
Susanoo (Haya-Susanoo)
The storm god and younger brother of Amaterasu, who is cast out of heaven, slays the eight-headed serpent in Izumo, and marries Kushinadahime.
Kushinadahime
The last surviving daughter of an elderly couple, due to be eaten by the serpent, whom Susanoo turns into a comb and later takes as his wife.
Ashinazuchi
Kushinadahime's father, an earthly deity and son of the mountain god Oyamatsumi, who tells Susanoo about the serpent and later becomes the head of his palace.
Tenazuchi
Kushinadahime's mother, who mourns with her husband and helps prepare the sake trap.
Yamata no Orochi
A huge eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent from the land of Koshi that eats one of the couple's daughters every year.
Amaterasu
The sun goddess and Susanoo's sister, who is only mentioned in this episode as the one he gives the serpent's sword to.
FAQ
What is Yamata no Orochi?
Yamata no Orochi is a giant serpent in Japanese mythology with eight heads and eight tails. The Kojiki describes trees and moss growing on its body and says it was long enough to stretch across eight valleys and eight hills.
How did Susanoo defeat Yamata no Orochi?
He had the girl's parents set out eight vats of strong sake behind a fence with eight gates. The serpent drank from every vat with its eight heads and fell asleep drunk, and Susanoo then cut it to pieces with his sword.
Where did the Kusanagi sword come from?
According to the Kojiki, Susanoo found it inside the serpent's middle tail when his own sword chipped against it. He offered it to his sister Amaterasu, and later tradition counts it as one of Japan's three imperial regalia.
Is Kusanagi the same as Ame-no-Murakumo?
They are traditionally treated as the same sword. The name Ame-no-Murakumo ("gathering clouds of heaven") is not used in the Kojiki's version of this story. It comes from another early chronicle, the Nihon Shoki.
Who is Kushinadahime?
She is the daughter of Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi and the only one of their eight daughters still alive when Susanoo arrives. He saves her from the serpent by turning her into a comb, and she becomes his wife.
