Who Is Izanagi (Izanaki)?
The father god who created the islands of Japan
Izanagi-no-Mikoto
Izanagi (Izanagi-no-Mikoto) is the male creator god of the Kojiki, the last god to appear in the "Seven Generations of the Age of the Gods." Together with his wife Izanami, he gave birth to the islands of Japan and many gods. His name is also read "Izanaki."
The gods of heaven gave him a jeweled spear, which he used to make the island of Onogoro, and there he married Izanami. Their first attempt went wrong, so they tried again; this time he spoke first, and they gave birth to the Great Eight Islands of Japan. When his wife died giving birth to the fire god, he followed her to Yomi, the land of the dead. But he broke his promise not to look, saw her rotting form, fled back, and sealed the slope of Yomotsu Hirasaka with a giant boulder. During the purification he performed afterward, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo were born, and he gave each of the three a part of the world to rule.
The Kojiki says he rests at Taga in Ōmi, and he is enshrined at Taga Taisha in Shiga Prefecture.
Episodes featuring this character3
Episode 1
The Gods Who Proposed in the Wrong OrderKuniumi: The Birth of Japan
Facing an empty, drifting sea, Izanagi and Izanami, the last two gods to be born, are handed a single spear and told to "make a land." Their first meeting goes in the wrong order and they lose their first child. They don't turn on each other. They go to the heavens together to ask why, try again, and give birth to the Eight Great Islands.
19 pages
Episode 2
She Begged Him Not to LookIzanagi and Izanami in Yomi, the Land of the Dead
Izanami dies after giving birth to the god of fire, and her husband Izanagi goes down to the land of the dead to bring her back. She asks him for one thing: don't look at her. He looks. With a great boulder between them, they trade vows of death and birth and part forever. Then, as Izanagi washes himself clean, the children of the sun, the moon and the storm are born.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
Why the Sun Goddess Met Her Brother in ArmorThe Oath of Amaterasu and Susanoo
Cast out by his father, Susanoo climbs to Heaven to say goodbye to his sister Amaterasu, but she meets him in full battle gear. They settle it with a sacred oath in which each brings forth children. Susanoo shouts "I win!" and goes on a rampage, and his sister keeps covering for him. Then a weaving maiden dies, and Amaterasu, now afraid, shuts herself away in the Rock Cave.
19 pages