This retelling is a heavily condensed, dramatized modern version of the original Kojiki. Some episodes are omitted and wording is simplified; please consult the original text or scholarly translations for accuracy.
After the creator gods hid themselves, more deities appeared—Kuninotokotachi and Toyokumono among them—still as solitary gods. Then the pattern changed: deities began to appear as male–female pairs.
Counting from Kuninotokotachi, seven generations arose, known as the ‘Seven Generations of the Age of Gods.’ The last to appear were Izanagi and Izanami—the first true divine couple, whose names carry the sense of ‘to invite.’
The elder heavenly gods looked down on the still-unformed world below, granted the pair a jeweled spear, and commanded them: ‘Complete and give order to this drifting land.’ The great work of creation was about to begin.
Deities in this chapter
Kuninotokotachi
国之常立神
A deity symbolizing the eternal standing of the land; first of the seven generations.
Izanagi
伊邪那岐命
The male deity who, with Izanami, gives birth to the islands and many gods; the central figure of the early myths.
Izanami
伊邪那美命
The mother goddess of creation, who later meets a tragic fate in the land of the dead.
Background & Trivia
How the ‘seven generations’ are counted
Solitary gods each count as one generation, while a male–female pair together counts as one—so the number of deities and generations do not match.
Names that tell of creation
The paired gods’ names—mud, sand, sprouts, stakes, even the first sense of shame—trace the slow forming of the land and the birth of feeling.
