Susanoo and the Eight-Headed Serpent Yamata no Orochi

Culture History Guide to JapanKojikichronicle.

Expulsion from Heaven

After the sun goddess Amaterasu came out of the cave, bringing light back to heaven, the gathered deities resolved to punish Susanoo for the wild acts that had led her to hide away. They ordered him to provide a thousand tables piled with goods, and then they cut his beard and nails and expelled him from heaven.

Susanoo descended to the earth, where he called on the food deity Ōgetsu to give him sustenance. She produced all kinds of food from her nose, mouth, and anus, and served it to him; thinking that it was dirty, he became enraged and killed her. Silkworms emerged from her head, rice from her eyes, millet from her ears, adzuki beans from her nose, barley from her genitals, and soybeans from her anus. Another goddess gathered these up to give to the people.

A Fearsome Snake

Susanoo came to the land of Izumo beside the upper reaches of the Hinokawa river, where he saw a chopstick come floating by on the water. Deciding that this meant there were people there, he traveled upstream, where he found an old man and woman crying together with a girl between them. “Who are you?” he asked them.

“I’m Ashinazuchi,” the old man said, “My wife is Tenazuchi, and our daughter is Kushinada.”

“And why are you weeping?”

“We once had eight daughters, but the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi that lives in Koshi came and devoured one each year. We’re crying because the time has come for its return.”

“What kind of beast is that?”

“It has eyes the color of bright red lantern plants, and eight heads and eight tails coming out of its body, which is covered with moss, cypresses, and cedars. It’s long enough to cover eight valleys and eight mountains, and its belly is always wet with oozing blood.”

Then Susanoo said to the old man, “Will you give me your daughter?”

“I’m truly grateful,” Ashinazuchi said, “but I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”

“I’m Amaterasu’s younger brother, and I just descended from heaven.”

“If so, it would be a great honor to present our daughter to you.”

Susanoo transformed the girl into a comb, which he fixed in his hair, and he ordered Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi, “Distill a liquor eight times to make it strong. Then build a fence and make eight doors in it, and build a platform at each door. Place a barrel on each platform, and fill each barrel with the strong liquor. Then wait.”

The old couple did as he said and waited, and the serpent Yamata no Orochi appeared.

It pushed one of its heads each into all of the barrels and supped until it fell into a drunken sleep. Susanoo drew his great sword and chopped the snake into pieces, and the Hinokawa river ran red with blood. When he cut one of the tails, he chipped the blade of his sword. Thinking that this was strange, he split open the tail and found a sword sharp enough to cut anything. In awe at this marvel, he presented it to Amaterasu. This is the sword known as Kusanagi, the grass-cutter.

A Palace in Izumo

Susanoo looked for somewhere in Izumo to build his palace, where he would live with Kushinada. “This place makes my heart refreshed [sugasugashii],” he said, and there he built his palace; ever since then the location has been known as Suga. Clouds rose up and Susanoo composed this song:

In Izumo, where eightfold clouds rise,

Eightfold fences

around my wife’s home.

I build eightfold fences—

Oh, those eightfold fences!

He called Ashinazuchi and made him his steward.

Then, he lay down with Kushinada, and the two had a son. Susanoo also had a son and daughter with his second wife Kamuōichi. Among his descendants was Ōkuninushi, who became the ruler of the land.