Susanoo, after creating his three daughters (see The Three Noble Children), said to Amaterasu:
— As a proof that my heart is sincere and luminous, the children I conceived are delicate girls. Isn’t this a proof that I have no ill intentions?
With this, Susanoo descended to the earth. In an outburst of pride and triumph, he destroyed the rice fields and stained with mud the altar were offerings were made.
Amaterasu, instead of reproaching him, made up excuses because she thought he didn’t meant evil. Susanoo’s violence grew more and more.
One day, while Amaterasu was in a sacred room with a heavenly spinner to make a loom, Susanoo broke the ceiling and placed a dead chipped horse in the middle. The spinner was so scared that she ran away, getting stabbed with the loom shuttle and dying.
Amaterasu was horrified and ran, making an opening a gate in the Rock Cave of Heaven, and shutting herself in, plunging the world into darkness.
*****
The eight million gods gathered, to look for a solution. They fabricated a huge mirror and placed it in front of the Cave. Then, the goddess Ame no Uzume started doing a dance and undressing herself.
This show provoked the laughter of the gods that rumbled on the mountain. Amaterasu, intrigued, looked out to ask:
— I thought from where I locked myself in this cavern, the sky highlands had been dark. Why does Ame no Uzume dance and all the gods laugh?
— Because there is a goddess more dignified than you.— the gods answered.
Amaterasu, with even more curiosity, leaned out a little more, reflecting in the mirror. Then, the gods took her by the arms, pulling her out completely and closing the cave behind her.
In this way, the light returned to the world of heaven and that of mortals.
Rubio, C. and Moratalla, R (2008) Kojiki, Cronicas de antiguos hechos de Japón. Editorial Trotta. Translated from spanish by Mythology Web.
Images from Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
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