Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, and his brother Tsukuyomi, god of the moon, lived together in heaven.
One day, the goddess hears about Ukemochi (保食神), a spirit that lived in Japan, and sends her brother to find her.
Knowing this, Ukemochi started to prepare a banquet: she turned towards the land and form her mouth there came boiled rice; she faced the sea and form her mouth came things with big fins and small fins; she faced the mountain and from her mouth came things of rough hair and things of soft hair.
Ukemochi prepared all of this for a banquet to entertain Tsukuyomi. However, he got angry and exclaimed:
— Filthy! Nasty! That you dare to feed me with things disgorged form your mouth.
Feeling insulted, Tsukuyomi takes out his sword and kills her. After this, he returns to heaven and tells his sister what he had done.
— You are a wicked deity! —Amaterasu said— I must not see you face to face.
Amaterasu sends him away, thus beginning the separation between night and day.
Sources:
History of Japan (2019) Ukemochi. Retrieved from https://historyofjapan.co.uk/wiki/ukemochi/
Phillipi, D. (1979) Kojiki. Princeton University Press, Tokyo University Press.
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