The Mightiest Gods of Japanese Mythology | The Gods of Japan | The mightiest gods series 3

once upon a time there was no life there was no  light there was nothing nothing but darkness and a   great void out of this vast void came the heavens  and an unformed earth and primordial deities who   claimed the magnificent heavens as their abode.  Seeing the untouched empty form of the earth   two of the primordial beings izanagi and his  twin sister izanami went forth to design the   dull formless realm as they pleased standing on  the pillars of the high heavens and churning the   primordial sea with the heavenly spear of jewels  they created the islands the mountains and forests   of japan. Seeing how well they complemented each  other izanagi and izanami united in marriage to   procreate and populate the world with godly  offspring however during the marriage ritual   their union was improperly sealed because  izanami affirmed first some say because she   was a woman some say because she was the younger  twin so she should not have spoken first they say   thus the children brought forth from that  union were deformed in one way or another   casting the deformed children away izanagi and  izanami performed the marriage rights all over   again with izanagi affirming first properly  sealing the marriage this time and allowing   the couple to give rise to a healthy generation  of kami afterwards their marriage was a happy one   but it was short-lived alas izanami met her  death while giving birth to the god of fire   kagutsuchi the painful flames so consumed her  body that she was burnt beyond regeneration   but before izanami succumbed to death she  bore the water goddess mizuhami with her   last strength instructing her to subdue her fiery  brother whenever he became violent with this she   passed on and her soul traveled to the underworld  which would then become her new home devastated   by the death of his wife izanagi beheaded his  fiery son with his sword cutting him up into   eight pieces and scattering the pieces across the  world the eight pieces became eight volcanoes and   the blood that dripped from his sword gave rise  to a number of elemental gods and monsters alike   then izanagi descended to the underworld in search  of his wife he would bring her back so he thought   but when he beheld is on army she had become  nothing more than a ghastly looking rotten corpse   infested with many demons that freely went in  and out of her body she had eaten the food of   the underworld and so became like them an undead a  demon the demons that went in and out of her body   were supposed to be celestial beings glorious  and beautiful they were her unborn children   but because she had eaten the food of yomi because  she had become a demon and oni her unborn children   became demons too dark and horrifying waiting to  be summoned the hideous site terrified izanagi   and he begged the keepers of the underworld to  give his wife another chance to let him take her   back to her realm the realm of celestials the  keepers of yomi agreed to his incessant pleas   but warned him not to look back at isan army  till they got to the entrance of the living world   where the gloomy darkness of the underworld fades  into brilliant light izanagi promised to do as   instructed on their way however he soon forgot the  warnings in his impatience turning back to look at   his wife thereby condemning her to forever remain  in her ghastly state now furious at her husband   for failing his promise izanami sent her horde  of demons after him to devour his soul to equally   imprison him in the underworld forever and then go  forth to devour the land of the living inflicting   suffering and rot upon every realm they chased  izanagi to every nook and cranny of the underworld   even to the exit and the entrance to the realm  of the living the demons angrily pursued him   luckily izanagi managed to roll the gates of  the underworld shut just in time to trap the   angry demons and save himself as well as the  other realms from a grim fate a narrow escape   indeed it was more furious now at the anguish  she was left to suffer alone in the underworld   izanami cursed the world vowing she would kill a  thousand people each day your words are frail your   promises are a lie in light and happiness i once  reveled now they are gone and shall never be nigh   in splendor and glory the gods thrive  as i wanna went rot in eternal night   hear me now the world be damned see  what it feels like this fate of mine   neither from pain or suffering can they  hide each day that rises a thousand will die   how dark you have become it saddens me more  death may strike and high may be the scores   each day that comes many shall be  born a thousand new lives and 500 more   izanagi countered her curse by vowing  that 1500 people would be born each day   and so it was as izanami kept her word every  day so did izanagi as thousands of people died   each day so were thousands born thus izanagi was  able to protect and keep the land of the living   from being annihilated to cleanse himself of  the impurities encountered in his horrible   journey izanagi washed himself in  the heavenly spring of purification   as the water cleansed his left eye a goddess  more beautiful and brighter than anything in   the universe was born this was amaterasu the  goddess of the bright sun as the water washed   his right eye a god so pale and lovely emerged  this was tsukiomi the radiant god of the moon   and as the water cleaned his nose and angry  gods sprang out with waves splashing and   storms thrashing this was susano the impetuous  god of the storms these three new gods became   the greatest of all izanagi's children and he gave  them dominion over different parts of the heavens   relegating most of his powers and authority as  the supreme ruler of the heavens to his daughter amaterasu amaterasu omi kami the imperial great goddess the  ruler of the high heavens the shining goddess of   the sun she from whom the japanese imperial  family claims dissent a most revered deity   of the shinto religion she who was born  from the left eye of her father izanagi   at the birth of amaterasu izanagi bestowed upon  her a necklace of jewels and gave her dominion   over the celestial plane over the high heavens  the abode of all the kami the home of all the   gods she is the sister and wife to the moon god  tsukiomi as well as the sister to the storm god   susano once upon a time izanagi shared to his  godly descendants roles and positions in the   celestial realm relegating his powers  and authority to the shining amaterasu   with all the kami fulfilling their various roles  as tradition demands the celestial realm was   supposed to be a place of law and order of peace  and serenity is that not right but it wasn't   why susano susano was by nature a stormy god  a violent kami the spirit of the angry clouds   the heavens knew no calm as long as susano was  present for not knowing why he did so he brought   only turmoil in his wake he disrupted the peace  and calm of the heavens whenever he had the chance   throwing a tantrum at the slightest  provocation only to become sober   after much destruction had been done it was  not because he took delight in his deeds   susano only manifested what he was the raging  storm he was in constant rivalry with amaterasu   and one day challenged the sun goddess to a  contest a contest of who could create the most   kami a contest of who could bring forth the most  creations all this peace and calm is depressing   what say you for a brawl against the mighty  susano o queen of the heavens oh brother are   you not aware how futile your powers are against  me have you not learned anything your strength   will do you no good and your wits are sorely  lacking but very well a contest you shall have   taking susano's sword amaterasu bit into the  sword and spat out its pieces and out of the   pieces sprang three gods some say three women now  taking amaterasu's necklace susano bit into the   jewel and also spat out its pieces and out of the  pieces sprang five gods some say five men susano   had brought forth more creations than the queen  of the heavens thus he should be the winner of   the contest shouldn't he but no it was all part  of amaterasu's clever tactics amaterasu reminded   the gods that the necklace which had brought  forth the five new deities belonged to her   standing atop her throne she declared that because  the necklace was her property everything that came   out of it was hers as well thus the five  deities born from her necklace belonged to   her and the three deities born from susano's  sword belonged to susano the other gods found   no flaw in her reasoning and pronounced amaterasu  the winner of the contest but at this moment   the winds blew strong the skies grew dark and  the storms came forth susano had flown into rage   again he dashed to amaterasu's rice fields and  destroyed all the crops he killed her horse   and flayed the poor animal throwing the body at  one of her handmaidens and killing the handmaiden   in the process such impetus i shall not stand  for this madness appalled by the height of   susano's uncivil behavior amaterasu left  the heavens and withdrew deep into the caves   where her light could no longer reach the world  but without the sun goddesses light darkness   descended upon the world of gods and men  everything began to suffer plants and trees   withered and died men and animals began  to ail the heavens had no light and no joy   the entire universe was in perpetual darkness  like it once was in the beginning the celestials   desperately sought their queen the earth cried  out for her return oh how indispensable she was   journeying to the cave which the sun goddess had  withdrawn into the 800 gods of the celestial plane   pleaded for her return but anna teresu  would not listen what could they do now once upon a time amaterasu the sun goddess exiled  herself into the heavenly rock caves withdrawing   her light that the world was plunged into a long  long night the other gods tried to lure her out   all to no avail and when the predicament of the  universe grew worse every day that went by without   the light of the sun the heavens were at a loss  for what to do the sun could not be replaced so   how could they make amaterasu change her mind who  could make her bring back her light to the world   well who could if not uzume the  dancing goddess known as ameno uzume   the great persuader and the heavenly alarming  female she is the goddess of dawn mirth revelry   the arts and sexual pleasure in the shinto  religion of japan ah another pandemonium well   nothing a little swing of the hips won't settle  when the clever uzume was called into action   she pulled off a brilliant trick  for that was what she was known for   she overturned a tub near the cave entrance  and began to dance on it tearing her clothes   with every step she took partially disrobing  herself as she danced her way through this so   delighted all the other gods that they roared with  laughter there was never a dull moment with uzume   she had also brought a huge bronze mirror and  a beautiful jewel of polished jade placing   the mirror in front of the cave as part  of her plan to lure the sun goddess out   then dancing to the mouth of the cave with the  other gods still roaring and cheering behind her   curious as to why the gods were this happy and  excited amaterasu could not help but call out   to the dancing goddess from deep inside the  caves asking what in the world was going on   why was there this much merriment when  there was no sunlight in the world   uzume simply replied that they had found  a deity brighter than her fairer than her   more glorious and more illustrious than her she  asked the sun goddess to come see for herself   to come behold the new fairest of all the gods  amaterasu again unable to help her curiosity   slowly drew out of the caves towards the  entrance to see who this new goddess was   truly when amaterasu peaked outside she saw a  goddess more glorious than anything she had ever   see what she didn't know was that this goddess  was merely her own reflection in some mirror the   very mirror ozumay had placed in front of the cave  in all of this magnificent being in front of her   the sun goddess fully came out of the cave going  closer to the mirror in order to get a better view   just when she realized that she was looking at  her own self her own reflection the other gods   quickly shut the cave with a giant boulder with  one of them placing a magical barrier on the rock   so she wouldn't go back in amaterasu did  not object for she was no longer angry now   and when they asked her to join them in the  dance the sun goddess happily obliged thus   sunlight was restored upon the lands  uzume the dancing goddess had done it susano the impetuous highness the japanese  god of storms the god of the oceans and seas   born from the nose of izanagi he holds dominion  over the many spirits of the oceans storms   and winds a powerful cami whose moods are  as temperamental as his actions are chaotic   a riotous deity whose flaring anger and tattered  appearance simply reflect his status as the god   of dreadful storms susano's shrines are located  at the sea surrounding south japan and like the   one who dwells within this sea very well  reflects his attributes stormy dark raging susano is sometimes malevolent  and sometimes benevolent   and so are the many sea and storm gods  who serve under him despite his immorality   he remains one of japanese mythology's most  celebrated heroes he fought and slew the fearsome   eight-headed dragon orochi killing it with his  famed ten-span sword the kusanagi note tsurugi   this became his greatest feat a feat done as  penance to atone for his catastrophic tendencies   it was a quest to restore his honor once  upon a time susana's rash actions led to the   disappearance of the sun goddess amaterasu  plunging the world into eerie darkness   trial after trial the gods  failed to bring back their queen   until uzume the dancing goddess stepped in and  saved the day and light and joy was restored   on the lands for the sun goddess had returned but  susano needed to be taught a lesson to be punished   to ensure such a disaster never happened again  and this is a noggy the heavenly grandfather did   izanagi banished him from the high  heavens and cast him down to the earth   into the deepest seas to live in solitude far away  from the gods for no one could stand such a being   there in his watery abyss he could forever  display his temperament however he wished   in regret susana wandered the earth and  seas in search of what or who else he   could find in this new realm by that time  humans and the lesser gods of the earth   had begun to sprout from the lands and mountains  created by izanagi and izanami he saw that these   humans were so much like the kami yet so different  they were weaker much weaker than the gods   they ailed grew old and died whereas the gods  of the high did not they were mortal beings   susano found a chopstick floating in the river  one day following it to see who lived nearby   he came across a small village and all he could  hear was people crying entering the village   he met an elderly couple with a beautiful  maiden by their side sobbing weeping he asked why they were all sad and the elderly  couple told him their story they originally   had eight daughters eight princesses each  year an evil serpent came and devoured one   and the maiden beside them princess kushner  was the last of their daughters now it was   time for the serpent to come again to  feed again and that is why they all cry when susano asked of this serpent  they told him about orochi   the eight-headed dragon a beast like no other  this creature was with eyes that glowed red   it had eight heads and eight tails and with a  belly that glowed hot with the fire of its breath   its body was as long as eight valleys and eight  hills who could deny such a beast enchanted by   the beauty of princess kushinada and  in a quest to atone for his crimes   susano offered to soothe their grief to do some  good for the first time in his long immortal life   but with a condition he would slay the monster  in exchange for the princess's hand in marriage   the elderly couple readily agreed so they quickly  devised a plan to defeat the dragon turning   the princess into a close-toothed comb susano  stuck the comb in his long hair to protect her   while they worked their plan they brewed a large  quantity of sake an enormous quantity of strong   liquor then they built eight gates placing a pot  of the strong liquor at the entrance of each gate he would see if this creature  was as wise as it was huge   he would get it drunk with sarki then hack it  to death this was the plan of the impetuous god   the gigantic eight-headed dragon soon arrived  as anticipated and easily falling for susano's   trick it drank all the pots of sake laying down  to sleep for it had become intoxicated trapping   the dragon's heads beneath the gates susano cut  off its heads before it had the chance to recover   as he severed the eight tails from its body he  struck something something very hard and pulling   the object out behold it was a magnificent sword  this was the kusanagi no tsurugi the holy sword   of japanese mythology susano married princess  kushinada afterwards and having repented from his   uncivil ways he offered the kusanagi note tsurugi  to his sister amaterasu as a sign of apology   amaterasu accepted his gift and allowed him  to return to the heavens if he wished however   susano decided to stay in his watery kingdom to  stay with his new wife in the land that would one   day be called izumo the kusanagi note surugi is a  sacred sword in japanese mythology and one of the   three imperial regalia of japan the three imperial  regalia are the three treasures of japan namely   the mirror and the jewel which brought back the  sun and the sword which came from the dragon the   sword representing valor the mirror representing  wisdom and the jewel representing benevolence tsukiyomi god of the moon god of the night  the moon reading man the night watcher   a proud and fierce god he was born from the right  eye of izanagi as he washed himself in the river   of purification thus he is the brother to the sun  goddess amaterasu and the storm god susano also   the consort to amaterasu tsukiomi's beauty equally  matched that of the sun goddess while she was the   light he was the dark they both believed in law  and order however they enforced it in different   ways while amaterasu was kind and considerate  in judgment tsukuyomi was cruel and violent   he believed mercy was a sign of weakness and dealt  ruthlessly with anything he deemed inappropriate   in order to maintain a law he was willing to break  it this would lead him to commit the sacrilege of   murdering a fellow god and his separation with  amaterasu once upon a time appearing side by   side in the far skies the sun and the moon always  did shine at the same time illuminating all that   was in the heavens and below wherever amaterasu  was found sukayoni was also found there was no   such thing as night or darkness there was only  light there was only day one day amaterasu along   with the other gods of the high were invited  to a feast by the goddess of food and plenty   yup mochi yuk mochi was a half deity who brought  about all the edible things known to mankind today   every single substance that came out of her body  became food now having other matters to attend to   amaterasu could not make it to the feast and  so sent sukiyomi in her place tsukayomi was   welcomed by the goddess upon his arrival however  what came next gave him an unforgettable eyesore   facing the land yukimochi vomited from her mouth  boiled rice turning to the sea she coughed into   the waters and her sputum became all sorts of  fishes and facing the forest she vomited again   and it turned to assorted dishes of finely  cooked meat and game although the meals looked   tasty and sumptuous tsukuyomi could not hide  his disgust in the manner the meals came about   at least the eyesore was over now the moon god  thought with relief just then yuk mochi began to   spew food from her body once again out of  her ears out of her nose out of her mouth   out of every hole in her body she pulled out  different kinds of fruits and vegetables but   tsukuyomi had had enough unable to contain his  disgust any longer the moon god drew his sword   and cut off yukimachi's head when he told his wife  what he had done the sun god is fumed with anger   refusing to ever look at him again she cast him  away from her sight to another part of the heavens   never to be seen by her side thenceforth  he would become the dark and she the light   he would become the night and she the  day forever longing for what they once   had to the very end of days this is the  story of how day and night came to be   now even from her lifeless corpse yup mochi's  body still produced food from her head came the ox   and the horse from her forehead came millet  from her eyebrows came silkworms from her eyes   came panic grass from her belly came rice  and from her genitals came wheat and beans   amaterasu commanded that the food grains be  sewn so humanity would never lack placing   the silkworms in her mouth she drew silk threads  from them thus gifting mankind the art of raw silk production raijin the lord thunder the resounding  one raid and summer born from the rotten   corpse of isan army raijin is  the god of lightning and thunder   a being of death and yet a being of life a being  of destruction and yet a being of protection   his reign and thunder brought disastrous typhoons  and storms yet the water gave life to all that   lived and walked the earth his lightning destroyed  anything that was in its path yet when it touched   a crop harvest would be abundant and plentiful he  was the bringer of rain a blessing to farmers and   whenever drought came they say rygen was sleeping  the drought would disappear when he awakes   with a big muscular build and a terrifying gaze  raijin was an intimidating cammy with long sharp   fangs and a gravity-defying hair he resembled  a demon this was a reminder of his unnatural   birth his birth in the underworld he was born a  demon on each of his hands are only three fingers   representing the past the present and the  future once upon a time izanami was burnt   to death as she gave birth to the fire god  kagutsuchi and so descended into the land of   yomi into the land of the dead she was still  pregnant at the time of her death and thus   carried her unborn children with her unharmed  as her soul traveled to the underworld   alas before her husband izanagi could bring her  back from the underworld is an army ate the food   of yomi and drank the drink of the dead becoming  a demon and as she became demon so did her unborn   children the many gods inside her divine belly  izanagi arrived to rescue his wife from the   gloomy realm only to see the horrifying  sinister looking creature she had become   so he ran away there izanami felt betrayed he had  abandoned her in her anger she summoned all her   children and out of her rotten corpse emerged  the terrifying raijin and the ghastly fujin   and many other demons and oni that would  dominate the underworld they had a single purpose   to carry out their mother's wish to bring unending  suffering and calamity to the world of the living   shutting the gates of yomi izanagi escaped the  underworld trapping the host of demons behind him   unfortunately before the gates could roll shut  rygen and fujin slipped through bringing with them   death and destruction flying across the sky rygen  threw death dealing lightning at unwary passers-by   calling down rain he would cause typhoons  and rainstorms and hiding in the dark clouds   he would prey on children who did not hide their  belly buttons behold the fiends you fear the most   lightning and thunder i create with the  pounding of my drums the skies are mine   to rule the battlefields i dominate japanese  parents would warn their children to always   cover their belly buttons else if raijin saw it  he would swallow them up for their belly buttons   reminded him of his cursed birth in the land of  the dead and fuels his envy of natural-born humans   raijin wrecked so much destruction in japan that  the emperors began to seek a way to imprison him   but of course the mortals were nowhere  a match for this powerful demon   thus the emperor sent a god hunter  named sugaru to hunt him down fool   the earth trembles at the mere sound of my  laughter my thunder claps as resounding as a   blasting cannon i shatter everything that lays  in my path you're useless nothing can stop me   upon their first encounter sugar realized in no  time that raijin was a much more powerful opponent   and so invoked the buddha of compassion named  canon who compelled raijin into submission and   showed him the error of his ways raijin was taken  to the emperor's palace where he swore to serve   japan thenceforth not destroy it there raijin  became a protector and no more a bringer of   death no more would he throw his lightning at the  natives no more would he gobble up little children   with his reigns he would bring life and growth the  crops shall yield and the fields thrive and with   his thunderstorms he would fight the enemies their  vessels shall shutter and their armies scatter for   writing watches over the lands in 1274 a warlord  named kublai khan tried to invade japan as his   mongols stepped onto the shores a great typhoon  descended from the skies and disassembled his army   making them retreat in fear after they recovered  in 1281 they made another attempt to invade   japan and as they once again stepped onto the  shores of the country this same great typhoon   blew them away with a fury so strong that  the mongols never returned to japan again   to the outside world what happened to the mongols  was just an unusual but natural phenomenon   a mere coincidence they will say but to the  people of japan it was raijin their sworn   protector ryjin the defender of the people it  had to be nothing else could have done that   with such perfect timing they say raijin takes  a human form whenever he walks among his people   he takes the form of a man a man called  raiden wearing a simple robe and a straw hat   on his right hand is his son rytaro heir of  thunder on his left hand is his brother fujin god   of the winds and upon a thunderbeast called raiju  he rides together they are the protectors of japan they say the demons that populate the underworld  and even the world of men all came from izanami   the former queen of the heavens and now  mother of the dead when raijin emerged from   her decaying corpse fujin followed closely when  reijan escaped into the realm of men fujin was   right beside him while reijan poured down the  heavy rains fujin gathered the gloomy clouds   while rygen brought forth the terrifying thunder  and lightning fujin blew forth the swirling winds   and breezes god of the wild winds and subtle  breezes fujin was a red-headed demon a green   skinned ogre carrying on his shoulders a large  bag which contained all the winds of the world   the brothers constantly dueled each other in a  friendly combat to determine who ruled the skies   who dominated the most whenever they began their  mock battles mankind would shudder and hide in   fear at the chaos the merciless thunderstorms and  devastating tornadoes they caused but to the demon   brothers their scuffle in the skies was simply  fun entertaining just a good way to pass time   when they first entered the world of the  living they caused nothing but suffering   and disasters after all that  was the reason they were sent   raijin throwing his lightning at unsuspecting  humans and fujin knocking down the trees upon them   but as rajin transitioned from an evil oni  to a protector god fujin emulated his brother   and equally turned away from his evil ways  assisting and protecting the land of japan when the mongols invaded japan in 1274 and 1281  they say raijin did not fight the invaders alone   for somewhere in the shadows  was fujine aiding his brother   raijin pouring down the reins the lightning and  thunder and fujin summoning the powerful wings   that made that typhoon as menacing as it was  two sides of a coin brothers till the end the   lightning and the cloud the thunder and the  storm the rain and the wind raijin and fuji foreign

Channel: Mythology - Folklore A-Z

Views: 189,732

Rating: 4.9103889 out of 5

Keywords: mythology, mythology explained, the gods of japan, the mightiest gods of japanese mythology, japanese gods, izanagi and izanami, amaterasu goddess of the sun, susanoo god of the storm and seas, tsukiyomi god of the moon, raijin, fujin god of the wind, ame-no-uzume goddess of love, mythology folklore a-z, the mightiest gods series, most powerful gods of japan, Raijin god of lightning and thunder

Id: zTjIXlFu9OU

Length: 39min 55sec (2395 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 25 2021