Susanoo kills the Yamata no Orochi (Utagawa Kuniteru)

Susanoo (スサノオ, ), often referred to by the honorific title Susanoo-no-Mikoto ([sɯ̥.sa.noꜜː no mʲi.ko.to]), is a kami in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory characteristics (both good and bad), being portrayed in various stories either as a wild, impetuous god associated with the sea and storms, as a heroic figure who killed a monstrous serpent, or as a local deity linked with the harvest and agriculture. Syncretic beliefs of the Gion cult that arose after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan also saw Susanoo becoming conflated with deities of pestilence and disease.

Susanoo, alongside Amaterasu and the earthly kami Ōkuninushi (also Ōnamuchi) – depicted as either Susanoo’s son or scion depending on the source – is one of the central deities of the imperial Japanese mythological cycle recorded in the Kojiki (c. 712 CE) and the Nihon Shoki (720 CE). One of the gazetteer reports (Fudoki) commissioned by the imperial court during the same period these texts were written, that of Izumo Province (modern Shimane Prefecture) in western Japan, also contains a number of short legends concerning Susanoo or his children, suggesting a connection between the god and this region.

In addition, a few other myths also hint at a connection between Susanoo and the Korean Peninsula.

Attributes

Susanoo is a tumultuous deity at heart, and his chaotic moods and disheveled appearance are direct reflections of his status as the god of storms. The seas surrounding South Japan—where many of his shrines are located—reflect these attributes. Like many storm, wind, and sea kami who serve under him, Susanoo can be both benevolent and malevolent. Despite this seeming moral ambivalence, he remains one of Japanese mythology’s most celebrated heroes. In what is now his most famous feat, he fought and slew the fearsome eight-headed dragon, Yamata-no-Orochi, killing it with his famed ten-span sword, a Totsuka-no-Tsurugi.

As the son of Izanagi, he holds dominion over spirits of thunder, lighting, storms, winds, and the sea.

Imperial Regalia and Shrines

Susanoo wielded the famed sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the Grass-Cutter, also known as Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds. After drawing it from the corpse of Orochi, he gave it to his sister as a sign of penance. This blade eventually found its way to the Japanese Imperial Family and is now kept at Amaterasu’s shrine at Ise.

Birth and Banishment

Izanagi fled from Yomi, where he had gone to retrieve his wife. After blocking the entrance to prevent her escape, Izanagi went to a nearby hot spring and cleansed himself of Yomi’s impurities. It was during this cleansing ritual that Izanagi inadvertently gave birth to three new and powerful kami: Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Tsukuyomi, the moon god, were born from his eyes, and Susanoo, the god of storms and seas, was born from his nose. Izanagi set these three gods at the head of the heavenly bureaucracy and selected Susanoo as its guardian.

It soon became apparent that Susanoo was too stormy to remain in the highly-ordered Heavens. Following this realization, Izanagi proceeded to banish his son, a sentence that Susanoo accepted. Before he left, however, Susanoo went to say goodbye to his sister Amaterasu, with whom he regularly quarreled.

Amaterasu was suspicious of his sincerity, and Susanoo challenged her to a contest to prove it. They would take the other’s object and see who could create the best kami. Amaterasu took his sword and created three women; from her necklace, Susanoo created five men. This proved a trick on her part: she claimed that because the necklace was hers, the men were hers. Meanwhile, the women she had produced from his sword were his. Thanks to her clever interpretation of the rules, Amaterasu won the contest.

Enraged by this result, Susanoo went on a destructive rampage. He destroyed his sister’s rice field before flaying one of her horses and hurling its body at her sacred loom. This thrown horse killed one of her handmaidens and caused Amaterasu to flee in grief. Susanoo was banished following his rampage, but without Amaterasu, the world remained dark and stormy.

Orochi and Penance

Then Susanoo no Mikoto descended from Heaven and proceeded to the head-waters of the River Hi, in the province of Idzumo [sic]. At this time he heard a sound of weeping at the head-waters of the river, and he went in search of the sound. -Kojiki, translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain

Following his fall from the Heavens, Susanoo landed in Izumo and was taken in by an elderly couple. He soon learned of their troubles - of their eight daughters, seven had been devoured by a terrible eight-headed dragon of the sea, Yamata-no-Orochi. Their eighth daughter, Kushinada-hime would soon be sacrificed as well. Susanoo would not stand for this, however, and sought to end the couple’s despair. As they prepared for Orochi’s coming, Susanoo turned Kushinada-hime into a comb and put her in his hair. Meanwhile, the elderly couple placed a tub of sake outside for the dragon to drink. When Orochi drank the sake and fell asleep, Susanoo cut him into pieces. As he split the dragon’s tail, he saw a sword, the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, emerge.

Following these events, the grateful couple married Kushinada-hime to Susanoo. Now seeking to make amends with Amaterasu, the storm god presented her with Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi as a sign of his penance.

Once amends were made, Susanoo’s father Izanagi presented him with one final task: he must take Izanagi’s place as guardian of Yomi. Susanoo accepted the position, and to this day serves as the guardian of the gateway to the Land of the Dead. It is for this reason, in addition to their inherently violent nature, that storms are often associated with death in Japanese culture.

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