It’s fire time!
OK, it’s my turn! With his sword,
he stabbed and slashed.
"Mr. Susanoo!“
No, dad, no! Don't start a fire! That's terrible!"
"Why? I’m just having a fun."
"No! You, you really are…"
Now, the new chapter begins; Susanoo, the wild god, descend to the earth.
From here Susanoo is our main character.
"Damn it. What to do," He descends.
" I'm kicked out at last."
He was banished and descended to
the land of Izumo.
There
There he wonders, "What should I do now?“
Then he saw a pair of chopsticks floating down the river
Chopsticks we use for eating.
" Chopsticks are floating."
"Is this mean someone is living upstream?"
"it wouldn’t be a man."
"Who that could be?" and he goes to the upstream.
Remind you , so far, all character are Gods.
Then
he find an old couple crying.
"They are crying."
"We can’t stand it. This is too much!“ they keep crying.
"I wonder why they are crying."
This old couple has a daughter,
and she is very beautiful.
Her name is Kushinada Hime.
She is their daughter.
"What’s wrong with you?“
"This place is very dangerous,“ they answer.
"Dangerous? Why?“
"Have you heard about the eight-headed giant snake?"
"He's been coming to our village and eating our daughters."
"We used to have eight daughters, but"
"it has eaten already seven of them."
"We have only one left."
"That is this Kushinada Hime."
"It told us it's coming back."
"But she's the only one left!"
"It's coming back. We are desperate and terrified.“
"I see. It’s horrible.“
“Who are you?“
"I’m a little brother of Amaterasu, and my name is Susanoo."
"I am a Great God!"
"Really?"
"We have a great God here.“
"You are Susanoo, the little brother of Amaterasu?"
"Wow! This is surprising!"
'May I save your daughter?“
"Yes, please!“
May I have your daughter as a reward?“
"Of course. You are a great God, so please take her.“
"I appreciate it."
"Okay, then, I want you to prepare something for me."
"The name of the giant snake is Yamatano Orochi, Yeah?"
"He has eight heads, so we will build a wall with eight gates."
"We'll keep these eight gates open."
"Place one urn inside the each open gate."
"Fill the eight urns with a strong sake."
"It will get drank and pass out, then I'll kill him. This is my strategy."
"Do you have sake?"
"Yes, we do. It never came to our mind."
"We built a wall and put sake. Does this going to work?"
"Is he showing up soon?"
"Yes, he is about to show up."
"He is here! He is here!"
Oh, No! We're scared! Oh, our daughter! Does sake really work?
Does sake really work?
No problem! I am Susanoo, a little brother of Amaterasu.
"Don't worry about it."
Then it came.
"It’s gonna drink now."
Then it starts to drink.
Gulp, gulp, gulp…. Boon!
"Oh! It got drunk and passed out! Susanoo san!“
"That's very good and strong sake."
"Alright, here I come!" He rushed with his sword.
He slashed away .
"Take this, big snake!"
Yamatano Oroch gives its final convulsion
as Susanoo cuts it's neck one by one.
"This is your end!"
"Finely chopped! Hum?"
"My sword got chipped. There is something hard inside its body."
"What that could be? Let me pull it out."
"What’s this? Oh, it's slimly. Here it is."
"This is a sword!"
"This is harder than my sword.
"This must be a better sword."
This is
one of the three imperial treasures,
Kusanagino Turugi.
"Well, my sister might think better of me if I send this sword to her."
He sends a messenger to the Heaven with the sword .
"Excuse me, an express delivery from your brother is here."
"What? I want nothing to do with him anymore."
"This looks just a gift."
"Oh, this is a really good sword!"
This is the Kusanagino Tsurugi.
"This is a good sword. Okay, I keep it."
"Alright, my sister is happy now."
So he succeeded in killing the Yamatano Orochi.
Then Susanoo married to Kushinada Hime.
Susanoo was a troublesome brother,
who had been kicked out of the Heaven,
but in the human world,
he did some heroic deeds.
Then, the new story begins after sometime has passed.
which means,
descendants of Susanoo and Kushinada Hime
are the main characters
The wild God,
one of the three great Gods descended to the earth,
Susanoo and
Kushinada hime, who was saved from Yamatano Orochi by Susanoo;
One of their descendant was Ookuninushi.
He is the main character of the new chapter
Ookuninushi was the name in his later life.
but to simplify I call him Ookuninushi
from the beginning
Besides Ookuninushi,
there are other descendant of Susanoo and Kushinada Hime;
half brothers and half sisters of OOkuninushi.
Beside Kushinada Hime,
Susanoo had many children with other women.
These many half brothers and sisters
are called Yasogami,
which means eighty Gods.
I'm not sure if they are actually eighty,
but there are many of them.
Ookuninushi was bullied by his brothers.
They treated him like an errand boy.
"Hey, Ookuninushi, Go to get a snack for us!"
something like this.
He goes, "Yes, brothers“
It sounds unbelievable, but the Yasogami,
many brothers and Ookuninushi
fell in love with the same woman.
Everybody is in love this woman.
She is female God, Yagami Hime.
"Yagami Hime is so cute. I like her.“
"Me too.“ "Me too.“ "Me too."
Ookuninushi chimes in, "Me,too."
His brothers said "Shut up!“
"She is so cute, that Yagami hime.“
"I love her more than all of you.“ "No, I’m the one who like her best!“ "No, that would be me!"
'Wow! You, too?
"Oh, are we all rival? "
"That's interesting."
"Alright, we all go to her and propose to her.“
So they, all together, march to her to propose her.
"I bet Yagami hime will choose me.“
"No, it’s impossible."
“Because you s snore too loud."
"Shut up!" they march to her house.
Then they meet a rabbit on the way.
This is a story of "White rabbit in Inaba“
Ookuninushi, the descendant of Susanoo,
is on the end of the pack.
"You carry our luggage!“
So he is carries the baggage of his brothers.
"I am the very last one."
By the time my turn comes,
"It will be too late because I’m the last one."
As he walks behind his brothers,
a white rabbit appears
His brothers, Yasogami, see the rabbit first,
"Is that a rabbit?“
The rabbit is all swollen and red;
"Ouch, it huts, it really hurts!"
"What’s wrong with you?"
"You don't look like a normal rabbit."
"Your body is so swollen. Are you all right?"
"I had a terrible experience," the rabbit answers.
"What happened to you?"
"Well, it was my fault. I know it was."
"Look at my swollen body."
"Why don't you tell us your story.“
"Yes. I am from an island.“
"I was hopping around in the Okinoshima island."
"I have some friends in main island,"
"so I wanted to see them."
"but I’m a rabbit,
"and I can't hop and cross the ocean"
"because I’ll be drowned if I do so."
"So, I used sharks."
"Sharks?"
Well, in the book, it is written as crocodiles,
but crocodiles didn’t exist in Japan.
In some region, they used to call a shark crocodile;
For that reason,
our latest consensus is the sharks.
Well, I used sharks.
"How did you do that?"
"I found a school of shark from my island.“
"Hey, sharks!“ I called.
“Yeah, what?“ they answered.
"I see many sharks there, but rabbits can outnumber you guys."
"No, it can’t be.“
"Then, let us count and see which side wins.“
"That sounds fun."
"We don’t know exactly how many of us are here."
"Can you count us? That seems like a fun."
"I have many rabbit friends."
"So I'll count both side and compare."
"I'll begin counting!"
"Please make one line."
"Alright, where do we make a line?“
"Well, how about you start from this island and end at the main island?"
"I'll hop from one shark to the next,"
"as I count one by one."
"I was going to use them as a stepping stone."
"and hop over to the main island," the rabbit says.
"The stupid sharks made a line."
"So I hopped and counted, " 1,2,3…"
"You are quite something the way you took advantage of sharks."
"I came up with this idea. I’m good at it."
"Hop! Step! Jump! I went."
"But there are so many sharks."
"So I didn't count seriously."
I lost my count, so I went, "67, 67, 67…"
"68,75," I gave some random numbers.
"Then when I got to almost the end of the row, I made a mistake."
A shark asked me, "Hey! Are you really counting?"
"Of course not! I wasn't serious."
"I just wanted to cross to the main island," I let it slip.
"That moment the last shark opened his mouth,"
"and bit me, 'You fooled us!'"
"That is why all my hair is gone, and skin is swollen."
"What a strange story!"
"I lost all my fur, what should I do about it?"
These yasogami, the older brothers are so mean
"Sharks ripped off this rabbit's fur because he cheated them."
"He pissed them off, and lost all his fur."
"Okay, we'll teach you how to heal your skin."
"Please tell me. I'm hurting so much."
"Well, the sea water is the best."
"Jump in the ocean and then be exposed to wind."
"That 's all you need."
"Really? Thank you very much!"
So he jump up and
dived into the sea.
Then he stands against wind, but
"Ouch! This hurts!"
"Oh, it hurts! What's going on?“
It was terrible pain.
"It’s really burning!"
"Does this really work?"
"Ouch, so painful!"
At this moment, Ookuninushi arrives
Standing against wind, he is screaming, "It hurts!"
posing like TM Revolutions (Japanese music band)
"What? This is a strange rabbit!"
"Why are you standing against the wind with such red skin?"
"Someone told me this will heal my skin."
"Oh, no, that's wrong!"
"These brothers are very mean."
"Look at these bags I'm carrying. They are all theirs."
"I’m sorry my brothers lied to you. They told you the opposite."
"This is what you should do; go and wash your skin with the river water."
"Then smear the pollen all over your skin."
"That'll protect and heal your skin."
"What! They told me totally opposite."
"I guess I've got what I deserved because I deceived sharks."
He jumped into the river and smeared the pollen on his body.
"How are you feeling?"
"Well, I'm already feeling better."
"This is working!"
"Thank you very much."
"I'm sorry about my brothers. They are crazy."
"We are only half brothers."
"We have the same father."
"If not,
"I wouldn’t get involved with them. Too mean."
"So where are you all going? The rabbit asks.
"Oh, yes. There is a very lovely girl, Yagami Hime."
"We all going there to propose to her."
"It's too much."
"She wouldn't like that."
"You are all so tactless."
"But I know it already. It's clear."
"She will choose you."
The rabbit says.
"What? Me?"
"I’m youngest and always being bullied, so I have no chance."
"No, it’s you. Mark my word."
He gives his prediction
and leaves.
"Please!“ "I love you“ "Please!“ "I love you!“ They are proposing to her.
"I love you!“
"I love you, Yagami Hime, I love you!"
"I love you more!“ "No I love you more!" They surround her.
It's a confusion.
"Who would you choose?“
There Ookuninushi arrives came finally
"May I have a moment with you?"
"If it's okay.“
Then Yagami Hime notices him.
"Him, I choose that man."
"What? me?" She choose him.
Then the Yasogami brothers are
"What?"
"Ookuninushi? How come he is chosen?"
"No, this is unbelievable!"
"It makes us sick! Let's get out of here." They leave her place.
" Am I the one?"
"Yes, you are."
"Oh, then I’ll get in touch later."
"Sorry, I have to go with my brothers."
"I’ll get in touch with you."
"Yes, please."
He leaves.
"Why Ookuninush?"
"I am pissed."
"Let's beat him up!"
They plan a punishment
"Hey, Ookuninushi!“
"What do you want, bro?"
"Do you know in this mountain path,
"there is a wild boar."
"We are going to catch him."
"Ookuninushi, you are the strongest, so"
"you catch and hold him."
"We'll send him to your way."
"We'll catch him by any means."
"Got it. A wild boar, huh?"
"I am here ready."
But this is what the brothers do;
"A wild boar is running toward you!" they shout.
and did something unbelievable.
They made a burning rock the size of a wild boar
a burning rock, people!
They put a rock on fire, "Is the rock hot?"
"Yes, it's burning. We’ll kill him!"
They are super crazy, these Yasogami."
"Hahaha, this is what he gets when he pissed us off."
"He came last and was chosen by Yagami Hime!"
"His happy face makes us nauseous!"
"No, throw the rock!"
The burning rock is tumbling down
The red hot rock is rolling down from the top of the mountain.
"Ookuninushi, a wild boar is coming! Catch it!
"It's coming!"
"Yes! I will ! What? It's a burning rock!"
Boom!
He dies because of this.
"Okay, What's done is done."
Soon Ookuninushi's mother hears about his death.
"What? Ookuninushi was killed by a burning rock? A wild boar? I can't believe this!"
So she asks the God a favor,
"My son was killed by cruel brothers."
"Please bring him back to life."
She goes to many Gods and begged.
The Gods respond, "That's so unfair."
"We understand the situation."
"We’ll bring him back to life."
Ookuninushi lies dead burned all over, but
he wakes up, "Wow! I am alive!"
"I’m back to life? What's happening?"
"By the grace of Gods."
"Thank Gods for bringing me back to life. but they are crazy."
He is resurrected.
It was so difficult to bring Izanagi back to life, but now it seems easy.
He is resurrected.
You can see Kojiki is the collection of many stories
mixed together, therefore,
sometimes questionable
and inconsistent
But that's rather fascinating aspect.
"My god! That was close! My brothers are too crazy."
Then
"Do you know that Ookuninushi is back to life?
Brothers have found out.
"What? No!" "Really?"
"Nobody can survive that burning rock."
"But it's true! I saw him walking the other day."
"Then we have no choice."
"Okay, we'll kill him again."
So they make a big contraption.
It’s really big.
The last time it was the big burning rock.
This time, it’s a huge tree.
They cut and split it in half lengthwise
but not all the way
Then they lift the open end of the upper half,
and put a stick between two halves
so the two pieces have a space between
Do you get it?
This tree is split in half lengthwise but still connected at one end,
and a stick is wedged in between to create a space.
"What do we do with this now?"
"Soon the stick will break. What do we do with this?"
"Bring him to this space."
"What?"
"Tell him to come here in between the two split trunks."
"Make him crawl into this space."
"That's all?"
"Such a big set up for such a simple plan."
"He never doubt. He will come."
"Ookuninushi, we're so glad you are alive again!"
"That wasn't a joke! You threw me a burning rock!"
"Nobody has done such a thing to me."
"We are sorry. Why don’t we play together?"
"That sounds fishy. But okay, let's play."
"Oh, here comes Ookuninushi."
"Hey, Ookuninushi, here is something interesting."
What is this? Wow, what a huge tree."
"We're going to pass through this space."
"One by one on all fours."
"You see? Let’s try!"
You go first, Ookuninushi."
"Wow, this is huge!" the moment he got into the space,
"Pull the stick!" They pull the support.
He is crushed in between and dies again.
Again his mother hears the news.
"They killed Ookuninushi again! Crazy brothers!"
"Yasogami are over the top crazy idiots!"
She asked the Gods for the second time.
"He was crushed."
"That sounds terrible."
"Okay, we'll bring him back to life again."
"My god! They are seriously crazy!"
"I am back to life, but
I'm scared to go home."
His family advise him,
"Run away from here! Run quickly!"
"They are too crazy."
"They are still angry about Yagami Hime. You better go away!"
"Where should I go?"
"Go to the world of the dead," they tell him.
There are a few other worlds beside the world of the dead
in the story.
And we are not sure if it’s the world of dead they told him to go.
Most probably it was the world of dead.
"Go and hide there a while."
"Okay, I'll go to the world of dead."
"So long!" he departs.
I don’t know the geography there but somehow he gets there.
He makes it there.
"It's not a bad idea to hide in the world of dead."
It seems yo can enter through the gate.
"I’m here.“
Then he finds Susanoo there.
Susanoo is his ancestor,
but he is not dead because Gods don't die.
Susanoo is an old man now.
His daughter, Suseri Hime, is there with him.
See? The far away generations meet here.
Ookuninushi is Susanoo's descendant, a few generations down.
They met each other here.
Because Susanoo is a God.
Ookuninushi meet his daughter.
She is young.
"Why do you come here?"
"Aren't you my descendant, Ookuninushi?"
"Yes, I am."
Is she your daughter?
"Yes, she is. We live here together."
"I am Suseri Hime.“
"Wow! She is pretty."
"Suseri Hime is very lovely!"
Suseri Hime looks at him as well,
"He’s my type." She likes him.
Susanoo was watching all this.
"I feel something between these young ones."
"I don’t like it," he says.
"I am a powerful and wild God Susanoo."
"I used to make my sister, Amaterasu, cry."
Soon you will be asking me for the permission to marry her.“
"Your daughter is very pretty."
"Don't get too relaxed."
"Well, sorry. Could you let me stay here tonight?"
"Yes, of course. Use that room."
Susanoo take him to the room.
"Thank you so much."
"Suseri Hime is really pretty, isn’t she?"
"You talk too much."
So he stays in this room.
Before he enters the room, Suseri Hime comes to him,
"Please wait!"
"Wait!"
Mr. Ookuninushi, Please take this,"
she hands him a piece of cloth.
"If something happens, please wave this cloth,"
she says.
"If something happens?"
"My father is … kind of crazy."
"I see. Okay, if something happens I will wave this cloth."
So he falls sleep,
"It can't be worse than being with my brothers."
Then in the middle of the night, he hears the sounds.
He noticed that he is surround by snakes.
He was sleeping in the Snake Room.
"This is the Snake room! Oh, no! Snakes!"
Then he remembers, "When something happens.. My father is kind of crazy."
"You must wave this cloth."
"So this cloth was for this!"
"If she knew this, she could have given me another room."
He waved the cloth.
"Like this, or like this? "he waves the cloth.
All snakes disappear because of magical power of the cloth.
"Oh God! I am safe now," he went back to sleep.
In the morning, he goes to Susanoo,
"Good morning.“
"Good morning! Did you have a good sleep?"
"Well, more or less."
"Hum, you’re a tough guy."
"Do you want to stay one more night?"
"Yes, I would like to."
"Okay, then I'll have another room for you tonight."
Then comes the time to go sleep.
"I wonder what's gonna happen."
"But I've survived the snake room."
"It'll be a piece of cake."
Then Suseri Hime comes running.
"Wait!"
""Take this cloth with you."
"Again? Tell me what’s gonna happen this time."
"I can’t tell you that."
"Why can’t you tell me? Please tell me!"
"Because my father is crazy."
"I know that much. Okay, I'll do my best."
He is falling asleep, and
this time it was centipedes and wasps
He jumps up with the sound of swarm
"Centipede and wasps!"
"I have to wave the cloth!"
"Help me magical power!"
They all disappear.
"God! I survived. What is this situation?"
"I have no idea, but I’m going back to sleep."
Again next morning, "Good morning.“
Susanoo goes, "Did you have a good sleep?"
"Yes, I managed to sleep."
"Well, you are tougher than I thought."
"Okay, let’s go out."
Susanoo takes him out.
"What's in your mind?"
"You see this field. We have grassy fields even in the land of dead."
"Here I go."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Do you see the arrow I just shot over there."
"If you are smart, you'd know where this arrow dropped."
"So go and fetch it for me."
"That arrow? "
"The grass is too high to see."
"Alright, I go now."
"We'll compete who can get it faster."
"Go for it! Go and get it!"
'"Yes.“
"Can I really find it?" He is in the middle of a grass.
"I can’t see it."
"Now, it's Fire Time!“
Susanoo shouts.
"What? I can’t hear you well."
"I said let’s start Fire time!"
Susanoo shoots an arrow with fire toward Ookuninusi.
He is surround by fire.
"Oh, No! Seriously?"
"He is far worse than Yasogami!"
"He is the original of the crazy brothers."
"No!" He was surrounded by fire.
The moment he thought that is the end,
he hears a mouse squeaking.
The mouse tells him
"Hello! I can show you the way to get out!"
"A mouse? After the rabbit is a mouse.. What do you want?"
"There is a small entrance but inside is safe."
"Small entrance? Is something down here?"
He stomps the ground,
and a small hole appears.
Encouraged, he kept stomping,
and suddenly he falls in a large, underground hole.
"I'm underground."
"I'm safe from fire!"
The mouse appears again.
"What's now?"
"I found your arrow“
"Wow You found the arrow!"
"Thank you! Thank you! Let's check the fire."
"Fire is gone," he crawls out from the hole.
"Mr. Susanoo!“
"Dad! I can't believe you started fire!"
"Why? We are just having fun!"
"You are really crazy!"
"Why? It’s just a fire."
"Mr. Susanoo!“
"Here is your arrow.“
"What? You are still alive."
"Yes. To make a long story short, I’m fine. Thank you."
"Seriously?"
"Alright, then. This is the last one."
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Can you help me after I take a bath?"
"Yes, of course."
"I feel itchy on my head. I must have lice."
"Can you pick them?"
"You might become my son-in-law, right?"
"You are my descendant though."
"We are God, so it doesn't matter."
"If you want to be with my daughter, then you pick my lice."
"We can get to know each other better."
"Yes, Sir."
"Okay, you want me to pick your lice."
"Yeah, that’s right."
When Ookuninusi looks at his head,
I don’t know how to describe it, but
his head was covered with centipedes.
"Wow! What is this? What's going on here?"
"Are you okay with this?"
"How can you be fine with this?"
"Are we playing a game?"
"Hey, pick my lice, quick!"
"They are not lice. They are centipedes!"
"I can't believable this!"
Then Suseri Hime comes to him.
"Ookuninusi, use this."
"What is it?"
"Nuts and dirt."
"Crunch the nut,
"then spit dirt out."
"Pretend you are picking his lice."
"Thank you. I'll pretend."
"Father, I'll start now."
Then he put nuts and dirt in his mouth,
crunches loudly and spits out,
crunches and spits.
Susanoo is impressed, "Oh, you’re a tough guy."
"You’re fearless, aren't you?"
"You crunch centipede and spit it out."
"You are not a wimp. Quite brave."
"I like it. I’m wild guy like you."
"I used to live in heaven,
"but because I am too wild, I came down to the earth and ended up in the underground."
"I am Susanoo from the underground."
"You’re doing good, son!"
Soon Susanoo falls sleep.
"He’s asleep. It's chance to escape!"
"Suseri Hime, escape with me!"
"Yes, I come with you."
"Do you have any arms?"
"We have bows and arrow, a sword and a harp."
I'll take them. They are very valuable."
"We should leave before he wakes up."
"If he wakes up soon, he will catch us and goes crazy ."
"Oh, what should we do then?"
"Lets tie him to somewhere!"
Susanoo has long hair,
so they separated his hair to many sections,
and tie each section to different columns.
"Okay, it's done. Let’s go!"
"Be careful! Run!"
But Suseri Hime drops her harp.
That harp is the harp of the God and makes a loud sound.
She drops it while running, "Oh, no! Sorry!"
The harp hit the floor,
creates a very loud sound,
and wakes up Susanoo.
"What?"
"Why do I hear harp from outside?"
"What's going on?"
"Ouch! My hair!"
"What's happening with me?"
"What is this all about? Is this your revenge?"
Susanoo pulled all the columns out
and runs after them.
He is catching up with us!"
"Keep running!"
"Don’t drop it again, my princess!“
That moment
Susanoo shouts,
"Hey, Ookuninusi!"
"What do you want? You are scaring me!"
Susanoo goes, "From now on,"
"Take a good care of my daughter!"
"I'll give you Izumo,“
"so govern the land of Izumo!“
That was his last words.
In his final scene, he was a good guy.
"What? He is not such a bad guy."
"You govern that land!"
Susanoo called him Ookuninusi at this moment.
"From now on, your name is Ookuninusi!“
He had a different name before.
He received a new name, Ookuninusi, a wife and a sword.
Then he comes back to Izumo.
and starts to organize the land of Izumo.
He sets up a new country in Izumo.
and governs it.
His land prospers.
Ookuninusi's land, Izumo.
"This country is prospering."
Meanwhile, in the heavens
Amaterasu notices this.
He stabs the man.
I represent Yamato regime, my name is Yamato Takeru."
"I've started a fire, so Takeru is dead by now."
"Takeru?“
"This is how we do it in Yamato regime."
"You are crazy man!"
OK, it’s my turn! With his sword,
he stabbed and slashed.
"Mr. Susanoo!“
No, dad, no! Don't start a fire! That's terrible!"
"Why? I’m just having a fun."
"No! You, you really are…"
Now, the new chapter begins; Susanoo, the wild god, descend to the earth.
From here Susanoo is our main character.
"Damn it. What to do," He descends.
" I'm kicked out at last."
He was banished and descended to
the land of Izumo.
There
There he wonders, "What should I do now?“
Then he saw a pair of chopsticks floating down the river
Chopsticks we use for eating.
" Chopsticks are floating."
"Is this mean someone is living upstream?"
"it wouldn’t be a man."
"Who that could be?" and he goes to the upstream.
Remind you , so far, all character are Gods.
Then
he find an old couple crying.
"They are crying."
"We can’t stand it. This is too much!“ they keep crying.
"I wonder why they are crying."
This old couple has a daughter,
and she is very beautiful.
Her name is Kushinada Hime.
She is their daughter.
"What’s wrong with you?“
"This place is very dangerous,“ they answer.
"Dangerous? Why?“
"Have you heard about the eight-headed giant snake?"
"He's been coming to our village and eating our daughters."
"We used to have eight daughters, but"
"it has eaten already seven of them."
"We have only one left."
"That is this Kushinada Hime."
"It told us it's coming back."
"But she's the only one left!"
"It's coming back. We are desperate and terrified.“
"I see. It’s horrible.“
“Who are you?“
"I’m a little brother of Amaterasu, and my name is Susanoo."
"I am a Great God!"
"Really?"
"We have a great God here.“
"You are Susanoo, the little brother of Amaterasu?"
"Wow! This is surprising!"
'May I save your daughter?“
"Yes, please!“
May I have your daughter as a reward?“
"Of course. You are a great God, so please take her.“
"I appreciate it."
"Okay, then, I want you to prepare something for me."
"The name of the giant snake is Yamatano Orochi, Yeah?"
"He has eight heads, so we will build a wall with eight gates."
"We'll keep these eight gates open."
"Place one urn inside the each open gate."
"Fill the eight urns with a strong sake."
"It will get drank and pass out, then I'll kill him. This is my strategy."
"Do you have sake?"
"Yes, we do. It never came to our mind."
"We built a wall and put sake. Does this going to work?"
"Is he showing up soon?"
"Yes, he is about to show up."
"He is here! He is here!"
Oh, No! We're scared! Oh, our daughter! Does sake really work?
Does sake really work?
No problem! I am Susanoo, a little brother of Amaterasu.
"Don't worry about it."
Then it came.
"It’s gonna drink now."
Then it starts to drink.
Gulp, gulp, gulp…. Boon!
"Oh! It got drunk and passed out! Susanoo san!“
"That's very good and strong sake."
"Alright, here I come!" He rushed with his sword.
He slashed away .
"Take this, big snake!"
Yamatano Oroch gives its final convulsion
as Susanoo cuts it's neck one by one.
"This is your end!"
"Finely chopped! Hum?"
"My sword got chipped. There is something hard inside its body."
"What that could be? Let me pull it out."
"What’s this? Oh, it's slimly. Here it is."
"This is a sword!"
"This is harder than my sword.
"This must be a better sword."
This is
one of the three imperial treasures,
Kusanagino Turugi.
"Well, my sister might think better of me if I send this sword to her."
He sends a messenger to the Heaven with the sword .
"Excuse me, an express delivery from your brother is here."
"What? I want nothing to do with him anymore."
"This looks just a gift."
"Oh, this is a really good sword!"
This is the Kusanagino Tsurugi.
"This is a good sword. Okay, I keep it."
"Alright, my sister is happy now."
So he succeeded in killing the Yamatano Orochi.
Then Susanoo married to Kushinada Hime.
Susanoo was a troublesome brother,
who had been kicked out of the Heaven,
but in the human world,
he did some heroic deeds.
Then, the new story begins after sometime has passed.
which means,
descendants of Susanoo and Kushinada Hime
are the main characters
The wild God,
one of the three great Gods descended to the earth,
Susanoo and
Kushinada hime, who was saved from Yamatano Orochi by Susanoo;
One of their descendant was Ookuninushi.
He is the main character of the new chapter
Ookuninushi was the name in his later life.
but to simplify I call him Ookuninushi
from the beginning
Besides Ookuninushi,
there are other descendant of Susanoo and Kushinada Hime;
half brothers and half sisters of OOkuninushi.
Beside Kushinada Hime,
Susanoo had many children with other women.
These many half brothers and sisters
are called Yasogami,
which means eighty Gods.
I'm not sure if they are actually eighty,
but there are many of them.
Ookuninushi was bullied by his brothers.
They treated him like an errand boy.
"Hey, Ookuninushi, Go to get a snack for us!"
something like this.
He goes, "Yes, brothers“
It sounds unbelievable, but the Yasogami,
many brothers and Ookuninushi
fell in love with the same woman.
Everybody is in love this woman.
She is female God, Yagami Hime.
"Yagami Hime is so cute. I like her.“
"Me too.“ "Me too.“ "Me too."
Ookuninushi chimes in, "Me,too."
His brothers said "Shut up!“
"She is so cute, that Yagami hime.“
"I love her more than all of you.“ "No, I’m the one who like her best!“ "No, that would be me!"
'Wow! You, too?
"Oh, are we all rival? "
"That's interesting."
"Alright, we all go to her and propose to her.“
So they, all together, march to her to propose her.
"I bet Yagami hime will choose me.“
"No, it’s impossible."
“Because you s snore too loud."
"Shut up!" they march to her house.
Then they meet a rabbit on the way.
This is a story of "White rabbit in Inaba“
Ookuninushi, the descendant of Susanoo,
is on the end of the pack.
"You carry our luggage!“
So he is carries the baggage of his brothers.
"I am the very last one."
By the time my turn comes,
"It will be too late because I’m the last one."
As he walks behind his brothers,
a white rabbit appears
His brothers, Yasogami, see the rabbit first,
"Is that a rabbit?“
The rabbit is all swollen and red;
"Ouch, it huts, it really hurts!"
"What’s wrong with you?"
"You don't look like a normal rabbit."
"Your body is so swollen. Are you all right?"
"I had a terrible experience," the rabbit answers.
"What happened to you?"
"Well, it was my fault. I know it was."
"Look at my swollen body."
"Why don't you tell us your story.“
"Yes. I am from an island.“
"I was hopping around in the Okinoshima island."
"I have some friends in main island,"
"so I wanted to see them."
"but I’m a rabbit,
"and I can't hop and cross the ocean"
"because I’ll be drowned if I do so."
"So, I used sharks."
"Sharks?"
Well, in the book, it is written as crocodiles,
but crocodiles didn’t exist in Japan.
In some region, they used to call a shark crocodile;
For that reason,
our latest consensus is the sharks.
Well, I used sharks.
"How did you do that?"
"I found a school of shark from my island.“
"Hey, sharks!“ I called.
“Yeah, what?“ they answered.
"I see many sharks there, but rabbits can outnumber you guys."
"No, it can’t be.“
"Then, let us count and see which side wins.“
"That sounds fun."
"We don’t know exactly how many of us are here."
"Can you count us? That seems like a fun."
"I have many rabbit friends."
"So I'll count both side and compare."
"I'll begin counting!"
"Please make one line."
"Alright, where do we make a line?“
"Well, how about you start from this island and end at the main island?"
"I'll hop from one shark to the next,"
"as I count one by one."
"I was going to use them as a stepping stone."
"and hop over to the main island," the rabbit says.
"The stupid sharks made a line."
"So I hopped and counted, " 1,2,3…"
"You are quite something the way you took advantage of sharks."
"I came up with this idea. I’m good at it."
"Hop! Step! Jump! I went."
"But there are so many sharks."
"So I didn't count seriously."
I lost my count, so I went, "67, 67, 67…"
"68,75," I gave some random numbers.
"Then when I got to almost the end of the row, I made a mistake."
A shark asked me, "Hey! Are you really counting?"
"Of course not! I wasn't serious."
"I just wanted to cross to the main island," I let it slip.
"That moment the last shark opened his mouth,"
"and bit me, 'You fooled us!'"
"That is why all my hair is gone, and skin is swollen."
"What a strange story!"
"I lost all my fur, what should I do about it?"
These yasogami, the older brothers are so mean
"Sharks ripped off this rabbit's fur because he cheated them."
"He pissed them off, and lost all his fur."
"Okay, we'll teach you how to heal your skin."
"Please tell me. I'm hurting so much."
"Well, the sea water is the best."
"Jump in the ocean and then be exposed to wind."
"That 's all you need."
"Really? Thank you very much!"
So he jump up and
dived into the sea.
Then he stands against wind, but
"Ouch! This hurts!"
"Oh, it hurts! What's going on?“
It was terrible pain.
"It’s really burning!"
"Does this really work?"
"Ouch, so painful!"
At this moment, Ookuninushi arrives
Standing against wind, he is screaming, "It hurts!"
posing like TM Revolutions (Japanese music band)
"What? This is a strange rabbit!"
"Why are you standing against the wind with such red skin?"
"Someone told me this will heal my skin."
"Oh, no, that's wrong!"
"These brothers are very mean."
"Look at these bags I'm carrying. They are all theirs."
"I’m sorry my brothers lied to you. They told you the opposite."
"This is what you should do; go and wash your skin with the river water."
"Then smear the pollen all over your skin."
"That'll protect and heal your skin."
"What! They told me totally opposite."
"I guess I've got what I deserved because I deceived sharks."
He jumped into the river and smeared the pollen on his body.
"How are you feeling?"
"Well, I'm already feeling better."
"This is working!"
"Thank you very much."
"I'm sorry about my brothers. They are crazy."
"We are only half brothers."
"We have the same father."
"If not,
"I wouldn’t get involved with them. Too mean."
"So where are you all going? The rabbit asks.
"Oh, yes. There is a very lovely girl, Yagami Hime."
"We all going there to propose to her."
"It's too much."
"She wouldn't like that."
"You are all so tactless."
"But I know it already. It's clear."
"She will choose you."
The rabbit says.
"What? Me?"
"I’m youngest and always being bullied, so I have no chance."
"No, it’s you. Mark my word."
He gives his prediction
and leaves.
"Please!“ "I love you“ "Please!“ "I love you!“ They are proposing to her.
"I love you!“
"I love you, Yagami Hime, I love you!"
"I love you more!“ "No I love you more!" They surround her.
It's a confusion.
"Who would you choose?“
There Ookuninushi arrives came finally
"May I have a moment with you?"
"If it's okay.“
Then Yagami Hime notices him.
"Him, I choose that man."
"What? me?" She choose him.
Then the Yasogami brothers are
"What?"
"Ookuninushi? How come he is chosen?"
"No, this is unbelievable!"
"It makes us sick! Let's get out of here." They leave her place.
" Am I the one?"
"Yes, you are."
"Oh, then I’ll get in touch later."
"Sorry, I have to go with my brothers."
"I’ll get in touch with you."
"Yes, please."
He leaves.
"Why Ookuninush?"
"I am pissed."
"Let's beat him up!"
They plan a punishment
"Hey, Ookuninushi!“
"What do you want, bro?"
"Do you know in this mountain path,
"there is a wild boar."
"We are going to catch him."
"Ookuninushi, you are the strongest, so"
"you catch and hold him."
"We'll send him to your way."
"We'll catch him by any means."
"Got it. A wild boar, huh?"
"I am here ready."
But this is what the brothers do;
"A wild boar is running toward you!" they shout.
and did something unbelievable.
They made a burning rock the size of a wild boar
a burning rock, people!
They put a rock on fire, "Is the rock hot?"
"Yes, it's burning. We’ll kill him!"
They are super crazy, these Yasogami."
"Hahaha, this is what he gets when he pissed us off."
"He came last and was chosen by Yagami Hime!"
"His happy face makes us nauseous!"
"No, throw the rock!"
The burning rock is tumbling down
The red hot rock is rolling down from the top of the mountain.
"Ookuninushi, a wild boar is coming! Catch it!
"It's coming!"
"Yes! I will ! What? It's a burning rock!"
Boom!
He dies because of this.
"Okay, What's done is done."
Soon Ookuninushi's mother hears about his death.
"What? Ookuninushi was killed by a burning rock? A wild boar? I can't believe this!"
So she asks the God a favor,
"My son was killed by cruel brothers."
"Please bring him back to life."
She goes to many Gods and begged.
The Gods respond, "That's so unfair."
"We understand the situation."
"We’ll bring him back to life."
Ookuninushi lies dead burned all over, but
he wakes up, "Wow! I am alive!"
"I’m back to life? What's happening?"
"By the grace of Gods."
"Thank Gods for bringing me back to life. but they are crazy."
He is resurrected.
It was so difficult to bring Izanagi back to life, but now it seems easy.
He is resurrected.
You can see Kojiki is the collection of many stories
mixed together, therefore,
sometimes questionable
and inconsistent
But that's rather fascinating aspect.
"My god! That was close! My brothers are too crazy."
Then
"Do you know that Ookuninushi is back to life?
Brothers have found out.
"What? No!" "Really?"
"Nobody can survive that burning rock."
"But it's true! I saw him walking the other day."
"Then we have no choice."
"Okay, we'll kill him again."
So they make a big contraption.
It’s really big.
The last time it was the big burning rock.
This time, it’s a huge tree.
They cut and split it in half lengthwise
but not all the way
Then they lift the open end of the upper half,
and put a stick between two halves
so the two pieces have a space between
Do you get it?
This tree is split in half lengthwise but still connected at one end,
and a stick is wedged in between to create a space.
"What do we do with this now?"
"Soon the stick will break. What do we do with this?"
"Bring him to this space."
"What?"
"Tell him to come here in between the two split trunks."
"Make him crawl into this space."
"That's all?"
"Such a big set up for such a simple plan."
"He never doubt. He will come."
"Ookuninushi, we're so glad you are alive again!"
"That wasn't a joke! You threw me a burning rock!"
"Nobody has done such a thing to me."
"We are sorry. Why don’t we play together?"
"That sounds fishy. But okay, let's play."
"Oh, here comes Ookuninushi."
"Hey, Ookuninushi, here is something interesting."
What is this? Wow, what a huge tree."
"We're going to pass through this space."
"One by one on all fours."
"You see? Let’s try!"
You go first, Ookuninushi."
"Wow, this is huge!" the moment he got into the space,
"Pull the stick!" They pull the support.
He is crushed in between and dies again.
Again his mother hears the news.
"They killed Ookuninushi again! Crazy brothers!"
"Yasogami are over the top crazy idiots!"
She asked the Gods for the second time.
"He was crushed."
"That sounds terrible."
"Okay, we'll bring him back to life again."
"My god! They are seriously crazy!"
"I am back to life, but
I'm scared to go home."
His family advise him,
"Run away from here! Run quickly!"
"They are too crazy."
"They are still angry about Yagami Hime. You better go away!"
"Where should I go?"
"Go to the world of the dead," they tell him.
There are a few other worlds beside the world of the dead
in the story.
And we are not sure if it’s the world of dead they told him to go.
Most probably it was the world of dead.
"Go and hide there a while."
"Okay, I'll go to the world of dead."
"So long!" he departs.
I don’t know the geography there but somehow he gets there.
He makes it there.
"It's not a bad idea to hide in the world of dead."
It seems yo can enter through the gate.
"I’m here.“
Then he finds Susanoo there.
Susanoo is his ancestor,
but he is not dead because Gods don't die.
Susanoo is an old man now.
His daughter, Suseri Hime, is there with him.
See? The far away generations meet here.
Ookuninushi is Susanoo's descendant, a few generations down.
They met each other here.
Because Susanoo is a God.
Ookuninushi meet his daughter.
She is young.
"Why do you come here?"
"Aren't you my descendant, Ookuninushi?"
"Yes, I am."
Is she your daughter?
"Yes, she is. We live here together."
"I am Suseri Hime.“
"Wow! She is pretty."
"Suseri Hime is very lovely!"
Suseri Hime looks at him as well,
"He’s my type." She likes him.
Susanoo was watching all this.
"I feel something between these young ones."
"I don’t like it," he says.
"I am a powerful and wild God Susanoo."
"I used to make my sister, Amaterasu, cry."
Soon you will be asking me for the permission to marry her.“
"Your daughter is very pretty."
"Don't get too relaxed."
"Well, sorry. Could you let me stay here tonight?"
"Yes, of course. Use that room."
Susanoo take him to the room.
"Thank you so much."
"Suseri Hime is really pretty, isn’t she?"
"You talk too much."
So he stays in this room.
Before he enters the room, Suseri Hime comes to him,
"Please wait!"
"Wait!"
Mr. Ookuninushi, Please take this,"
she hands him a piece of cloth.
"If something happens, please wave this cloth,"
she says.
"If something happens?"
"My father is … kind of crazy."
"I see. Okay, if something happens I will wave this cloth."
So he falls sleep,
"It can't be worse than being with my brothers."
Then in the middle of the night, he hears the sounds.
He noticed that he is surround by snakes.
He was sleeping in the Snake Room.
"This is the Snake room! Oh, no! Snakes!"
Then he remembers, "When something happens.. My father is kind of crazy."
"You must wave this cloth."
"So this cloth was for this!"
"If she knew this, she could have given me another room."
He waved the cloth.
"Like this, or like this? "he waves the cloth.
All snakes disappear because of magical power of the cloth.
"Oh God! I am safe now," he went back to sleep.
In the morning, he goes to Susanoo,
"Good morning.“
"Good morning! Did you have a good sleep?"
"Well, more or less."
"Hum, you’re a tough guy."
"Do you want to stay one more night?"
"Yes, I would like to."
"Okay, then I'll have another room for you tonight."
Then comes the time to go sleep.
"I wonder what's gonna happen."
"But I've survived the snake room."
"It'll be a piece of cake."
Then Suseri Hime comes running.
"Wait!"
""Take this cloth with you."
"Again? Tell me what’s gonna happen this time."
"I can’t tell you that."
"Why can’t you tell me? Please tell me!"
"Because my father is crazy."
"I know that much. Okay, I'll do my best."
He is falling asleep, and
this time it was centipedes and wasps
He jumps up with the sound of swarm
"Centipede and wasps!"
"I have to wave the cloth!"
"Help me magical power!"
They all disappear.
"God! I survived. What is this situation?"
"I have no idea, but I’m going back to sleep."
Again next morning, "Good morning.“
Susanoo goes, "Did you have a good sleep?"
"Yes, I managed to sleep."
"Well, you are tougher than I thought."
"Okay, let’s go out."
Susanoo takes him out.
"What's in your mind?"
"You see this field. We have grassy fields even in the land of dead."
"Here I go."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Do you see the arrow I just shot over there."
"If you are smart, you'd know where this arrow dropped."
"So go and fetch it for me."
"That arrow? "
"The grass is too high to see."
"Alright, I go now."
"We'll compete who can get it faster."
"Go for it! Go and get it!"
'"Yes.“
"Can I really find it?" He is in the middle of a grass.
"I can’t see it."
"Now, it's Fire Time!“
Susanoo shouts.
"What? I can’t hear you well."
"I said let’s start Fire time!"
Susanoo shoots an arrow with fire toward Ookuninusi.
He is surround by fire.
"Oh, No! Seriously?"
"He is far worse than Yasogami!"
"He is the original of the crazy brothers."
"No!" He was surrounded by fire.
The moment he thought that is the end,
he hears a mouse squeaking.
The mouse tells him
"Hello! I can show you the way to get out!"
"A mouse? After the rabbit is a mouse.. What do you want?"
"There is a small entrance but inside is safe."
"Small entrance? Is something down here?"
He stomps the ground,
and a small hole appears.
Encouraged, he kept stomping,
and suddenly he falls in a large, underground hole.
"I'm underground."
"I'm safe from fire!"
The mouse appears again.
"What's now?"
"I found your arrow“
"Wow You found the arrow!"
"Thank you! Thank you! Let's check the fire."
"Fire is gone," he crawls out from the hole.
"Mr. Susanoo!“
"Dad! I can't believe you started fire!"
"Why? We are just having fun!"
"You are really crazy!"
"Why? It’s just a fire."
"Mr. Susanoo!“
"Here is your arrow.“
"What? You are still alive."
"Yes. To make a long story short, I’m fine. Thank you."
"Seriously?"
"Alright, then. This is the last one."
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Can you help me after I take a bath?"
"Yes, of course."
"I feel itchy on my head. I must have lice."
"Can you pick them?"
"You might become my son-in-law, right?"
"You are my descendant though."
"We are God, so it doesn't matter."
"If you want to be with my daughter, then you pick my lice."
"We can get to know each other better."
"Yes, Sir."
"Okay, you want me to pick your lice."
"Yeah, that’s right."
When Ookuninusi looks at his head,
I don’t know how to describe it, but
his head was covered with centipedes.
"Wow! What is this? What's going on here?"
"Are you okay with this?"
"How can you be fine with this?"
"Are we playing a game?"
"Hey, pick my lice, quick!"
"They are not lice. They are centipedes!"
"I can't believable this!"
Then Suseri Hime comes to him.
"Ookuninusi, use this."
"What is it?"
"Nuts and dirt."
"Crunch the nut,
"then spit dirt out."
"Pretend you are picking his lice."
"Thank you. I'll pretend."
"Father, I'll start now."
Then he put nuts and dirt in his mouth,
crunches loudly and spits out,
crunches and spits.
Susanoo is impressed, "Oh, you’re a tough guy."
"You’re fearless, aren't you?"
"You crunch centipede and spit it out."
"You are not a wimp. Quite brave."
"I like it. I’m wild guy like you."
"I used to live in heaven,
"but because I am too wild, I came down to the earth and ended up in the underground."
"I am Susanoo from the underground."
"You’re doing good, son!"
Soon Susanoo falls sleep.
"He’s asleep. It's chance to escape!"
"Suseri Hime, escape with me!"
"Yes, I come with you."
"Do you have any arms?"
"We have bows and arrow, a sword and a harp."
I'll take them. They are very valuable."
"We should leave before he wakes up."
"If he wakes up soon, he will catch us and goes crazy ."
"Oh, what should we do then?"
"Lets tie him to somewhere!"
Susanoo has long hair,
so they separated his hair to many sections,
and tie each section to different columns.
"Okay, it's done. Let’s go!"
"Be careful! Run!"
But Suseri Hime drops her harp.
That harp is the harp of the God and makes a loud sound.
She drops it while running, "Oh, no! Sorry!"
The harp hit the floor,
creates a very loud sound,
and wakes up Susanoo.
"What?"
"Why do I hear harp from outside?"
"What's going on?"
"Ouch! My hair!"
"What's happening with me?"
"What is this all about? Is this your revenge?"
Susanoo pulled all the columns out
and runs after them.
He is catching up with us!"
"Keep running!"
"Don’t drop it again, my princess!“
That moment
Susanoo shouts,
"Hey, Ookuninusi!"
"What do you want? You are scaring me!"
Susanoo goes, "From now on,"
"Take a good care of my daughter!"
"I'll give you Izumo,“
"so govern the land of Izumo!“
That was his last words.
In his final scene, he was a good guy.
"What? He is not such a bad guy."
"You govern that land!"
Susanoo called him Ookuninusi at this moment.
"From now on, your name is Ookuninusi!“
He had a different name before.
He received a new name, Ookuninusi, a wife and a sword.
Then he comes back to Izumo.
and starts to organize the land of Izumo.
He sets up a new country in Izumo.
and governs it.
His land prospers.
Ookuninusi's land, Izumo.
"This country is prospering."
Meanwhile, in the heavens
Amaterasu notices this.
He stabs the man.
I represent Yamato regime, my name is Yamato Takeru."
"I've started a fire, so Takeru is dead by now."
"Takeru?“
"This is how we do it in Yamato regime."
"You are crazy man!"