Way back, before there were any people or animals like we know, the world was a bit like a big, wobbly jelly. It was mostly just sky and a swishy, murky sea.

Then, from the heavens, two special spirits came down. One was a boy spirit named Izanagi, and the other was a girl spirit named Izanami. They were given a very important job: to make the world solid and beautiful. They were also given a special, sparkly spear.

Standing on a floating bridge in the sky, Izanagi and Izanami dipped the spear into the sea below. They stirred and stirred, and when they lifted the spear, salty drops dripped off its tip. Plop, plop, plop! These drops hardened and became the very first island, called Onogoro.

Izanagi and Izanami were so pleased! They went down to this new island and built a tall, special pillar right in the middle. They decided to walk around it to greet each other.
"You go that way, and I'll go this way," said Izanagi.
When they met on the other side, Izanami, being very excited, spoke first. "Oh, what a handsome young man!" she said.
Izanagi replied, "Oh, what a lovely young woman!"
They decided to try and make more islands and other things. But their first baby was a bit wobbly and not quite right, like a little blob. They called him Hiruko. They put him in a little boat made of reeds and let him float away on the sea. Their next try was just a foamy, bubbly island.
"Hmm," they thought. "Something isn't quite right."

So, they went back up to the sky to ask the older, wiser spirits what went wrong.
The wise spirits told them, "It was because the girl spirit spoke first. The boy spirit should be the one to speak first when you greet each other."
"Oh!" said Izanagi and Izanami. They went back to their island and walked around the pillar again.
This time, when they met, Izanagi spoke first. "Oh, what a lovely young woman!" he said.
And Izanami replied, "Oh, what a handsome young man!"
And guess what? It worked! They started to create beautiful islands, one after another, which became the land of Japan. They also created many other spirits for the mountains, the rivers, the trees, and the wind.

Everything was going wonderfully. Izanami was having many spirit-children. But then, she gave birth to the spirit of fire, Kagutsuchi. Oh dear! Being born from fire was very, very hot, and it burned Izanami badly. She became very sick, and sadly, she passed away. She went to a dark, shadowy place under the earth called Yomi, the Land of Gloom.

Izanagi was heartbroken. He missed Izanami so much. He cried and cried. He was also very angry at the fire spirit, Kagutsuchi, for causing his mother's death, and in his rage, he used his sword, and from that, even more spirits were born.
But he couldn't stop thinking about Izanami. "I must get her back!" he decided.
So, he journeyed all the way to the entrance of Yomi. It was a dark and scary place.
"Izanami! My dearest Izanami!" he called into the darkness.
A voice, Izanami's voice, answered from the shadows. "Oh, Izanagi, you came for me! I'm so happy. But... I've already eaten the food of Yomi. It means I belong here now. But I will ask the spirits of Yomi if I can leave. Please, wait for me, and whatever you do, do not try to look at me until we are out."

Izanagi promised. He waited and waited. It felt like a very long time. He got so curious and a little impatient. He couldn't wait any longer! He broke off a tooth from the special comb he wore in his hair, lit it like a tiny torch, and peeked into the darkness.
Oh no! What he saw was not the beautiful Izanami he remembered. She was now a decaying, shadowy figure, covered in maggots and surrounded by fearsome thunder spirits.
Izanami shrieked, "You broke your promise! You have shamed me!"
She was so angry that she sent horrible hags and warriors from Yomi to chase Izanagi.

Izanagi ran for his life! As he fled, he threw his headdress behind him, and it magically turned into a bunch of juicy grapes. The hags stopped to eat them, giving Izanagi some time.
Then, he threw his comb, and it turned into a patch of tasty bamboo shoots. The warriors stopped to munch on those.
Finally, he reached the pass between Yomi and the land of the living. He found a huge, giant boulder and, with all his strength, rolled it to block the entrance to Yomi, trapping Izanami and the horrors inside.

From behind the boulder, Izanami shouted in anger, "Because you have done this, Izanagi, I will take one thousand lives from your world every day!"
Izanagi, sad but determined, shouted back, "If you do that, then I will make sure that one thousand five hundred new lives are born every day!"
And so, that is how death came into the world, but also how new life always continued.

Izanagi felt very dirty and sad after his trip to Yomi. He went to a clear river to wash himself.
As he washed his left eye, a beautiful, shining goddess was born! She was Amaterasu, the spirit of the Sun.
When he washed his right eye, another spirit appeared! This was Tsukuyomi, the spirit of the Moon.
And when he washed his nose, a powerful, wild spirit burst forth! This was Susanoo, the spirit of storms and the sea.
These new, bright spirits helped to light up the world and bring order to it.

And that’s the story of how, in a very, very old tale, the islands of Japan were made, how life and death began, and how the sun, the moon, and the storms came to be.

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