(Abstracted from the account given by Mr. E. Satow in vol. ii. of the “Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,” 1874.)
OF all the gods of old Japan, there were two whom the father of the gods, Izanagi no mikoto, loved most. These were Amaterasu oho-mi-kami, who shone beautifully and illuminated the heavens and the earth, and her brother, Susanowo no mikoto, who was ruler of the blue sea. Amaterasu was made ruler of heaven, which she reached by climbing up the pillar on which the sky rested. Susanowo no mikoto, who was ever a mauvais sujet, neglected his kingdom, so much so that the rivers and seas all dried up. Amongst other evil deeds, he offended his sister Amaterasu by throwing into the room where she was weaving the body of a piebald horse which he had flayed, so terrifying her that she hurt herself with her shuttle, and retired in wrath to a cave, which she closed with a rock door. Heaven and earth were long plunged into utter darkness, during which time the more turbulent of the gods made a noise like the buzzing of flies, and the general disaster was great.
Then the gods held a council in the bed of one of the dry rivers as to how they might appease the anger of the great goddess, and at the suggestion of Taka-mi-musu-bi no kami the plan of campaign was entrusted to the wisest of the gods, Ame-no-koya-ne no mikoto, who suggested that Amaterasu should be enticed out by artifice to look at her own image. Accordingly two gods, Amatsu-mara no mikoto, the Japanese Vulcan, and Ishi-kori-dome no mikoto, were set to work to make a mirror of the shape of the sun, and of metal taken from the mines in heaven. Their bellows were made from the whole skin of a deer. The first two mirrors were voted too small, but the third was large and beautiful. Five gods were then ordered to prepare striped cloth and fine cloth from bark and hemp fibre, and two other gods erected posts and built a palace near the cave. Then Taka-mi-musu-bi no kami commanded another god, Ame-no-kushi-akaru-tama no mikoto, to make a string of magatama, or curiously curved charms, such as were worn in those days as ornaments, whilst two other gods made wands from the sakaki tree. Having by strange divinations satisfied themselves that their preparations were likely to come to a successful issue, the gods began their campaign.
First, Ame-no-koya-ne no mikoto pulled up a sakaki tree by the roots and hung upon it the string of charms, the mirror, and the strips of cloth. This trophy was held up by Ame-no-futo-damo no mikoto in front of the cave whilst Ame-no-koya-ne no mikoto pronounced an oration in honour of the goddess. They placed in concealment near the cavern door the god Ta-jikara-wo no mikoto, the Japanese Hercules. Then they set a number of cocks to crow in concert, and organized a dance to the accompaniment of music. A lively goddess, Ame-no Uzume no mikoto (or O-kame), she of the diminutive forehead and swollen cheeks, officiated as mistress of the ceremonies. She blew a bamboo flute, whilst the assembled deities kept time to the music by striking together two pieces of wood. Two other gods performed upon a primitive harp with six strings, which they bowed, violin-like, with grass. Uzume no mikoto adjusted her head-dress and bound up her sleeves preparatory to a dance, and flourished around a spear decorated with grass and bells. Bonfires were lighted, and a large circular box was laid upon the earth, upon which Uzume mounted to execute a pas seul As she flung herself about to the strains there descended upon her the spirit of folly, which possessed her and inspired her to sing. She sang a quatrain of six syllables to each line, which, though in modern Japanese it reads merely “One, two, three, four, five,” and so on, may also be rendered in old Japanese with the following meaning:
And as she pronounced these words she shook off her garments one by one, whilst finally the air shook with a burst of Homeric laughter from the assembled gods.
Hereupon Amaterasu oho-mi-kami, slightly opening the cavern door, called out from within, “I fancied that in consequence of my retirement both heaven and Japan were in darkness. Why has Ame-no Uzume danced, and why do the gods laugh?” Thereupon Uzume answered, “I dance and they laugh because there is here an honourable deity who surpasses your glory” (alluding to the mirror). As she said these words Ame-no-futo-dama no mikoto, who held the trophy, pushed the mirror toward her, so astonishing her that she came forward to look. As they were putting the mirror into the mouth of the cave it struck against the door and received a flaw, which it bears to this day. As the goddess came forward Ame-no tajikara-wo-no kami pulled open the door and dragged her forth, whilst Ame-no-koya-ne no mikoto passed behind with a straw rope to prevent her return.
So light was restored to the world; and in after days Amaterasu oho-mi-kami gave the mirror to her adopted grandson Nini-gi no mikoto, who in turn handed it down to his descendants, who, after various turns of fortune, placed it, in the year 4 B.C., in the sacred shrine on the bank of the Isuzu river, by the village of Uji in Isé, where it is preserved to this day with religious care.