Izanagi and Izanami

In Shinto, the primordial god and goddess, sister and brother, whose union brought into being Earth's divine rulers and the physical features (islands and mountains) of Japan. Izanagi gave birth to the Sun goddess Amaterasu from his left eye, and the Moon goddess Tsuki-yomi from his right eye. They also had a son, Susanowo, the storm god. The myth of Izanagi included a descent into yomotsu-kuni, the underworld of the dead, to search for Izanami.

Revered widely in Japan, they were the final pair of deities to appear at the creation of the Earth, being instructed to stabilize and fertilize the heaving ocean of chaos. Standing on ‘the floating bridge of heaven’, they moved the waters with a lance; a drop fell from the lance, thickening the sea to form the island of Onokoro, the home from which they created all other lands.