1 ― A New Problem in Heaven
With Susanoo tamed and the sun stable once more, Amaterasu Ōmikami surveys the reed-plain below. Earth is fertile yet fractious: rival clans vie for river mouths, mountains resound with half-tamed spirits, and no single order binds the land. Amaterasu concludes that Heaven’s radiance must govern Earth directly. But who will bridge realms?
Her first choice, her son Ame-no-Oshihomimi, peers down through clouds and recoils: “The land seethes with turbulence; let a worthier deity undertake it.” His reluctance becomes a motif—Heavenly elders often hesitate before embracing dangerous missions. Amaterasu next summons her grandson, Ninigi-no-Mikoto. Ninigi is young, energetic, and unburdened by cosmic office. He receives the call as a destiny rather than a burden.
2 ― Bestowing the Three Treasures
Before departure Amaterasu gathers the regalia that once coaxed her from darkness. Placing the Yata-no-Kagami mirror in Ninigi’s hands, she instructs:
“Regard this mirror as my very soul; revere it as you would revere me.”
She loops the Yasakani-no-Magatama beads about his neck, reminder of lineage unbroken. Finally the sword Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, wrested from Orochi’s tail and now polished bright, is belted at his side. These three treasures will, in later centuries, legitimise every emperor.
Amaterasu also offers a terse maxim, famous in enthronement speeches: “Pacify with gentleness; rule with brightness.” No divine thunderbolts are promised, only the soft, relentless persuasion of light.
3 ― The Heavenly Procession and Sarutahiko’s Road
Ninigi does not descend alone. His entourage includes:
- Ame-no-Uzume, still mischievous, to dance away dread;
- Ama-Tsukume, keeper of Heavenly weaving;
- Ishikoridome, mirror-smith turned artefact guardian;
- Tajikarao, whose arms once dragged the sun from its cave.
The band approaches the bridge of clouds arching toward Kyūshū. At its foot stands a towering figure with bulbous nose and shimmering aura: Sarutahiko-no-Kami, the great road spirit of earth, blocking passage with staff planted firm. His wild grin and glaring eyes unsettle the courtiers. Negotiation stalls until Ame-no-Uzume steps forward, offers sly humour and gentle mockery, and finally coaxes Sarutahiko to kneel. In gratitude Ninigi names Uzume the patroness of rites that open any ceremonial path, and Sarutahiko becomes guardian of crossroads throughout Japan. Today, stone monkeys (saruta) at shrine gates recall that pact.
4 ― Landing in Hyūga: “The Place Where Clouds Part”
The company alights on Takachiho Peak in Hyūga (now Miyazaki Prefecture). The moment of touchdown is recorded in a single classical phrase, ama-kudaru, “Heaven descends,” basis for later concepts of mandate. At that instant, legend says, low clouds split into eight layers — the Yasohitokumo — a sky-etching omen of auspicious rule. Ninigi plants a heavenly spear-sapling that buds overnight into a full sakaki tree, vowing that renewed life will mark his tenure.
5 ― Pacifying the Land and Two Daughters of the Mountain
Although divine, Ninigi cannot simply command earthly spirits. He must negotiate with local kami. Travelling inland he meets Ōyamatsumi, the Mountain Deity, who presents two daughters as potential brides.
- Iha-naga-hime (“Princess Long-Rock”) is robust, crag-shouldered, promising children of stone-like immortality;
- Kono-hana-Sakuya-hime (“Princess Blazing-Cherry-Blossoms”) is delicate and radiant, her garments scented like spring orchards.
Captivated by blossom rather than rock, Ninigi chooses Sakuya-hime and courteously declines Iha-naga. Stung, the elder sister pronounces a curse: “Had you taken me, your seed would endure like granite. Having spurned me, your descendants will bloom fair yet fall as petals in wind.” From this slight the Japanese imperial line inherits mortality: long by human measure, brief by stone’s.
6 ― Trial by Fire
On the wedding night Sakuya-hime conceives. Rumour reaches Ninigi that she was already pregnant, challenging his honour. The princess, furious at suspicion, seals herself in a birthing hut of reeds and sets it ablaze, declaring the gods will spare true seed. Flames roar; within she delivers three sons untouched by heat:
- Hoderi (Fire-Shine), future lord of coastal fisheries;
- Hohodemi (Fire-Subside), destined for mountain hunting;
- Hosuseri, whose path fades from chronicles.
The fire-trial vindicates Sakuya-hime and becomes a metaphor for imperial resilience: legitimacy walks through flames unscorched.
7 ― The Brothers’ Contest and Sea-God’s Palace (Prelude)
Of the sons, the rivalry between Hoderi and Hohodemi will one day propel myth into the Dragon Palace beneath the sea, leading to unions with ocean royalty and birth of Ugayafukiaezu, grandfather of Japan’s first emperor Jimmu. That narrative sprawls across Papers 6 and 7; here it suffices to note that Ninigi’s lineage already intertwines land and sea, mountain hunt and coastal net, anticipating a polity bound by diverse terrains.
8 ― Themes Illuminated by the Descent
Heavenly Mandate as Co-operation
Unlike conquest myths elsewhere, Japan’s tenson kōrin stresses negotiation. Uzume’s comic diplomacy, Sarutahiko’s eventual deference, and Ōyamatsumi’s offertory daughters all frame rulership as alliance rather than subjugation, hinting at the later courtly ideal of wa (harmony).
Mortality Accepted
By choosing blossom over stone Ninigi consigns his line to human lifespans. The myth naturalises death within rulership, a sharp contrast to near-immortal kings in other traditions. In Japanese thought, impermanence (mujo) becomes aesthetic rather than tragedy—cherry petals swirling are beautiful precisely because they fall.
Regalia as Ethical Reminder
The mirror, beads, and sword are not mere badges; each encodes a virtue: self-reflection, continuity, righteous force. Imperial accession rites even today stage a private transfer of these objects, re-enacting Amaterasu’s charge.
9 ― Cultural and Historical Echoes
Enthronement Ceremonies
The modern enthronement of Emperor Naruhito (2019) involved two quiet rituals: Kenji-to Shokei-no-gi (inheritance of the regalia) and Sokuirei-Seiden-no-gi (public proclamation). Both derive line-for-line from Amaterasu’s instructions to Ninigi.
Shrine Lineage
At Takachiho-jinja pilgrims climb to a spear-shaped rock said to mark Ninigi’s landing. Nearby, youths perform Yokagura dances through winter nights, retelling the descent with wooden masks and drum thrum under frost.
Naming Conventions
Japanese emperors traditionally trace names to Ninigi’s sons. Maritime clans highlight Hoderi; hunting clans claim descent from Hohodemi, weaving local identity into imperial tapestry.
Popular Culture
Anime such as The Tale of the Princess Kaguya re-imagines heavenly descent; video-game franchises give protagonists mirror-bead-sword load-outs labelled “Three Treasures,” teaching gamers myth by osmosis.
10 ― Philosophical Overtones
Confucian scholars of the Heian court read Ninigi’s story as proof that virtue legitimises authority more than birth alone. Zen thinkers later focused on the mirror: enlightenment is seeing one’s true face, just as Ninigi must see Amaterasu in the polished bronze before ruling others.
Environmental writers note that Ninigi’s choice—blossom over rock—aligns the throne with agriculture’s rhythms. A sovereign, like cherry bloom, must renew each generation through stewardship, not petrify into eternal stone.
11 ― Toward the First Emperor
Ninigi’s reign in Hyūga sets legal-mythic groundwork but does not yet unify islands. That task will fall to his great-grandson Jimmu, who launches an eastward migration, conquers Yamato, and plants the chrysanthemum standard. His expedition, blending divine favour, military cunning, and oracular crows, occupies Paper 6, wherein myth shades at last into early legend and proto-history.
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