Shinto Creation Myth
At the beginning of time, the heaven and earth were mixed together in a great cloud. Slowly, the clearer, lighter parts of the cloud rose up and became heaven. The heavier parts of the cloud descended and became an ocean of muddy water. Between the heaven and the earth, a pale green sprout began to grow. It grew quickly and was very strong. When the plant’s flower burst open, the First God emerged. This First God then created Izanagi, the god of all that is light and heavenly. Later the God created Izanami, the god of all that is heavy. Izanagi’s name means "the male who invites", and his wife and sister Izanami’s name means "the female who invites". The First God gave Izanagi and Izanami the job of finishing the creation of the world.
Standing on a rainbow called Ama-no-ukihashi- “floating bridge of the heavens”, they plunged a jewel-crested spear into the ocean. When they pulled it free, the water that dripped from the spear combined and formed the first island of Japan. Izanagi and Izanami went down to this island and decided to live there.
The two gods decided to become husband and wife. They created a pillar in the center of the first island of Japan. Izanagi and Izanami decided that they would both walk around the pillar in opposite directions. They decided that once they had both walked around the pillar and met again on the other side, they would finally get married. When they met on the other side of the pillar, Izanami spoke first and said, “how lucky I am to meet such a gentleman!” Izanagi responded that he was lucky to be in love with such a beautiful lady. Later the couple realized that their meeting on the other side of the pillar was improper, because Izanami, the woman spoke first. To correct this mistake, the couple made the same walk again around the pillar. This time, Izanagi spoke first, and then the couple had a successful marriage. Together on this island, as a married couple, they made the eight islands of Japan.