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"It's still just an idea..."
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Cultural References[]
Izanami (イザナミ, historically 伊弉冉尊 or 伊邪那美命; lit. "She Who Invites"), along with her husband Izanagi (イザナギ, historically 伊邪那岐; lit. "He Who Invites") belongs to the seventh generation of gods to be spontaneously created according to the Shinto creation myth. Since they were the first gods capable of reproduction, Izanami and Izanagi were tasked with making order in the chaos that was the universe and inhabiting it. They separated the world into the heavens (Takamagahara), the underworld (Yomi), and the "earthly realm" (Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni).
After these events, the couple descended to the earth in order to begin inhabiting it. The first offspring Izanami bore was a deformed child called Hiruko (蛭子; lit. "leech child") - later identified with Ebisu - who was cast to sea in a boat. The children that followed were gods that took the form of islands, making land rise from the sea - creating Japan. Her last child was the fire god Kagutsuchi (カグツチ), who killed her at birth, sending her to Yomi, the realm of the dead.
After killing Kagutsuchi in a fit of rage, Izanagi sent for Yomi in order to retrieve his beloved wife. When he finally saw her though, he found out that Izanami had already eaten from the food of the underworld, forbidding her from ever leaving. The sight of her decomposing body terrified Izanagi and made him flee, causing an enraged Izanami to send the fiends of Yomi after him in turn. After finally escaping from Yomi, he sealed its entrance (Yomotsu Hirasaka) with a boulder
The entire tale of the creation of the world by Izanami and Izanagi has involved the spontaneous birth of countless gods, detailed in two historical text: the Kojiki and the Nihon-Shoki.