In the silent twilight of the early cosmos, before the earth had taken shape and when the world was still a chaotic, floating mass resembling oil or a drifting jellyfish, the primeval heavenly deities summoned two young kami to bring order to the formless void. These two primordial figures were Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the Male-Who-Invites, and Izanami-no-Mikoto, the Female-Who-Invites. They stood together upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven, looking down into the dark, swirling mists of the abyss below. To aid them in their heavy task, the heavenly deities bestowed upon them a magnificent weapon: the Amenonuhoko, a jeweled spear adorned with precious gems that glinted with celestial energy.
Leaning over the edge of the Floating Bridge of Heaven, Izanagi and Izanami lowered the sacred, jeweled spear into the churning waters below. Together, they began to stir the formless brine. As the tip of the Amenonuhoko rotated through the dark depths, a soft, whirring sound echoed across the void. The brine coagulated and thickened under the influence of the heavenly spear. When they lifted the spear back up toward the heavens, a single drop of concentrated brine fell from its jeweled tip. As this droplet descended through the air, it solidified and formed the very first island of the Japanese archipelago: Onogoro-shima, the self-condensing island.
Eager to fulfill their divine mandate, Izanagi and Izanami descended from the Floating Bridge of Heaven and set foot upon the solid ground of Onogoro-shima. The island was a small, raw sanctuary amidst the vast, unoccupied ocean, but to the two deities, it was the perfect foundation for their new home. Realizing that they needed a sacred space to serve as the axis of their creative endeavors, they decided to build a grand monument that would connect the earthly realm with the high heavens. They erected a massive, towering column known as the Amenomihashira, or the Heavenly August Pillar. Beside this monumental pillar, they constructed a vast, beautiful palace called the Yahiro-dono, the eight-fathom palace, which would serve as their residence and the sanctuary for their sacred union.
Once the Heavenly August Pillar and the Yahiro-dono were complete, Izanagi looked upon his sister and companion, Izanami, and asked her how her body was formed. Izanami replied that her body was fully grown, but there was one part that had not joined together, leaving a hollow place of potential. Izanagi then remarked that his own body was also fully formed, but it possessed an excess, a part that had grown outward. He proposed that they should bring the excess of his body and the hollow of her body together to unite their forms and, through this sacred union, bring forth new life, lands, and deities to fill the world. Izanami agreed, and they decided to perform a ritual circumambulation of the great Heavenly August Pillar to seal their marriage.
To conduct the ritual, Izanagi instructed Izanami that they must walk around the pillar from opposite sides. Izanagi would walk around the pillar from the left, while Izanami would walk around it from the right. When they met on the other side of the massive column, they would greet each other and consummate their marriage. They began their slow, rhythmic walk around the perimeter of the giant wooden pillar. The air was thick with expectation and divine energy as they traversed the circle. When they finally met on the far side, Izanami, captivated by the beauty and majesty of the male deity, was the first to speak, exclaiming, 'Oh, what a beautiful and handsome youth!' Izanagi, pleased but momentarily taken aback, responded in kind, saying, 'Oh, what a lovely and beautiful maiden!'
Following this initial encounter, the two deities retired to the interior of the Yahiro-dono to consummate their union. However, the fruits of this first marriage were troubled. Instead of healthy, vibrant land or powerful deities, Izanami gave birth to Hiruko, the leech-child, a bone-less, weak infant who could not stand on his own. Filled with sorrow and confusion, they placed the unfortunate child in a boat woven of reeds and set him adrift upon the ocean currents. Sometime later, Izanami gave birth to another deformed offspring, the island of Awa, which was also deemed unsatisfactory and excluded from the roster of their true creations. Deeply discouraged by these failures, the couple realized that something had gone terribly wrong in their sacred ritual.