The cosmos was once an unformed, chaotic mass, swirling in darkness until the light elements rose to form the heavens and the heavy elements sank to form the earth. From this divine separation arose generations of primordial deities, culminating in the seventh generation: the divine couple Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the "Male-Who-Invites," and his sister-wife Izanami-no-Mikoto, the "Female-Who-Invites." Tasked by the heavenly gods to solidify the drifting, immature earth, they stood upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven and stirred the brine below with the jewel-encrusted spear, Ame-no-Nuboko. As they lifted the spear, the droplets that fell from its tip coagulated to form the island of Onogoro. Descending to this newly formed land, Izanagi and Izanami built a grand palace and erected a sacred central pillar, uniting in marriage and subsequently giving birth to the islands of the Japanese archipelago and the countless kami that govern the natural world.
Their divine union, however, was destined for tragedy. While giving birth to Kagutsuchi, the god of fire, Izanami was fatally burned. Despite Izanagi's desperate attempts to save her, her life fled, and she departed for Yomi-no-kuni, the shadowy, polluted land of the dead. Overcome with grief and unable to accept the loss of his beloved partner, Izanagi resolved to journey into the dark underworld to bring her back to the land of the living. He traveled down the dark, steep slopes of the slope of Yomotsu Hirasaka, the portal separating the quick from the dead, until he reached the palace of Yomi. There, in the dim, oppressive gloom, he found Izanami. She greeted him from the shadows, her voice thin and distant. Izanagi pleaded with her to return, explaining that their work of creation was not yet finished. Izanami replied that she had already eaten the food cooked in the furnaces of Yomi, binding her to the underworld. Yet, moved by his devotion, she promised to petition the lords of Yomi for her release. Before retreating back into the darkness, she gave him a strict warning: he must not look upon her under any circumstance while she negotiated.
For a long time, Izanagi waited in the silence of the cavernous borderland. As the hours stretched into days, his patience dissolved into anxiety and suspicion. Unable to bear the suspense any longer, he broke the comb that bound his hair, lit one of its teeth to serve as a makeshift torch, and stepped into the forbidden chambers. The flickering light revealed a sight of unspeakable horror. The beautiful Izanami was gone; in her place lay a decomposing corpse, rotting and crawling with maggots. Clinging to her decaying flesh were the eight fearsome thunder deities, born from her corruption. Terrified and revolted, Izanagi dropped the torch and fled. Feeling deeply humiliated and enraged that her husband had broken his vow and witnessed her monstrous state, Izanami shrieked in anger. She dispatched the Ugly Females of Yomi, along with the thunder gods and an army of underworld creatures, to hunt down the escaping creator god.
Izanagi ran for his life back toward the entrance of Yomi, using his wits to delay his pursuers. He threw down his black headdress, which instantly turned into grapes, forcing the hags to stop and eat. When they resumed the chase, he threw down his multi-toothed comb, which sprouted into bamboo shoots, delaying them once more. Finally reaching the boundary of Yomotsu Hirasaka, Izanagi plucked three peaches from a nearby tree and hurled them at the pursuing underworld horde. The spiritual power of the peaches proved too great for the spirits of decay, driving them back. Lastly, Izanami herself came rushing toward him. Izanagi seized a massive boulder that would require the strength of a thousand men to lift and blocked the path, sealing the mouth of Yomi forever. Standing on opposite sides of the great stone, they spoke their final, bitter farewells. Izanami, burning with spite, declared that she would strangle one thousand of his people each day in revenge. Izanagi countered that he would cause fifteen hundred children to be born each day, ensuring that life would always triumph over death.