In the earliest days of creation, when the heavens and the earth were still newly separated and the world was a shifting, unformed mass, two primordial deities descended from the celestial plains. They were Izanagi, the male who invites, and Izanami, the female who invites. Together, they stood upon the floating bridge of heaven, stirring the brine below with a jewel-encrusted spear. The droplets that fell from the spearhead congealed to form the islands of Japan, and upon this sacred land, the divine couple built their palace. They began the monumental work of Kamiumi, the birth of the deities, populating the valleys, the oceans, the winds, and the mountains with countless spirits. Yet, this age of harmonious creation was destined to end in tragedy.
While giving birth to the fire god, Kagu-tsuchi, Izanami was fatally burned by the intense heat of her own child. Despite her agony, she continued to birth deities from her tears and illness until she finally succumbed to her wounds. Her physical body died, and her spirit descended into the silent shadowlands of Yomi-no-kuni, the subterranean realm of the dead where the sun never shines and all things eventually rot. Izanagi, consumed by an unbearable grief that shattered his divine composure, wept bitterly. His tears transformed into new kami, but they brought him no comfort. In his rage and sorrow, he used his great sword to slay the infant fire god who had taken his beloved's life. But even vengeance could not fill the void in his heart, and so he made a fateful decision: he would journey to the dark underworld of Yomi to bring Izanami back to the land of the living.
Izanagi traveled deep into the earth, traversing steep mountain passes, cold caverns, and narrowing crevices until he reached the heavy, imposing gates of the underworld. The air in Yomi was heavy with the smell of damp earth, decay, and stagnant water. Standing before the great palace of the dead, Izanagi called out to his wife through the shadows. Izanami emerged from the darkness to meet him at the threshold, though her form was hidden from view by the deep gloom of the entryway. Joyously, Izanagi pleaded with her, saying that the land they had begun to create together was not yet finished, and that she must return with him to complete their sacred work.
Izanami sighed, her voice carrying a haunting, echoey sorrow. She explained that his arrival was too late, for she had already eaten the food cooked in the hearths of Yomi. Having consumed the food of the dead, her spirit was now bound to the underworld, making a return to the surface nearly impossible. However, moved by her husband's devotion and his long, dangerous journey to find her, Izanami offered a glimmer of hope. She agreed to speak with the resident kami of Yomi to petition for her release. Before she retreated back into the darkness of her palace, she gave Izanagi a strict, solemn command: he must wait patiently at the gates and, under no circumstances, attempt to look upon her or enter her chambers while she was gone.
For a long time, Izanagi waited. Hours turned into days in the timeless gloom of the underworld. The silence of Yomi pressed heavily against his ears, broken only by the distant, unsettling whispers of unseen spirits. As the passage of time stretched beyond his endurance, anxiety and suspicion began to poison his mind. He wondered why she was taking so long and what she was doing within the depths of the palace. Unable to bear the agonizing suspense any longer, Izanagi broke his sacred oath. He reached up and snapped off the thick end tooth of the wooden comb, the tsuzumi, which he wore in his left hair-bunch. He set fire to this small splinter, creating a tiny, flickering torch that cast a weak, dancing light into the oppressive darkness of the palace interior.