In the ancient age of the gods, when the boundary between the mortal realm and the divine was as thin as morning mist, there lived a young deity named Onamuchi. In time, he would be known to all the islands of Japan as Okuninushi, the Great Master of the Land, but in his youth, he was a gentle and disregarded soul. He was the youngest among eighty brothers, all of whom were fierce, proud, and ambitious deities. These eighty brothers constantly sought power, prestige, and beautiful consorts, viewing Onamuchi not as an equal, but as a servant fit only to bear their heavy burdens.
Word reached the province of Izumo that in the neighboring land of Inaba, there lived a maiden of peerless beauty and grace named Princess Yakami. Desiring her hand in marriage, the eighty brothers resolved to travel to Inaba to court her. Each brother dressed himself in his finest robes and packed magnificent gifts to present to the princess. However, they had no intention of carrying their own heavy luggage. They piled all their bags, weapons, and provisions onto the shoulders of young Onamuchi, forcing him to walk far behind them, bent double under the crushing weight of their collective vanity.
As the eighty proud brothers strode ahead along the beautiful Hakuto Coast of Inaba, they came upon a strange and pitiful sight. On the white sands of the beach, a small hare lay weeping in absolute agony. The hare’s fur had been entirely stripped away, leaving its flesh raw, red, and bleeding under the salty sea air. Seeing the creature in such distress, the cruel brothers paused not out of pity, but out of malicious amusement.
The hare, gasping through its tears, explained that it had been stranded on the island of Oki and had desperately wanted to cross over to the mainland of Inaba. Lacking the ability to swim across the deep waters, the clever hare devised a trick. It called out to the sharks in the sea, proposing a contest to see whose clan was more numerous: the sharks of the ocean or the hares of the land. The hare instructed the sharks to line up side by side in the water, stretching all the way from Oki Island to the Cape of Keta, so that they could be easily counted.
The unsuspecting sharks agreed and formed a living bridge across the sea. The hare hopped merrily across their backs, counting them aloud as it went. However, just as the hare was about to step onto the dry land of Inaba, its pride overcame its caution. It laughed aloud and mocked the sharks, boasting that it had used them merely as a bridge. Enraged by the deception, the very last shark in the line seized the hare and tore off all its fur, leaving it flayed and suffering on the shore.
Upon hearing this story, the eighty brothers decided to play a wicked trick on the injured beast. They told the hare that the best way to heal its raw, flayed skin was to wash itself thoroughly in the salty water of the sea, and then to lie down on the windy crest of the hill to dry. Believing the words of these powerful deities, the gullible hare dragged its agonizing body into the ocean waves. The salt stung its raw flesh like a thousand burning needles. When the hare climbed out and lay on the hillside as instructed, the cold wind blew over its skin, causing the salt to crystallize, splitting and cracking its flesh in excruciating pain. The hare collapsed back onto the sand, weeping louder than before, wishing for death to end its torment.
Sometime later, Onamuchi arrived at the beach, far behind his brothers. He was exhausted, his feet bruised and his back aching from the immense load of his brothers' baggage. As he walked along the shore, his ears caught the sound of pitiful sobbing. He followed the sound and discovered the flayed hare weeping in the sand, its body trembling and covered in dry, cracked salt.
Unlike his brothers, Onamuchi was filled with deep, genuine compassion. He dropped the heavy bags from his shoulders and knelt beside the suffering animal. He asked the hare what had transpired to cause such terrible suffering. Through its tears, the hare recounted its foolish trick with the sharks, the terrible punishment it received, and the cruel deception of the eighty brothers who had advised it to bathe in the sea.