Japanese · 8 min read
Amaterasu and the Cave
The story includes destructive behaviour, an animal’s death and a weaving woman’s death, described without graphic detail. Uzume’s performance includes briefly mentioned disordered clothing.
Trouble in the heavenly fields
Amaterasu, the kami of the sun, lived on the High Plain of Heaven. There were rice fields with banks and channels, and a weaving hall where garments for the kami were made. Her brother Susanoo came there and caused havoc. He broke the banks between the fields, blocked the waterways and defiled a place used for sacred meals. At first Amaterasu tried to excuse what he had done.
But Susanoo did not stop. He broke through the roof of the weaving hall and dropped a dead horse inside. A weaving woman died in the fright and confusion. Amaterasu was terrified. She left the hall, entered the heavenly rock cave and shut its door. With the sun hidden away, the High Plain of Heaven and the land below lost their light. Night continued, with no sign of morning.
Work beside the river
The other kami gathered at the Heavenly Tranquil River to decide what to do. They turned to Omoikane, whose name is associated with thought and wisdom, for a plan. Then the preparations began. Some brought roosters and made them crow. Others collected stone and metal for the craftspeople. This gathering had room for many different kinds of work; the return of the sun would take more than one pair of hands.
The preparations also included divination with a deer’s shoulder blade. Ishikoridome was charged with making a mirror, and Tamanooya with preparing a string of curved jewels. The kami brought a sakaki tree from Mount Kagu and decorated its branches. Jewels hung above, the mirror in the middle, and cloth offerings below. Prayers were recited and offerings held ready. Near the cave entrance, the strong kami Ame-no-Tajikarao concealed himself beside the door, waiting for the right moment to act.
A dance in the darkness
Ame-no-Uzume prepared her own part. She dressed with plants from the mountain, taking leaves in her hands and arranging greenery around her body. Before the cave she placed an overturned tub and stepped onto it. Then she stamped. The hollow wood answered each movement, loud enough to be heard through the doorway. The performance grew bold and unruly, her clothing slipped, and the assembled kami burst into laughter.
Inside, Amaterasu heard them. She had expected darkness to bring distress, yet outside there was the sound of a celebration. Curious, she opened the stone door a little and asked why Uzume was dancing and the others were laughing. Uzume replied that they were rejoicing because a kami more splendid than Amaterasu was present. It was a surprising answer. The sun kami wanted to see who this newcomer could be.
The face beyond the doorway
The waiting kami brought the mirror toward Amaterasu. In its polished surface she saw a bright figure facing her. She did not immediately recognise the reflection as her own. Intrigued, she moved closer to look. The opening widened, and Ame-no-Tajikarao reached from his hiding place. He took her hand and drew her out of the cave. The others were ready; the long preparations had led to this brief opportunity.
A sacred rope was stretched behind Amaterasu, across the entrance. She was told not to go back beyond it. The sun was outside again, and light returned to heaven and earth. The tree, the jewels, the mirror and the figures gathered around them could all be seen. The endless night had ended. Below the heavenly gathering, the ordinary shapes of fields and paths emerged from the dark once more.
After the return of light
Susanoo’s actions were not forgotten when daylight returned. The kami met again, imposed a heavy penalty and expelled him from heaven. His later travels belong to other stories. Here, the cave remains behind Amaterasu, with the rope marking its entrance. The tools that helped draw her out are still part of the scene: a mirror made by skilled hands, carefully strung jewels, a leafy tree and the tub that sounded beneath Uzume’s feet.
The cave episode has continued to be told in paintings, stories and performances. Uzume is associated with the performing arts, and the narrative is important to traditions of kagura, though local forms differ. It is easy to remember the moment of laughter; the older account also preserves the preparation around it. Before the door opened, someone had to make the mirror, gather the branches and bring the roosters into the dark.
About this telling
The heavenly rock-cave episode in the Kojiki, with context from Shinto scholarship
This retelling follows the Kojiki’s sequence rather than blending every variant of the Nihon Shoki. It names the fatal disturbance without graphic detail and softens, but acknowledges, the bodily exposure in Uzume’s dance. Tajikarao draws Amaterasu out and a rope prevents her return; this is not recast as a wholly voluntary invitation. Descriptive transitions are part of this adaptation.
Version note
Rewritten and translated in Codex in September 2026, with source checks. This is an AI-assisted editorial revision, not a certified specialist or native-speaker review.
Sources
These sources informed the retelling. The wording was written for Mythic Dream.
- Kojiki, section 15 — Ō no Yasumaro; translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882), Wikisource, public-domain primary translation
Susanoo’s damage to the fields and weaving hall, including the fatal injury acknowledged in this telling.
- Kojiki, section 16 — Ō no Yasumaro; translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882), Wikisource, public-domain primary translation
The gods’ gathering, the dance and mirror, and the rope placed across the cave entrance.
- Kojiki, section 17 — Ō no Yasumaro; translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain (1882), Wikisource, public-domain primary translation
The punishment of Susanoo and his expulsion from heaven.
- Amenouzume — Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto
Background on Ame-no-Uzume and her performance, including differences between the chronicles.
- Kagura — Japan Search, National Diet Library
The connection between kagura and the cave story, with examples from different performance traditions.