Amaterasu and Susanoo: a famous Japanese myth generally referred to as the
"Ama no Iwayado" legend.
Amaterasu (shining over the heavens), the powerful sun goddess of Japan,
is the most well-known deity of Japanese mythology. Her feuding with her
rude, wild, and uncontrollable brother Susanoo, however, is equally
infamous and appears in several tales. One story tells of Susanoo's
wicked behavior toward his father, Izanagi. Izanagi, tired of Susanoo's
repeated complaints, banished him to the Yomi (the dark realm). Susanoo
grudgingly acquiesced. But first, he went to Takamanohara (heaven) to bid
farewell to his sister, Amaterasu with whom he had some unfinished
business. Amaterasu knew her unpredictable brother did not have any good
intentions in mind and prepared for battle by dressing herself as a man
before meeting her brother. "For what purpose do you come here?" asked
Amaterasu. "To say farewell," answered Susanoo.
But she did not believe him and requested a contest for proof of his good
faith. A challenge was set as to who could bring forth more noble and
divine children. Amaterasu made three women from Susanoo's sword, while
Susanoo made five men from Amaterasu's ornament chain. Amaterasu claimed
the title to the five men made from her belongings. Therefore, the three
women were attributed to Susanoo. [One source adds: Getting gentle
females acquitted Sasanowo.]
Both gods declared themselves victorious. [The other source says: Winning
the game, Sasanowo became haughty.] Amaterasu's insistence in her claim
drove Susanoo to violent campaigns that reached their climax when he
hurled a half-flayed pony--an animal sacred to Amaterasu--into Amatarasu's
weaving hall, causing the death of one of her attendants. Amaterasu fled
and hid in the cave called Iwayado (Earth), rolling a gigantic boulder at
the entrance only she can remove. As the incarnation of the sun
disappeared into the cave, darkness covered the world.
The gods and goddesses of Takamagahara (the heavens) gathered and tried to
persuade her to come out because her hiding has serious consequences to
the world; eternal winter and eternal night both bring cold and famine,
fear and distress, despair and death to the world. Each of the gods and
goddesses, in their turns, strove to coax Amaterasu out of the cave, but
she ignored them all. Finally, the kami (meaning a Shinto object of
worship) of merriment, Ama-no-Uzume (goddess of dawn), hatched a plan.
She placed a large bronze mirror on a tree, facing Amaterasu's cave. Then
Uzume clothed herself in flowers and leaves, overturned a washtub, and
began to dance on it, drumming the tub with her feet. Finally, Uzume shed
the leaves and flowers and danced naked. All the male gods roared with
laughter, and Amaterasu became curious. When she peeked outside from her
long stay in the dark, a ray of light called "dawn" escaped and Amaterasu
was dazzled by her own reflection in the mirror. The god Ameno-Tajikarawo
pulled her from the cave and it was sealed with a holy shirukume rope
[apparently so she could not roll the boulder to shut the cave].
Surrounded by merriment, Amaterasu's depression disappeared and she agreed
to return her light to the world. Uzume was from then on known as the
kami of dawn as well as mirth. The gods lynched Susanoo and peace was
restored in heaven.
Analysis
If this is a long day story, it would have come from the panhandle of
Alaska. This makes sense as that region was near the sunrise (dawn) end
of the long day. Being in the spring and low on the horizon, the region
might still have been cold enough that ice crystals in the sky would have
reflected the sunlight like a mirror. Those are called "sun dogs." Also,
we know that China, at least, had huge sailing vessels that traded all
over the earth at the time. It seems reasonable that Japan may have
sailed the seas, too. Indeed, this is only a few centuries since the end
of the ice age when there was a land bridge joining Asia and North
America. [Google the ice age analyses by Michael Oard.] One question
arose in my thinking: were any of the islands of Japan capable of being
settled yet? They may still have been glaciated. If so, the story may be
Chinese in origin; that a colony on the west coast of Canada experienced
it and later, when that region got cold, they removed to Japan.
The fact that the cave is called Earth suggests that this may instead be
simply a story to explain the origin of the dawn and the sequence of day
and night.