⛩️ Section XII - The Cave of Heaven

After winning the contest, Susanoo behaved wickedly. He broke down the ridges of the rice fields, filled up the ditches, and defiled the palace with filth. Yet Amaterasu did not reprove but made excuses for him.

Victory emboldens Susanoo to destructive behavior; Amaterasu tolerates it at first.

When he flayed a piebald colt and flung it through the roof of the weaving hall, the attendant was so alarmed she struck herself fatally. Then Amaterasu, terrified, opened the door of the Heavenly Rock-Cave, and hid within.

After a horrifying act, Amaterasu hides in the Heavenly Rock Cave, plunging the world into darkness.

With the sun hidden, the whole world became dark. Constant night reigned. The cries of the myriad deities were like the buzzing of summer flies, and all manner of calamities arose.

Without the sun goddess, eternal night falls and disaster strikes the world.

Then the eight hundred myriad Deities assembled in divine assembly and devised a plan. They gathered sacred sakaki trees, hung jewels and mirrors, and the goddess Uzume danced upon an overturned tub until Amaterasu opened the cave door to see.

The gods devise a plan with mirrors, jewels, and sacred dance to lure Amaterasu out.

When Amaterasu peeked out, a mighty deity pulled her forth, and a shimenawa rope was stretched behind her so she could not return. Thus light returned to the world, and the High Plain of Heaven and the Central Land of Reed-Plains were illuminated again.

Amaterasu is drawn out; light returns to the world. A sacred rope prevents her retreat.