Legend of Amaterasu and the Cave

In all societies there are myths and legends which become part of folk law. This Japanese story is such an account which is now part of Japanese culture.

 

The legend of Taiko drumming ’s creation begins with Amaterasu, who was the Sun Goddess of Japan. According to Japanese Legend the Shinto God, Izanagi, and his wife, the Goddess, Izanami created the beautiful islands of Japan to live on.
Their first child was a very beautiful daughter whose face shone with a glorious brightness, so they named her, Amaterasu, which meant Heavenly Light.
Amaterasu was responsible for spreading light and warmth to the people and land.
“She is too beautiful to stay down here,” her parents agreed. “Her light should be where she can shine on all the children who may be born upon these islands.” .

So, they sent Amaterasu up the ladder that reached into the sky, and placed her high above the earth, where, as the Sun Goddess, her light shined on everyone

Their second child was a son, whom they named Susano-wo. This new child grew to be a very stormy god, who liked to make people upset and angry. He was dark and gloomy.
His parents were afraid that Susano-wo might hurt the beautiful islands they had made, so they commanded him to stay on the ocean.

When Susano-wo was angry he would blow his hot breath on the land and blow great storms over the ocean.

Susano-wo, became known as the storm god. His short temper and fondness for picking fights often disturbed the calm and quiet country.

One day, Susano-wo decided to visit his sister up in the sky so that he could bask in her light and radiance in order to gain strength and courage for his journey to the underworld. In his hurry to see his sister Susano-wo secretly climbed up the ladder to the sky to play a trick on his sister. He travelled through the sky with crackling thunder, shaking the mountains and frightening all the living things below.

Amaterasu was frightened by the horrible sounds Susano-wo made as he travelled through the sky. She was afraid that he was coming to fight her. To prepare for their meeting, she armed herself with her bow and quiver. However, when Susano-wo arrived, she learned that he had come to visit her, not to fight her. She put aside her bow and arrows and welcomed him into her presence.

It was not long, however, until Susano-wo began to cause trouble. As he lounged in his sister’s kingdom, he began to feel underappreciated and decided to cause trouble to regain some attention. When he and Amaterasu quarrelled, he released the wind and rain he held in his arms and sent his horses to destroy Amaterasu’s rice fields. Amaterasu tried to be patient with her brother’s behaviours. She made excuses for his actions, saying that he couldn’t help his troublesome nature. Her patience and pity, however, only infuriated Susano-wo further and he engaged in even worse behaviour to try to make her lose her cool.

Susano-wo climbed up on the clouds and threw a big lump of mud down at Amaterasu’s feet. This was not the first time Sosano-wo had caused problems for Amaterasu.

But, this time she was so angry that she decided to hide from her mean brother. Gathering up her shining robes, she crept down the ladder of heaven to the earth and entered a cave. She rolled a boulder to block the entrance to the cave and hid herself from all the other gods and goddesses. Amaterasu stayed in her cave and the land of Japan darkened and began to die away.

Susano-wo, feeling that he had won the fight, finally departed on his journey to the underworld. As the dark days passed without Amaterasu, the other gods grew very worried. One day, they gathered outside Amaterasu’s cave and formed a plan to draw her out. They planned to catch her, make her stand up to her brother, and force her to return to her kingdom to spread her light and warmth back across Japan.

The earth and sky remained dark and all the gods and goddesses were very troubled. They learned what had caused Amaterasu to hide her bright light. The people on earth began to worry. If Amaterasu remained in the cave there would be no more sunshine upon the earth. Without sunshine, the earth would remain dark and cold and crops would not grow. . Surely they would all die. So the people prayed to the gods and goddesses to help them.

Finally Uzume, the goddess of mirth came forward. Everyone agreed that they couldn’t go on without the light of the Sun Goddess. The gods decorated the trees outside the cave with mirrors and bright banners. They began to sing songs and to dance, but nothing seemed to work. Amaterasu stayed inside the cave.. .
 

 

Then, Uzume, the goddess of mirth, stepped forward with a plan to lure her out of the cave with an idea all of her own. She climbed onto a hollow log and began to dance a joyous dance like no one had ever seen. She stomped her feet, beating out wild and inviting rhythms. Everyone around her began to fill with joy as they listened to the new sounds coming from the hollow log.
Inside the cave, Amaterasu grew curious. She went to the cave entrance and slowly pulled back the boulder and peeked outside the cave to see what was making the wonderful sounds, she saw her beautiful reflection in the mirrors hanging from the trees. As her ears filled with the sounds of the drumming, her eyes were filled with a great pure light. Her fear of her brother disappeared, and she was filled with strength and joy. She was so happy the gods did not have to catch her. As soon as she saw her reflection in the mirror, one of the gods held out his hand and drew Amaterasu into the dancing and merriment. Her light shone all around.



They all hugged and danced with Amaterasu, she realised how lonely she had been in the cave. Amaterasu recognized her fear and was no longer afraid to face her problems. She willingly climbed the ladder and returned to her kingdom in the sky, once more spreading joy and light across the land of Japan.
Since that time, the drum—the Taiko—has been used to spread joy and courage to the lands of Japan.