Susanoo

The most important deity in Japanese mythology from the perspective of social and cultural history is Susanoo. Susanoo is the last of the three children born at the same time from Izanagi and Izanami, the primal couple. Amaterasu is his elder sister, Tsuku-yomi his elder brother. Susanoo was a born ruffian, but he was also quite a crybaby. As he grew older, he continued to weep and moan so prodigiously that his father Izanagi expelled him from the Plain of High Heaven (this motif of weeping gods being expelled from Heaven is found in myths from all over the world). The banished Susanoo appealed to his sister, Amaterasu, for forgiveness and pledged contrition in a ceremonial contest known as ukehi (the vow), the nature of which remains a matter of much discussion. He managed to pass muster in the end, but his willful and arrogant behavior did not improve: he trampled the divisions between the rice fields and committed other violent acts. At first Amaterasu defended her younger brother, but when he flayed the piebald colt of heaven and flung its carcass into the room in which she kept her sacred loom, she lost all patience with him. Enraged, Amaterasu concealed herself in Ama no Iwato, the rock cave of heaven, plunging the world into darkness.