Susa no O no Mikoto
- Japanese: 須佐之男命 (Susa no o no mikoto), also 建速須佐之男命 (Takehaya susa no o no mikoto)
Susa no O no Mikoto (sometimes given as Susano-o, Susa-no-o, Susanoo, or Susanowo) is the Japanese kami (deity) of storms and the sea. He was born from the nose of Izanagi, and is the sibling of Amaterasu the sun goddess and Tsukiyomi the moon god. An impetuous troublemaker at first, he refused to take charge of the domain given him by Izanagi, instead crying and dwelling on the death of his mother Izanami. Exiled to the underworld of Yomi, he first requested to say farewell to his sister Amaterasu; but instead of doing this he caused havoc in her realm, collapsing the divisions between her fields and dropping a skinned horse through the roof of her weaving hall, causing Amaterasu and thus the sunlight to be shut inside a cave until she could be later lured out.
After these early troubles, Susa no O became something of a hero, slaying the mythical eight-headed serpent Orochi, in whose corpse was found the imperial treasure sword Kusanagi.
Susa no O is also associated with a few bakemono, such as tengu, ama-no-zako and ama-no-jaku.
See also
Sources
- Chaimberlain, Basil Hall. (1919) The Kojiki. Tuttle Publishing.
