Volume 1, Section 10: The Purification of the August Person

Therefore the Great Deity the Male-Who-Invites said: "Nay! hideous! I have come to a hideous and polluted land - I have! So I will perform the purification of my august person." So he went out to a plain [covered with] ahagi at a small river-mouth near Tachibana in Himuka in [the island of] Tsukushi [1] and purified and cleaned himself. So the name of the Deity that was born from the august staff which he threw down was the Deity Thrut-Erect-Come-Not-Place. The name of the Deity that was born from the august girdle which he next threw down was the Deity Road-Long-Space. The name of the Deity that was born from the august skirt which he next threw down was the Deity Loosen-Put. The name of the Deity that was born from the august upper garment which he next threw down was teh Deity Master-of-Trouble. The name of the Deity that was born from the august trousers which he next threw down was the Road-Fork Deity. The name of the Deity that was born from the august hat which he next threw down was the Deity Master-of-the-Open-Mouth. The names of the Deities that were born from the bracelet of his august left hand which he next threw down were the Deity Offing-Distant, next the Deity Wash-Prince-of-the-offing, next the Deity Intermediate-Direction-of-the-Offing. The names of the Deities that were born from the bracelet of his august right hand which he next threw down were: the Deity Shore-Distant, next the Deity Wash-Prince-of-the-Shore, next the Deity Intermediate-Direction-of-the-Shore

The twelve Deities mentioned in the foregoing list from the Deity Come-Not-Place down to the Deity Intermediate-Direction-of-the-Shore are Deities that were born from his taking off the things that were on his person [2]

Thereupon saying: "The water in the upper reach is [too] rapid; the water in the lower reach is [too] sluggish," he went down and plunged in the middle reach; and, as he washed, there was first born the Wondrous-Deity-of-Eighty-Evils, and next the Wondrous-Deity-of-Great-Evils. These two Deities are the Deities that were born from the filth [he contracted] when he went to that polluted hideous land [3]. The names of the Deities that were next born to rectify those evils were: the Divine-Rectifying-Wondrous-Deity, next the Great-Rectifying-Wondrous-Deity, next the Female-Deity-Idzu [4]. The names of the Deities that were next born, as he bathed at the bottom of the water were: the Deity Possessor-of-the-Ocean-Bottom, and next his Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Bottom. The names of the Deities that were born as he bathed in the middle [of the water] were: the Deity Possessor-of-the-Ocean-Middle and net His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Middle. The names of the Deities that were born as he bathed at the top of the water were the Deity Possessor-of-the-Ocean-Surface, and next his Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Surface [5]. These three Ocean-Possessing Deities are the Deities held in reverence as their ancestral Deities by the Chiefs of Adzumi [6]. So the Chiefs of Adzumi are the descendants of his Augustness Utsushi-hi-gana-saku [7], a child of these Ocean-Possessing Deities. These three Deities His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Bottom, His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Middle, and His Augustness Elder-Male-of-the-Surface are the three Great Deities of the Inlet of Sumi [8]. The name of the Deity that was born as he thereupon washed his left august eye was the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity [9]. The name of the Deity that was next born as he washed his right august eye was His Augustness Moon-Night-Possessor . The name of the Deity that was next born as he washed his august nose was His Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness [10]

The fourteen Deities in the foregoing list from the Wondrous-Deity-of-Eighty-Evils down to His Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness are Deities born from the bathing of his august person

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General comment

Another long-winded list of obscure names, you might think....well, yes and no. First, this section reflects the very ancient practice and belief, that still exist to this day, of the purification of the body from evils, in particular those that came from contact with the dead (the land of Yomi, that we saw in the previous section, is also the land from which come the evils that plague the living), by washing. Also the list of gods this time serves the purpose of relating some leaders and their populations to the gods, and therefore establishing their relation with the Emperor. Finally, this is the chapter that sees the appearance of the deities that we are probably the most familiar with from the Shintô pantheon: the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity, better known as Amaterasu(-ô-mi-kami) and His Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness, that is Susa-no-wo(-no-mikoto), both important actors in the subsequent events described in the Kojiki

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Notes

[1] That would be in the Kyûshû islands, around what is today's Kagoshima-ken

[2] In Japanese, the names of those deities are Tsuki-tatsu-funa-do-no-kami, Michi-no-naga-chi-ha-no-kami, Toki-okashi-no-kami, Wadzurashi-no-ushi-no-kami, Chi-mata-no-kami, Aki-guhi-no-ushi-no-kami, Oki-zakaru-no-kami, Oki-tsu-nagias-biko-no-kami, Oki-tsu-kahi-bera-no-kami, He-zakaru-no-kami, He-tsu-nagisa-biko-no-kami and He-tsu-kahi-bera-no-kami

[3] Of course, we're talking about Yomi here. The names of those two deities read as Ya-so-maga-tsu-bi-no-kami and Ô-maga-tsu-bi-no-kami, both deities of misfortunes that are born from the pollution from the land of Yomi then

[4] In Japanese Kamu-naho-bi-no-kami, Ô-naho-bi-no-kami and Idzu-ne-me-no-kami, deities correcting the visit made to Yomi, making up for it

[5] The names of these deities are Soko-tsu-wata-tsu-mi-no-kami, Soko-dzutsu-no-wo-no-mikoto, Naka-tsu-wata-tsu-mi-no-kami, Naka-dzutsu-no-wo-no-mikoto, Uha-tsu-wata-tsu-mi-no-kami and Uha-dzutsu-no-wo-no-mikoto

[6] As mentioned in the General comments above, it's an attempt to fit in the divine ancestors of powerful families of the time in order to relate them to the Yamato - it's one of the main purposes of the Kojiki, actually. The term "Chief" stands here for the Japanese Muraji, that is a hereditary high rank; here the text refers probably to the Adzumi, the leaders of sea-farers and traders

[7] The name appears in Japanese in the text, as Chamberlain doesn't know how to translate it - and to be fair I couldn't find any translation either....

[8] Today's Sumiyoshi-kun, Ôsaka, where a shrine to these deities was standing

[9] That is Amaterasu(-ô-mi-kami), the sun goddess

[10] In Japanese Tsuku-yomi-no-mikoto and Take-haya-susa-no-wo-no-mikoto; that Susanowo was born from Izanagi's nose has been interprated either as an indication of his malevolant nature, as impurities were still sticking to Izanagi's nose, while his eyes were clean. But the reason might be more simply that Susanowo was a deity of the wind. On the other hand, it is possible that the birth of the Sun and Moon deities from Izanagi's eyes are chinese in origin




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