The Kojiki: Izumo, Takachiho and Ise

In the Kojiki, Izanami dies giving birth to the fire god and goes to the land of Yomi; Izanagi follows to bring her back. The text itself places the slope between the worlds in Izumo province, naming it Ifuya slope. In Higashiizumo, Matsue, a stone marker put up in 1940 stands at the traditional site, beside a rock called Chibiki no Iwakura. Nearby is Iya Shrine, which honours Izanami. This is a place of tradition, not of archaeology.

Location precision: The Kojiki names the slope as Ifuya in Izumo; the pin is the 1940 marker at the traditional site, which marks a tradition, not a place the myth can prove.

Visitor guidance: The marker and the rock are in Higashiizumo, Matsue; Iya Shrine is nearby.

The Kojiki tells how Susanoo's outrages drove the sun goddess Amaterasu into the Heavenly Rock Cave, and the world went dark. The gods gathered on the riverbed of the Heavenly Calm River to plan. Uzume danced on an overturned tub, the gods roared with laughter, and Amaterasu came out; light returned to heaven and earth. At Takachiho a shrine worships a cave across the Iwato river as that very cave, a local tradition. Other places in Japan make the same claim, so the pin marks a tradition, not proof.

Location precision: The Kojiki sets the cave in heaven; Takachiho's shrine is one of several places that claim it, and the cave is worshipped from afar.

Visitor guidance: The shrine's west hall is the place to worship the cave across the Iwato river.

The Kojiki's Izumo chapter turns on a beach. The god Takemikazuchi lands at Inasa no Obama, plants his sword blade-up in the waves and sits on its tip to tell Okuninushi that the land belongs to the sun goddess's child. Okuninushi's son Takeminakata arrives carrying the Chibiki rock and challenges him to a trial of strength, then submits. Okuninushi yields the country on one condition: a palace as grand as that of the heavenly gods' child. Local tradition says the talks took place in the shelter of Byobu rock. Each year the Izumo Taisha rite for welcoming the gods is held here.

Location precision: The Kojiki names the beach, but the exact spot of the encounter is only a local tradition; the pin marks the beach.

Visitor guidance: Many drownings have happened here, so swimming is risky.

Okuninushi's price for the land was a palace, and tradition ties it to Izumo Taisha. The history is firmer than the myth: a record from around 950 describes the main hall as about 48 metres tall, higher than the Great Buddha hall of Todai-ji. In 2000 excavation turned up a huge post made of three bundled trunks. Today's building dates from 1744 and is 24 metres high; three cedar trunks believed to be remains of the original are displayed on the grounds. Next door, the Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo shows the excavated pillar.

Visitor guidance: The museum east of the shrine shows the excavated pillar.

After the yielding of Izumo, the Kojiki sends Ninigi, grandson of Amaterasu, down to earth: he descends to Kujifuru peak of Takachiho in Himuka, in Tsukushi. Amaterasu gives him her mirror, telling him to worship it as her own spirit. Ninigi calls the land a good place, facing the morning sun. At Takachiho, the shrine is said to stand where the palace of the three Hyuga generations was. Its own tradition dates its first building to Emperor Suinin; it is absent from the 10th-century Engishiki register.

Location precision: The Kojiki names Takachiho peak without saying where; the Takachiho in Miyazaki is one claimant and the pin marks its shrine, not a proven site.

The other candidate for the descent lies to the south: Mount Takachiho-no-mine, held to be where Ninigi arrived. Kirishima Jingu grew from the worship of that mountain. Its first buildings by the crater burned in repeated eruptions; it was revived in 1484 on orders of Shimazu Tadamasa, and the present halls were rebuilt in 1715. In 2022 the main, offering and worship halls were designated National Treasures. Two places each say Ninigi came down here; the Kojiki, which names only 'Takachiho', does not settle it.

Location precision: Kirishima's mountain is a traditional rival site for Ninigi's descent, and the pin marks the shrine, not a proven landing place.

In the Kojiki's account of Ninigi's descent, the mirror and the god Omoikane are said to be enshrined at Ise; by shrine tradition the Yata mirror is kept in the inner shrine. The Nihon Shoki adds that Princess Yamatohime founded the Naiku after hearing the voice of Amaterasu. The traditional date is 4 BC, though other dates have been proposed; the first building at Naiku is credited to Emperor Tenmu (678-686). At the entrance, the 100-metre Uji Bridge is rebuilt every 20 years in the Shikinen Sengū ceremony.

Visitor guidance: Walk over the Uji Bridge at the Naiku entrance.