" This latter fact
seems to have escaped the attention of those who write freely about what
they imagine to be the early religion of the Japanese.[3]
After this introduction, in which "Dualities, Trinities, and Supreme
Deities" have been discovered by writers unfamiliar with the genius of
the Japanese language, there follows an account of the creation of the
habitable earth by Izanami and Izanagi, whose names mean the
Male-Who-Invites and the Female-Who-Invites. The heavenly kami commanded
these two gods to consolidate and give birth to the drifting land.
Standing on the floating bridge of heaven, the male plunged his
jewel-spear into the unstable waters beneath, stirring them until they
gurgled and congealed. When he drew forth the spear, the drops trickling
from its point formed an island, ever afterward called Onokoro-jima, or
the Island of the Congealed Drop. Upon this island they descended. The
creative pair, or divine man and woman, now separated to make a journey
round the island, the male to the left, the female to the right. At
their meeting the female spoke first: "How joyful to meet a lovely man!"
The male, offended that the woman had spoken first, required the circuit
to be repeated. On their second meeting, the man cried out: "How joyful
to meet a lovely woman!" This island on which they had descended was the
first of several which they brought into being.
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