Orochi

Lore & Background

The earliest record of the Yamata no Orochi myth comes from the Kojiki, completed in 712 by Ō no Yasumaro. After being banished from Takamagahara, Susanoo descended to Torikami in Izumo and found a chopstick floating down the River Hi. He traveled upstream and met Ashinazuchi, Tenazuchi, and their daughter Kushinada-hime. The couple originally had eight daughters, but each year an eight-headed serpent from Koshi devoured one. Ashinazuchi described the serpent: 'Its eyes are like red cherries and it has eight heads and eight tails. Covered in moss, cypress and cedar, it spans eight valleys and eight peaks, and when you look at its belly you see blood oozing out everywhere.' Susanoo agreed to slay the serpent in exchange for Kushinada-hime's hand in marriage. He transformed her into a comb, stuck it in his hair, and instructed the couple to brew 'eightfold-refined sake' and build a fence with eight gates, placing a vat of sake at each gate. The serpent appeared, dipped a head in each cask, drank the sake, became drunk, and fell asleep. Susanoo unsheathed the sword ten hand spans long and hacked the serpent to pieces until the River Hi ran red with blood. When he sliced off the middle tail, the blade snapped off. He cut the tail open and found a keen-edged broadsword, which he presented to Amaterasu. This is the broadsword Grass Cutter, Kusanagi-no-Tachi.

In Their Own Story

The Nihon Shoki, compiled in 720 under Prince Toneri, includes six accounts of Susanoo's deeds. In Version One, Susanoo descended to the headwaters of the River Hi in Izumo, heard weeping, and met Ashinazuchi, Tenazuchi, and Kushiinada-hime. The couple had eight daughters devoured year after year by an 'eight-forked serpent.' Susanoo turned Kushiinada-hime into a comb, hid it in his hair, and made the couple brew eight-fold sake and build eight cupboards with a tub of sake in each. The serpent appeared with an eight-forked head and eight-forked tail, eyes red like ground cherries, and firs and cypresses growing on its back. It extended over eight hills and eight valleys. Each head drank one tub, the serpent became drunk and fell asleep. Susanoo drew the Ten-Span Sword and chopped the serpent into small pieces. At the tail, the sword's edge was slightly notched; he split the tail open and found a sword, called Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. The Nihon Shoki notes that according to one account, the original name was Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, perhaps from clouds constantly gathering over where the serpent was. In Version Three, Susanoo came to the River E in Aki and met Ashinazu-Tenazu and his pregnant wife Inada-no-Miyanushi-Susano-Yatsumimi. They lamented that an eight-forked serpent devoured their children. Susanoo instructed them to brew eight jars of sake. When the serpent came, Susanoo poured one jar into each of its mouths; the serpent drank and fell asleep. Susanoo slew it with his sword; at the tail the edge was notched, and inside he found Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. The sword that Susanoo used to slay the serpent, called Orochi-no-Aramasa, was held at Isonokami Shrine. In Version Four, Susanoo brewed a poisonous sake, gave it to the serpent, which became drunk and fell asleep. Susanoo took his sword Orochi-no-Karasabi, severed its head and belly; at the tail the edge was notched, and he split it open to examine.

Reader's Guide

The name Yamata no Orochi is variously translated as 'Eight-Forked Serpent,' 'Eight-Headed Serpent,' and 'Eight-Headed Dragon.' Orochi is derived from Old Japanese woröti; Japanese scholars argue it comes from oro ('tail'), ō ('big/great'), or dialectal oro ('peak/summit'), in addition to chi ('god/spirit'), possibly a cognate with mizuchi ('water spirit/dragon') and ikazuchi ('god of thunder'). Yamata may relate to other instances of 'eight' in Japanese literature used to mean 'many' or 'several,' such as yata ('long/large'), yae ('many-layered'), and yashima ('many islands,' i.e., Japan). The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki record that the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, was found within the serpent's tail. The other two treasures are the Yata-no-Kagami and Yasakani-no-Magatama. In local tradition, Yamata no Orochi was believed to have survived the encounter with Susanoo and fled to Mount Ibuki, where it was venerated as Ibuki Daimyōjin. Figures such as Emperor Antoku and Longnü have been identified as incarnations of Yamata no Orochi.

Did You Know?

• The name Yamata no Orochi is recorded as 八俣遠呂智 in the Kojiki and 八岐大蛇 in the Nihon Shoki.
• The sword found in the serpent's tail, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, is one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan, alongside the Yata-no-Kagami and Yasakani-no-Magatama.
• According to the Nihon Shoki, the sword Susanoo used to slay the serpent was called Orochi-no-Aramasa; the claim that it was held at Isonokami Shrine is a later tradition or conflation, not stated in the Nihon Shoki.
• In local tradition, Yamata no Orochi was believed to have survived the encounter with Susanoo and fled to Mount Ibuki, where it was venerated as Ibuki Daimyōjin.
• Figures such as Emperor Antoku and Longnü have been identified as incarnations of Yamata no Orochi.