Yamata no Orochi (八岐大蛇)

In the upper reaches of the Hi River in Izumo, where the sound of water is fierce enough to cleave the mountains apart, it came every year without fail. Eight heads, eight tails — its body large enough to blanket an entire mountain, its belly festering with blood, its eyes burning red as winter cherries. The shadow that crawled out from the depths of Koshi was whispered to be a mountain god, or perhaps a water god, but in any case, the rumours persist: there are those who claim to have seen something like it beyond the bounds of myth.

The old couple had eight daughters. One vanished each year, until at last only the youngest remained — Kushinadahime. Susanoo, who had followed the river upstream to where a pair of chopsticks came drifting down, heard her weeping, and transformed the girl into a fine-toothed comb, which he tucked into his own hair. It was a quiet concealment, so that no human form would be exposed before the beast.

The means of slaying it was not strength, but sake. A potent wine pressed and refined seven times over — Yashiori no Sake — was poured into eight great vats and set before eight gates. The serpent lowered each of its eight heads into each of the eight vats, drank deeply, and slept. In that opening, a ten-fist sword was swung, flesh was severed, and the river ran red.

One section of the tail alone turned the blade. When it was split open, a divine sword emerged from within — the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi, later known as Kusanagi. The fact that a sacred treasure lay nestled inside the body of a monster suggests that this creature was no mere beast, but some manner of vessel.

Along the Hii River basin, even now, strange eddies sometimes form on the surface of the water when the season of floods arrives. The people of that land offer no particular explanation for them. To offer no explanation — that is the long custom of this place.