Read, reflect, pray
Kojiki: The great serpent and the palace at Suga
Kojiki · Story 7 of 22
出雲の大蛇と、須賀の宮
Eight heads and a trap of sake.
English translation of this site’s published story summary and reading notes. This is a selected reading guide, not a complete translation of the ancient chronicle.
Story summary
In Susanoo’s story after his expulsion from Takamagahara, an intervening episode tells of the killing of Ōgetsuhime and the emergence of silkworms and grain seeds from her body. Descending upstream in Izumo, Susanoo then meets Ashinazuchi, Tenazuchi, and their daughter Kushinadahime. Their daughters have been swallowed yearly by an eight-forked serpent, and danger approaches the last one.
Susanoo changes Kushinadahime into a comb and places her in his hair, then has eight gates and sake vessels prepared. Each serpent head drinks, becoming drunk and falling asleep. When he cuts up the serpent, a sword emerges from its tail. The text calls it Kusanagi and says he reported it to Amaterasu.
Afterward Susanoo builds a palace at Suga in Izumo and sings of an eightfold fence for his wife. The following genealogy also names Ōtoshi and Ukanomitama, born to him and Kamuōichihime, extending the story into a wider network of deities.
Reading note
In this grain-origin episode, the deity who supplies food is Ōgetsuhime. Names and plots from similar stories in other classics are not mixed into it.
Compare with the Nihon Shoki
Poetry in this story
Connected figures
Names and relationships in a chronicle may differ from later traditions. Each figure’s introduction identifies its sources.
Sources and edition (3)
English explanations on this page were prepared by Inori no Mori from the cited text and its Japanese explanations. They are not an official translation or a prescribed liturgy.