The Story of Iwatsuchibiko - Episode 2: The Rumbling of the Earth and the Sand Wedge that Connects their Bond

This is a completely original KAMIYO special episode that fills the “void” left unrecorded in the history books of Japanese mythology.

We weave the hidden, true tale of the gods here.

Welcome to the abyssal world of Japanese mythology.

Prologue: The Weight of Life and the Heavy Pressure of Silence

Ever since the soft sand of Iwasuhime-no-Kami was spread upon the strong bedrock built by Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami, Oyashimakuni (The Great Eight Islands) had been welcoming an unprecedented bounty.

The blessed rain stored by the sand became groundwater flowing endlessly, and a great forest stretching as far as the eye could see was formed upon the earth.

Giant trees stretching toward the heavens thickened their trunks over hundreds and thousands of years, and countless beasts in the fields rejoiced in their lives.

Beneath the clouds carried by the wind gods, Oyashimakuni seemed to have seen a magnificent completion as an "eternally uncollapsing dwelling place for life."

However, the workings of great nature cannot remain perfectly still.

The more life overflowed on the surface and the larger the forests formed, the more that "unfathomable mass" weighed down upon the shoulders of Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami, the skeleton of the earth, as an invisible pressure.

Chapter 1: The Creaking of the Bedrock, Solitary Endurance

"...It is heavy. But this is the joyous weight of life."

Deep at the bottom of the earth, in the endlessly expanding darkness, Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami thrust his arms of rock toward the heavens, continuing to support the entire earth from below.

Upon his thick arms rested the weight of all the mountains, great forests, and the Yaoyorozu (Eight Million) lives living upon the earth.

Griiind, creeeaaaak...
From his great bedrock, which was supposed to boast absolute hardness, a creaking sound like a moan of agony occasionally began to leak.

The more life flourished on the surface, the more merciless the burden placed upon the earth's foundation became.

Furthermore, tremendous heat and energy, yet formless, swirled at the bottom of the earth, and the heavy pressure from above combined with the upward thrust from below fiercely sandwiched Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami's giant body.
(I will absolutely not break. If I bend my knees, all life on the surface will be swallowed into the depths of the earth...!)

Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami did not show any pain on his face; he merely clenched his back teeth and endured.

He was a god of fortitude, of deeds without words. Complaining of his own pain to anyone was something his pride would not allow.

Chapter 2: The Rumbling of the Earth, the Torn Skeleton

However, the limit arrived suddenly.

One day, the massive energy that had been stagnating deep underground explosively expanded with a force that threatened to snap Oyashimakuni cleanly in two.

Zudoooommm rumblllle!!!
With a tremendous roar that seemed to overturn heaven and earth, the entirety of Oyashimakuni violently shook.

It was the rumbling of the earth that humans of later eras would call a "great earthquake" and tremble in fear of.

The absolute bedrock built by Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami could not withstand the friction of the upward thrust from below and the heavy pressure from above, and finally exceeded its limits.

"Guooooooh...!!"
From Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami's mouth, a roar of agony leaked for the first time.

Cracks like lightning ran across the thick rock surface of his chest, and the skeleton of the earth screamed as it split apart.

Rocks violently collided with rocks, scraping against each other, scattering tremendous heat and sparks.

At this rate, the bedrock would completely collapse, Oyashimakuni would become countless fragments and sink into the sea, and all life would perish.
(Endure...! Even if my body is torn apart, I must not let go of the foundation of life...!)

He put all his strength into his arms, desperately trying to hold his splitting body together. But the pure destructive power of nature was about to surpass even his resolute endurance.

Chapter 3: The Sand Wedge that Connects their Bond

"Iwatsuchibiko! You must not resist with force!!"

Deep within the fissure, in the darkness where rocks were roaringly shattering to pieces, Iwasuhime-no-Kami fluttered down alongside a dazzling light.

Seeing the gruesome sight of countless cracks appearing on her husband's rock surface, on the verge of shattering cleanly in two, she let out a cry of sorrow.

"Why do you try to endure it alone! When overwhelmingly strong forces collide head-on, they will inevitably shatter. You must parry it!"

"I must not...! If I release my strength, the earth will...!"

"I will hold you together!!"

Iwasuhime-no-Kami grandly fluttered her robes.

At that moment, countless fine grains of sand overflowed from her body and poured like an avalanche into the giant cracks running across Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami's body—the fault lines deep within the earth.

Sift, sift... Claaang!

It was truly a miraculous sight.

Into the crevices between the violently scraping rocks about to shatter, Iwasuhime-no-Kami's soft sand entered as a "cushion."

The sand gently absorbed the friction of the rocks, dispersing the tremendous impact. Furthermore, the fine sand entered deep into the fissures, beginning to fulfill the role of a "wedge" connecting rock to rock.

Chapter 4: Sharing the Pain, the Birth of a Living Earth

"Oh... The impact is softening..."

Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami felt the intense pain that was about to tear his body apart slowly fading through the mediation of the sand.

If one tries to absorb the impact with hard rock alone, it will break. However, by having a layer of sand between the rocks, the earth can "slip" and release the force.

"You are too strong. That is precisely why you are poor at letting the pain escape outward."

Deep within the fault line, Iwasuhime-no-Kami placed her hand on her husband's giant rocky cheek and smiled gently.

"The earth is not an eternally immutable mass. As life on the surface grows and the world changes, the earth too must change its shape. If distortion accumulates, you only need to shake and release the force. I will enter your crevices and soothe that pain."

At her words, a single teardrop spilled from Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami's eye for the first time.

It was a tear of relief from being freed from the heavy pressure, and a testament of deep gratitude to the partner who accepted his weakness.
The tear became groundwater, seeping into the sand, moistening the cracks in the rock, and bringing forth beautiful crystal formations at the bottom of the earth.

Chapter 5: The Pulsating World, the Eternal Heartbeat

Eventually, the rumbling of the earth subsided, and silence returned to Oyashimakuni once again.

However, the shape of the earth was different from before.

As a result of Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami parrying the impact alongside the sand, giant mountain ranges rose on the surface, beautiful valleys were formed, and the earth came to possess a more complex and rich expression.

"Iwasuhime... I was mistaken. The earth is not merely a cold mass of stone that only endures. It feels pain, changes shape, and lives together with the life on the surface."

Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami looked at his tough arms, repaired by the sand, and quietly nodded.

"Yes. You create the shape, and I fill it. In that way, we will make this world breathe together."

Overcoming the unfathomable trial of the great earthquake, the two earth gods eternally bound their bond as the "fault line of rock and sand."

In later eras, the fact that the earth occasionally shudders slightly is the proof that Oyashimakuni is never a dead mass of stone, but is continuously "living" under their divine protection.

The absolute hardness (rock) and the softness that parries all (sand).

When the two forces harmonized perfectly, Oyashimakuni saw its completion as a "breathing earth" in the truest sense.