KAMIYO Episode 40: Amaterasu Omikami's Heavy Burden and the Throne

Prologue

A sea of clouds stretched endlessly across Takamagahara, the High Plain of Heaven.

Into the center of that boundless, pure white sky stepped a single, beautiful goddess.

Amaterasu Omikami.

Born from the pristine waters when her father, Izanagi, washed his left eye, she harbored within her very being the golden light that illuminated all creation from the exact moment of her birth.

The curved jewel necklace resting against her collarbone rang out with a cold, heavy resonance.

This sacred treasure, bequeathed by her father and known as "Mikuratanano-no-kami," was the proof of her status as the rightful heir destined to rule the heavenly realm.

"I am to govern this boundless world..."

A sigh-like whisper escaped Amaterasu's beautiful lips.

Beneath her feet spread a sea of translucent white clouds, and above her stretched an infinite azure canopy.

It was a beautiful, pristine world, knowing absolutely no defilement. 

Yet, its sheer vastness weighed upon the newborn goddess as an unfathomable, crushing pressure.

Chapter 1: A Light Too Dazzling

Standing tall in the center of Takamagahara was the majestic Heavenly Shrine.

Enshrined in its deepest recesses, the throne radiated a cold brilliance like white quartz, waiting for its new master.

The moment Amaterasu quietly stepped forward and took her seat upon that throne, the divine aura overflowing from her body instantly rippled outwards in waves of gold, reaching every corner of the heavenly realm.

"Oh..."

"What blinding radiance..."

From the eight million gods prostrated at the foot of the throne, gasps of admiration leaked out.

However, those voices were unmistakably tinged with fear.

As Amaterasu leaned forward, intending to offer them an affectionate smile, the gods all at once bowed their heads and squeezed their eyes shut.

The light she emitted was far too intense.

It was not a warm, enveloping sunlight.

It was an overwhelming, almost violent "righteousness"—a light that, if she let her guard down even slightly, would sear the eyes of those who looked upon it and ruthlessly expose every lie and sin hidden in the deepest recesses of their hearts.

(They cannot even bear to look at me directly...)

Upon the throne, Amaterasu gently stared at her own hands.

Beneath her pale, translucent skin pulsed a golden heat.

The realization that this very warmth was alienating others brought a faint ache to the newborn goddess's chest.

Chapter 2: The Curse of Her Father's Words

"Amaterasu Omikami, you shall rule Takamagahara."

Her father Izanagi's voice echoed in her mind.

They were the Three Noble Children, born at the end of a grueling ritual of purification to cleanse the taint of death after he had fled from Yomi, the Underworld.

Her father had rejoiced at Amaterasu's birth with a mad delight, almost doubting his own eyes. The creator god, who had brought forth countless deities, wept tears of joy, declaring, "At long last, I have been blessed with three noble children."

However, Amaterasu's sharp, luminous eyes had not missed the profound exhaustion and bottomless sorrow bleeding into her father's posture at that moment.

His love and obsession for his late wife, Izanami, and the despair of their eternal separation.

After a muddy conflict that nearly destroyed the world, her father had realized the absolute limit of his own life force.

That was precisely why he had entrusted this most vital heavenly realm to his daughter, his ultimate masterpiece.

(Father is already exhausted. Therefore, I must perfectly protect this world in his stead. I must never again allow the darkness of Yomi to approach this realm.)

That resolve bound her spine with a chilling tightness.

She had to be a "perfect light."

No hesitation, no weakness, no ugly personal desires could ever be permitted upon this throne. 

It was an impossibly cruel curse placed upon a newborn, pure soul.

Chapter 3: The Lonely Throne

Amaterasu suddenly thought of her two brothers, born alongside her.

Tsukuyomi, draped in silence and silver light, entrusted with the Realm of Night.

Susanoo, fierce yet brimming with vitality, entrusted with the vast Ocean.

How were they spending their time in their own domains now?

In the night world ruled by Tsukuyomi, there would surely be time to quietly face oneself without worrying about the eyes of others.

In the vast sea ruled by Susanoo, there would surely be the capacity to whip up waves at the whim of his emotions, to roar freely, and to rampage wildly.

But in Takamagahara, there was no "place to hide."

As long as Amaterasu existed, not even a shadow could fall upon this heavenly realm.

She had to constantly remain the "unchanging sun" at the center of the world, forever exposed to the countless gazes of the eight million gods.

(It is a little... suffocating...)

Alone on the throne, she faintly pressed a hand to her chest.

The curved jewel of Mikuratanano-no-kami around her neck felt as heavy as a cold chain, binding her to this throne for eternity.

She could never again hold hands and talk intimately with the brothers who shared her blood.

From the moment they were born, the Three Noble Children were placed on separate, non-intersecting orbits of destiny.

The throne was such an isolating place.

Chapter 4: The Terror of Incineration

Suddenly, a bottomless anxiety welling up within her chest made the particles of light waver slightly.

"What if my emotions waver...?"

As the Goddess of the Sun, her emotions directly affected not only the heavenly realm but also the climate and life of Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni (the earthly realm) spreading far below.

If she surrendered to anger and intensified her light, the earth's moisture would instantly evaporate, rivers would run dry, and lush greenery would burst into flames, turning to ash.

If she was overcome with sorrow, closed her heart, and dimmed her light, the world would freeze, and all creation would meet a cold death in the darkness.

(With just a shift in my heart, the world could easily perish.)

The moment she realized this truth, a chilling terror rushed down Amaterasu's spine.

The curse of death unleashed by her mother Izanami in the Underworld: "I will strangle to death a thousand of your people each day."

If Amaterasu lost her self-control, she might unknowingly bring about a destruction that surpassed even her mother's curse.

A power too immense terrifies even the one who wields it.

She noticed her pale, slender fingertips were trembling slightly.

Why did her father bestow such a terrifying power upon her?

Was he telling her to completely kill her emotions and become nothing more than a "stone" that burns for eternity?

Chapter 5: The Goddess's Resolve

Silence enveloped the shrine.

However, Amaterasu slowly and powerfully clenched her trembling fingertips.

"No... I am the child of my father. I am Amaterasu Omikami."

Her clear, dignified voice echoed across the sky of Takamagahara.

As if responding to that voice of resolve, the violent, piercing light radiating from her body gradually transformed into a soft, warm golden hue that seemed to embrace everything.

There was no need to fear.

She did not have to kill her emotions.

She only needed to discipline her heart with a "great love" that cherished all creation.

To nurture the grass and trees of the earth and give equal warmth to every living thing.

That was her very mission as the sun.

(I shall protect it. This world my father loved. And I shall protect this beautiful light from the darkness of death left behind by my unseen mother.)

Amaterasu stood up and surveyed the vast expanse of Takamagahara from the shrine.

The sea of clouds was dyed gold, and she could see the eight million gods, who had been prostrated in the distance, raising their faces and weeping at the sheer divinity and warm light.

They were no longer afraid.

They were blessing the Goddess of Light's resolve with heartfelt relief and joy.

A lonely throne. A burden too heavy to bear.

Yet, she chose to smile gently at the world.

She locked the loneliness and terror deep away in the abyss of her heart, and donned the mask of the "perfect sun" that would never crumble.

The order of the heavenly realm was established upon the agonizing self-sacrifice of a single young goddess.

However, Amaterasu had no way of knowing then that when this "perfect mask" she had forced herself to wear eventually collided with the impending storm—the too-pure despair of her brother Susanoo, weeping and wailing across the oceans—it would trigger an irreversible tragedy that would shake the very foundations of Heaven.

A beautiful yet precarious, solitary light of the heavenly world.

The gears of destiny for the Three Noble Children had quietly, and cruelly, begun to turn.

(KAMIYO Episode 40: "Amaterasu Omikami's Heavy Burden and the Throne" - End)