KAMIYO Episode 27: The birth of the Rock, Iwatsuchibiko

Prologue: The Pulsating World and the Crumbling Fragile Mud

Ever since the Wind God, Shinatsuhiko-no-Kami, danced up into the vast sky and brought a pure breath to heaven and earth, Oyashimakuni (The Great Eight Islands) had been overflowing with unprecedented vitality.

As the wind blew through, the clouds raced, and the rain poured down. The sea governed by Owatatsumi-no-Kami raised waves in response to the rhythm of the wind, playing a rich song of the roaring tide.

The power of “motion” filled the world, and all creation awakened in the truest sense.

However, that joyous pulsation brought a new “trial” to Oyashimakuni.

The young earth, newly pulled up from the ocean by the Ame-no-Nuboko (Heavenly Jeweled Spear), was covered in soft, rich mud meant to nurture life, but precisely because of this, it was far too fragile.

The fiercely blowing winds mercilessly swept up the soil on the surface and scattered it into the void, while the relentlessly crashing rough waves scraped away the edges of the earth like mud, dragging it into the sea.

Because the power of “motion” was far too immense, the earth that was supposed to catch it could not maintain its shape, and was gradually facing the crisis of collapse.

“Look, my wife. The wind and the sea are circulating healthily through the world. But the crucial earth cannot withstand their power and is screaming.”

Izanagi looked down at the crumbling coastline and murmured in a deep, heavy voice.

Chapter 1: In Search of the “Bones” of the Earth

“Yes... Even though there is soft soil (flesh) to nurture life, this country lacks the ‘bones’ to support it and retain its shape for eternity.”

Izanami answered, gently scooping up the crumbling soil at her feet.

No matter how rich the flesh, without an inner skeleton, it cannot stand, and will eventually yield to gravity and external forces, collapsing away. At this rate, Oyashimakuni would eventually be scraped away entirely by the wind and waves, sinking back into the chaotic ocean.

“The earth, which must serve as the foundation of all things, requires absolute ‘stillness’ and ‘solidity’—something that will not be blown away by any storm, nor scraped away by any rough wave.”

Izanagi stepped powerfully toward the center of the earth.

Izanami also stood facing her husband and nodded deeply.

The two creator gods resolved to pour their next divine deed (kamiwaza) of birthing gods not into the heavens like the wind, but deep into the bottom of the earth, toward the very depths of the ground.

Chapter 2: The Crushing Pressure of Eternity

“My spirit. Sink into the dark depths of the earth, layer, and condense.”

Izanagi and Izanami clasped their hands tightly together and struck their entire divine spirit into the earth at their feet.

It was a ritual of unfathomable “pressure” and “heat.”

Crushing the soft mud over and over, eliminating all gaps, and concentrating the weight of heaven and earth into a single point.

Rumblllle...

The entirety of Oyashimakuni began to tremble, echoing with an unprecedented deep bass.

It was neither the sound of the wind nor the sound of the waves. It was the heavy, solemn creaking of the earth itself, tightening its body to the absolute limit and enduring the pain of childbirth.

“Become a keystone (kaname-ishi) that yields to no force, un-decaying for thousands and tens of thousands of generations. Become the silent pillar that will continue to support this beautiful country for eternity!”

With Izanagi’s shout, the compressed divine spirit reached its critical point.

Deep at the bottom of the earth, at the end of heat and crushing pressure, the mud completely transformed its nature, reborn into something cold, heavy, and the hardest “matter” in this world.

Chapter 3: The Silent Giant, the Birth of Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami

Zudoooom!!!

The earth split cleanly in two, and with a tremendous tremor, a massive “block of rock” rose from deep underground toward the heavens.

That giant rock, emitting the dull luster of dark iron, released a dazzling light the moment it reached its peak, transforming into the figure of a robust male god.

He was the god who governs rocks, stones, and solid earth.

It was the birth of the skeleton of the earth, Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami.

“...”

Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami did not utter a single word.

The robes he wore were the heavy rock surface itself, tinged with deep grayish-green and black. His physique was thick like a mountain, exuding an absolute mass that would not budge a hair’s breadth no matter what force pushed against it.

His eyes were not easily shifting like the wind, but harbored a quiet, unwavering brilliance that seemed to gaze thousands and tens of thousands of years into the future.

He slowly knelt on one knee before Izanagi and Izanami, bowing his head deeply. Even without words, his loyalty and resolve for his mission were firmly transmitted to the two gods as the very weight of the earth.

Chapter 4: The Rock-Solid Keystone, the Running Veins of Stone

“You have done well to be born, Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami. With your fortitude, pass ‘bones’ through this fragile earth and grant it eternal shape.”

Receiving Izanagi’s command, Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami quietly stood up.

Raising both arms high to the heavens, he smashed his fists into the earth at his feet with all his might.

Claaang!!!

At that moment, countless hard “rock veins” ran like lightning deep beneath the underground of Oyashimakuni.

Beneath the soft mud, thick, tough bedrock was formed, solidly supporting the earth from the bottom up.

Along the coastlines intersecting with the sea, steep, strange rocks and giant stones rose one after another to crush the rough waves, becoming natural breakwaters that completely halted the erosion of the land.

Across the vast plains, giant rock seats (iwakura) were driven in as the keystones of the earth, so that no matter how fierce a whirlwind the Wind God blew, the soil would no longer be swept up into the sky.

“Oh... Magnificent. The earth has gained an unwavering strength.”

Izanami let out a deep sigh of relief at the absolute stability transmitting from her feet.

Even if the wind raged, even if the waves crashed, the bedrock built by Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami would never waver.

Fiercely clashing with the power of “motion” yet silently repelling it, this ultimate power of “stillness” and “hardness” had guided the world into a magnificent equilibrium.

Chapter 5: The Foundation of All Things, the Eternal Promise

Having finished his work, Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami quietly sat down in a corner of the earth.

He did not boast of his achievements; he merely “existed” there.

However, his very existence would become the entire foundation for the epic history of life that was about to begin.

“Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami. You may never be a god who dances brilliantly. But without you, nothing can be built in this world.”

Izanagi placed his hand on the shoulder of the taciturn rock god, confirming the sensation of his cold yet powerful skin.

In later eras, trees would powerfully take root in the crevices of this bedrock, and towering mountains would rise upon the foundation he had built.

And above all, when humans born in the far future build shrines to worship the gods, they will invariably raise their pillars upon the “foundation stones” (soseki) created by this Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami, building houses that can withstand a thousand years of wind and rain.

The skeleton of Oyashimakuni that he built in silence will never decay for eternity.

Wind, sea, and earth.

The world brought forth by the gods had its shape completely fixed by the birth of Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami. Upon this unwavering foundation, history would advance toward the next swell of creation—the birth of the trees and mountains that adorn great nature.