The Story of Iwatsuchibiko - Episode 1: The Solitary Giant Rock and the Sand Cradle Embracing Life
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 Rejecting Earth, the Solitary Skeleton
Amidst a turbulent world where the wind god danced in the sky and the sea god raised waves, the skeleton of the earth built by Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami maintained absolute "silence."
The tough rock veins he had driven in shattered the raging waves and completely prevented the soil from being swept up by violent storms.
Through him, Oyashimakuni gained a foundation that would never collapse for eternity.
Having finished his work, Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami sat heavily upon the giant rock seat (iwakura) enshrined at the center of the earth, simply gazing at the world in silence.
However, as time passed, his "overly hard defense" began to create a new problem.
The bedrock was far too strong, cold, and smooth.
Even if the seeds of life carried by the wind fell upon the rock, there were no crevices to take root in, so they eventually dried up and died.
The blessed rain falling from the sky merely slipped coldly down the surface of the rock, unable to retain moisture in the earth.
Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami's power had saved the country from collapse.
But that absolute hardness had simultaneously become a "thick armor" rejecting the intrusion of all life.
Chapter 1: The Unbreakable Rock and the Weight of Solitude
"...Have I become a wall that obstructs life?"
Gazing at the small seeds drying up at his feet, Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami showed a faint color of anguish in his eyes for the first time.
To protect the earth, he had made himself as hard and heavy as possible to the absolute limit.
The bedrock solidity that could not be scratched by anything was his pride and very reason for existence.
However, a thing called life can only take root in soft places that yield, crumble, and change.
Upon his bedrock boasting absolute "immutability," the activities of life would never begin.(Then, must I crush myself and scrape away my own body...?)
Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami raised his thick fist, attempting to strike it down upon the bedrock he had built.
But the rock, compressed to its limit by his own power, would not easily shatter even against his own fist.
If he tried to force it, it would cause a terrifying fissure that would tear the very foundation of Oyashimakuni cleanly in two.
Solitude born of being too strong.
He stood quietly on the edge of despair, alone within a silent, giant prison living through eternal time.
Chapter 2: The Rustling of Sand Carried by the Wind
It was at that moment.
As if caressing the parched rock surface, a gentle gust of wind blew through.
Riding that wind, a faint sound he had never heard before—sift, sift—reached Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami's ears.
"...?"
When he looked up, he saw fine "grains" shining in golden hues being carried by the wind and piling up in the slight depressions of the bedrock.
They were not fragile and water-laden like mud, nor were they giant and hard like rock.
They were countless fine fragments of mineral—"sand."
Sift, sift. Sift, sift.
Instead of slipping down the cold surface of the bedrock, the sand gently entered the faint joints between the rocks and the depressions, softly filling those hard crevices.
"God of Rock. Please do not make such a sad face and try to crush your own body."
From the piled-up sand, a gentle voice echoed, clear as a ringing bell, yet somehow carrying the warmth of the earth.
Chapter 3: The Manifestation of Iwasuhime-no-Kami
The light-bearing sand fluttered up, and from it, a single beautiful goddess revealed her form.
The robes she wore emitted a mysterious brilliance, weaving together the golden hue of a dry desert and the soft pale-ash color of pebbles by a riverside.
"You are..."
"I am Iwasuhime. The one who governs the sand and pebbles to nurture life, making your great rock a 'nest'."
The goddess looked up at the giant figure of Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami and smiled softly.
She did not possess the immense arm strength to support mountains like he did. However, she possessed the ultimate flexibility to enter any crevice, change shape, and become a "cushion" between hard things.
"My sand will never crush your bedrock. I merely warm and fill the 'cold gaps' that were born because you are too strong."
When Iwasuhime-no-Kami gently spread her hands, more sand and fine pebbles sprang forth, gently covering the surroundings of the iwakura built by Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami.
Chapter 4: The Commingling of Rock and Sand, the "Nest" of Life
The sand brought by Iwasuhime-no-Kami brought a magical change to the earth.
The rain falling from the sky no longer slipped off the rock surface.
The sand absorbed plenty of that moisture, creating small oases in the depressions of the rocks.
The seeds carried by the wind were comfortably embraced within that damp sand, and threading through the crevices of the rocks, they firmly began to take root.
"Oh... Life is gripping my bedrock."
Seeing the small green leaves sprouting from the sand, Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami opened his eyes wide in surprise and deep emotion.
He realized it.
The rock, the skeleton of the earth, had never rejected life.
Only when there is an absolute "vessel" of rock, and the "sand cradle" of Iwasuhime-no-Kami is spread within it, does life gain a "nest" where it can finally take root with peace of mind.
"It is precisely because of your unwavering back that my sand is not blown away by the wind, but can remain here. The strong rock and the soft sand.
Only when the two mingle does the earth reach its true completion."
Iwasuhime-no-Kami approached the sitting giant god, and upon his thick, cold hand of rock, she overlaid her own warm, soft hand.
Chapter 5: The Husband and Wife Gods of the Earth, a Quiet Vow
"Iwasuhime... Your fine grains of sand are far gentler, and stronger, than my giant rocks.
You are the only one who can fill the crevices of my lonely armor."
Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami, who had never let his emotions show, harbored a warm light in his eyes for the first time, and gripped the goddess's hand powerfully in return.
"Yes, my husband.
As long as you continue to support this Oyashima from the bottom, I shall fill the gaps in your armor and become a 'nest' that gently embraces all life."
In the deep bottom of the earth, the hard god of rock and the soft goddess of sand exchanged an eternal vow.
When the two gods drew close, rich soil was formed upon the bedrock filling Oyashimakuni, and from there, countless plants and trees simultaneously raised powerful first cries and began to sprout.
Even if the wind blows, the rain falls, or the waves crash, this earth will no longer collapse.
The strong skeleton built by Iwatsuchibiko-no-Kami repels everything, and the sand cradle spread by Iwasuhime-no-Kami gently heals and nurtures the wounded lives.
At this point, Oyashimakuni had finally obtained the true earth as an "eternally uncollapsing dwelling place for life."
