Susanoo

The Tempestuous Storm God

Susanoo is the Shinto god of storms, the sea, and tumult — the third "noble child" born from the nose of Izanagi during his purification. Wild and unruly from birth, he was assigned the seas but wept ceaselessly for his dead mother instead.

His name is often interpreted as "impetuous" or "raging male," capturing the destructive force of typhoon and tempest that he embodies. He stands as the mythic counterweight to his serene sister Amaterasu.

Before a final departure, Susanoo visited heaven and ran riot, destroying rice fields and flinging a flayed horse into Amaterasu's hall. His chaos drove her into the cave Ama-no-Iwato, and for this he was banished from the High Plain of Heaven.

In exile he redeemed himself: in Izumo he slew the eight-headed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi to save a maiden, and from its tail drew the great sword Kusanagi, which he gave to Amaterasu. That blade became one of Japan's Three Imperial Regalia.

Before his rampage, Susanoo and Amaterasu performed the ukehi divine contest to test his sincerity: chewing and spitting fragments of her necklace, he produced five male kami, while she generated three female deities from his sword. Susanoo declared his own gentleness proven by the result — a claim the Kojiki undercuts almost immediately, since he celebrated by tearing up his sister's rice fields and desecrating her weaving hall, precipitating the very crisis that drove her into hiding.

After slaying Orochi in Izumo, Susanoo married the maiden he had rescued, Kushinada-hime, and settled there as a local ruler rather than returning to heaven. Their descendants include Okuninushi, the great land-god of Izumo, making Susanoo an ancestral figure for one of Shinto's other major mythic lineages even after his exile from the celestial Kami.

Key Myths

• Weeping for his mother — refuses his ocean domain, crying until the seas dry and mountains wither with grief for Izanami
• The ukehi contest — trades tokens with Amaterasu, producing new kami as proof of his intent
• The heavenly rampage — destroys rice paddies and defiles Amaterasu's hall, triggering her withdrawal into Ama-no-Iwato
• Slaying Orochi — kills the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi in Izumo, rescuing Kushinada-hime
• Discovery of Kusanagi — finds the sword inside Orochi's tail and presents it to Amaterasu as tribute

Susanoo's turbulent arc — from disgrace among the Kami to hero of Izumo — remains one of the most dramatic threads in Japanese mythology.

Common Questions