What is Yamata no Orochi?
Yamata no Orochi is a gigantic serpent from Japanese mythology. It has eight heads and eight tails, eyes as red as winter cherries, and moss, cedars and cypress trees growing on its body; it is said to be so large that it stretches across eight valleys and eight hills. Described in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, it is one of the most famous monsters in Japan.
Susanoo slays the serpent
After being banished from the heavens, the god Susanoo descended to the upper reaches of the Hii River in Izumo Province (present-day Shimane Prefecture), where he found an old couple weeping beside their daughter. Every year, they explained, Yamata no Orochi came and ate one of their daughters, and now their last daughter, Kushinadahime, was about to be eaten too. Susanoo had eight vats filled with strong sake, and when the serpent drank and fell into a drunken sleep, he cut it to pieces with his sword. Inside one of its tails he found a sword, which became Kusanagi no Tsurugi, one of the three sacred treasures of Japan.
What was the serpent really?
A well-known theory holds that Yamata no Orochi represents the Hii River and its tributaries, which flooded again and again and caused great suffering. Because a sword emerged from its tail, another theory links it to the iron-making that flourished in the region. In the Iwami Kagura dance theater of Shimane Prefecture, the serpent-slaying is performed as a thrilling piece called “Orochi.”
