Japanese Creation Myth
The Japanese creation myth is first told in the Kojiki, the first book written in Japan in 712 CE. The Japanese creation myth begins with chaos as do many of the others. At the start of the universe it was a shapeless sort of matter that remained in silence.
But then came sounds that indicated the particles were moving. The lightest particles and the light rose up. The particles rose but could not reach the same height as the light itself. Therefore, the light became the top of the universe and the particles below became the first clouds and Heaven. The particles that had not risen came together to form one large mass known as Earth.
At first the mass of the Earth was just like oil floating upon water and was not solid at all. From this emerged a reed that grew up and sprouted two immortals from its bosom. More Gods were formed but they had little to do in the chaos that was the universe and with no solid ground. So they called Izanagi and Izanami to work together to create terra firma. The gods gave them a jeweled spear with which to create the world.
Upon reaching the waters, they thrust the spear into the sea upon which it created a large mass that became the first island. Here the couple wed and Izanami gave birth to many of the gods of the world. However, it was upon giving birth to the fire god that Izanami perished. Izanagi went to the underworld to retrieve her and she told him she must first ask the gods of Yomi if she could return but that he must not look back at her. Izanagi grew impatient and looked for her only to find that she was a disfigured corpse. Terrified at the sight he left and sealed the exit. When he went to purify himself in the river, the goddess of the sun was washed from his left eye, the god of the moon from his right eye and the god of storms from his nose.