16. Japanese creation myths included the creation of the gods and the earth
In Japanese mythologies, the first generation of gods emerged from whatever existed in the primordial universe. These three gods created subsequent gods, through seven generations, which led to the creation of the gods Izanagi and Izanami. Izanagi used a richly decorated naginata (a form of a pole weapon) to create the islands which make up the Japanese Archipelago. In the myth, the first island created, Onogoro became the home of Izanagi and Izanami, where they built a palace and were married to each other. The Japanese god of luck and fishermen known as Ebisu was born to the couple on the island. Eventually, the gods created other islands, leading modern scholars to speculate over the exact location of Onogoro, much as Judeo-Christian scholars speculate over the location of the Biblical Eden.
Ebisu was born without a fully developed skeletal system, with no arms and legs, a punishment from the gods for the incestual circumstances of his birth. His parents thus discarded him, by abandoning him to the sea in a boat of reeds. His parents sought the counsel of the gods before producing further children. Following their guidance, they produced many others, some of whom are the islands of Japan. Izanami’s last child Kagutsuchi, was fire incarnate, and his flames killed his mother at birth. Enraged, Izanagi killed the child, and from his death, several other gods emerged. Eventually, during the ancient period, several million gods and goddesses were created to occupy the Japanese Pantheon of the Gods. Among them was Emperor Jimmu, a human son of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun. Thus the Japanese believed their emperor to be descended directly from the gods, a belief widely retained in the 21st century.