Okuninushi and the Rabbit

Okuninushi lived in the land of Izumo in Ashihara-no-nakatsukuni with his numerous brothers. One day, his brothers heard of a goddess of unrivaled beauty named Yagami-hime. She lived in the land of Inaba, and every one of them wanted to ask for her hand in marriage. When they set out for Inaba, they brought Okuninushi along as their servant to carry their baggage, which was so heavy that he soon lagged behind the group.

When his brothers reached Cape Keta in Inaba, they came upon a rabbit lying on the ground that had been stripped of its skin and was crying in pain. The brothers said to the rabbit, “You should wash off in seawater and then climb to the top of a high hill where the winds blow strongly to dry off. You’ll recover very quickly if you do.” So the rabbit did as it was told, but instead of recovering, things got worse. As the winds blew, its skin dried and cracked, and the salt from the seawater got into its cracked skin. It couldn’t stand the pain, and fell down crying.

When Okuninushi, who was still trailing the group, finally reached Cape Keta, he saw the rabbit crying out in pain, and asked it what had happened.

The rabbit replied, “I’m from the island of Oki, and I wanted to cross over to the mainland. There was no way for me to do it on my own, so I decided to fool the sharks that live in the waters around Oki. I called out to one of the sharks, ‘Let’s see which there are more of, you sharks or us rabbits. Have all your fellow sharks line up one by one from here to Cape Keta, and I’ll count you. Then we’ll know for sure which group is bigger.’ ”

“And they did just like I said. So I ran over them, counting each one, and just as I was about to reach land, I said, ‘I just tricked you all into doing what I wanted.’ Just then, the last shark in the line caught me and bit my fur right off me. As I was lying here, a large group of gods came along and told me to wash off in seawater and then go where the wind would dry me off. I did what they told me, but now things are even worse.”

Hearing this, Okuninushi told the rabbit, “Go to that river over there and wash off in fresh water. Then gather some cattails, spread them out on the ground and roll over them. You’ll be as good as new in no time.” So the rabbit did as it was told, and soon it had completely healed.

Then the rabbit said to Okuninushi, “Your brothers will never earn the love of Yagami-hime. Even though you look like a poor servant, she will fall in love with and marry you.” When Okuninushi finally arrived at Yagami-hime’s palace, the rabbit’s prediction came true. Yagami-hime said to his brothers, “I will have nothing to do with any of you. Okuninushi is the one I will marry.”

Hearing this, his brothers were enraged, and they decided to kill Okuninushi. Each time they tried, his mother came to his rescue and was able to save him, but their plots became so frequent that his mother said to him, “If you stay here, your brothers will succeed in killing you.” So Okuninushi fled far away, to the house of Susano-o in the land of Ne, the Underworld.

The Trials of Okuninushi

When Okuninushi arrived in the Underworld, he met Suseri-hime, the daughter of Susano-o. They fell in love, and she took him to meet her father.

Susano-o decided to test Okuninushi. First, he decided to have him sleep in a room filled with snakes. Suseri-hime was worried about him, so she took her scarf and brought it to him, saying, “If any snake should try to bite you, wave this scarf three times.” So he did as she said, and the snakes froze in place and didn’t bite him. He was able to spend the night in the room without incident.

Next, Susano-o had Okuninushi stay in a room filled with centipedes and bees. So once again, Suseri-hime came to his aid. She gave him another scarf and said, “If any of these insects should come after you, wave this scarf three times.” When he did as she said, they became still and didn’t bite or sting him, and he was able to spend the night in that room without incident.

Susano-o then took Okuninushi to a big field. He shot an arrow into the air, and then told Okuninushi to bring it back to him. As Okuninushi went into the field, Susano-o set it on fire. Flames soon surrounded him. Just as he was about to give up hope, a mouse ran up to him and said, “Once inside, it’s big and hollow, but the entrance is narrow and tight.” Okuninushi realized what the mouse meant, and he stomped on the entrance to its nest. A large hole opened up and Okuninushi fell in.

The flames safely passed, and after some time, the mouse went out and found the arrow that Susano-o had shot into the field. Okuninushi brought the arrow back to Susano-o, and they went back to Susano-o’s home together. Then they went into a large room and sat down, after which Susano-o said, “Take the lice out of my hair.” So Okuninushi started looking through Susano-o’s hair, and what he found was not lice, but a whole lot of centipedes! Once again, Suseri-hime came to help him, bringing him the berries of a muku tree and some red clay. Then she whispered in his ear, “Chew these berries and put this clay in your mouth, and then spit them out together. My father will think you are catching and chewing up all the centipedes in his hair.” So he did, and Susano-o believed that Okuninushi was indeed chewing up the centipedes and spitting them out, and he felt very fond of him for it. He became very drowsy and eventually fell asleep.

“Now! Let us run off together!” Saying this, Okuninushi tied Susano-o’s long hair to the rafters of the room, and blocked the entrance to the house with a large boulder. Then, he took Susano-o’s sword, bow and arrows, and harp, and carrying Suseri-hime on his back, he fled. As he did so, the harp struck a tree, and the ground shook and a great noise was heard. This awoke Susano-o, and as he got up, he brought his entire house down around him.

Susano-o chased them all the way to Yomotsu Hirasaka, the entrance to the Underworld, but he was unable to catch them. So he shouted, “Take my sword and my bow and arrows, and use them to drive away your brothers! Then build a palace for yourself and Suseri-hime that reaches all the way to the heavens!” In this way, Okuninushi was able to drive away his evil brothers and start forming the lands that would make up Ashihara-no-nakatsukuni. He ruled this land until he turned control of it over to Ninigi, Amaterasu’s grandson. In exchange for this, a grand shrine, Izumo Taisha, was built for him. He is still enshrined there to this day.

Okuninushi had also married Yagami-hime, and she had followed him back to the land of Izumo. When she was rejoined with Okuninushi, she found that he had also married Suseri-hime. Fearing Suseri-hime’s jealousy, she placed the baby she had given birth to in the fork of the branches of a tree and journeyed back to Inaba.

Source: http://www.japanesemythology.jp/okuninushi/