Descent Legends: Japan
The Murder of Uke-mochi
Background Info
Uke-mochi may originally have been a creation Goddess. As the Shinto faith evolved, She became responsible for foodstuffs alone, particularly rice and fish, the main elements of the Japanese diet. This myth may be as much phenomenological as political; that is, it explains the destruction by storm of fishing boats and rice paddies, as well as the overthrow of matriarchal Japan.
Susanowo was a God of terrible temper. He ruled the violent storms of the sea which wrecked fishing boats and threw great waves across the land and raised winds which tore trees from the ground. He was a God much feared and loathed.
Once, Susanowo was wandering the land. He was in a terrible mood. His brow was furrowed, like dark clouds rolling through the sky, and His jaw was tight. As He wandered, the ground shook.
Then He came upon Uke-mochi-no-kami. Uke-mochi was a Goddess much loved by the other Kami. It was She Who provided Them with food: white and dark rice, many-colored fish, deep green seaweed, and wild game such as deer and bear and hare. But none knew how She created these things. Susanowo, terrible of temper, discovered how.
As He watched in disgust, Uke-mochi turned to face the land of fields and forests. She coughed and convulsed and from Her mouth erupted a stream of rice, white and dark. Then She turned to the mountains, thickly forested and rocky. She coughed and convulsed and from Her mouth erupted a stream of wild game: deer and bird and bear and hare. Then She turned to the sea, gray and roiling. She coughed and convulsed and from Her mouth erupted a stream of many-colored and many-sized fish and deep-green seaweed.
Susanowo roared with anger and the sky shook with thunder. He howled and lightning cracked. His breath came hard and deep, and the winds rose, ripping the waves of the sea.
This is the source of Your rice and Your fish? He screamed, frightening Uke-mochi. This is why the Kami give You praise? This is why They hold You in honor!
Susanowo's waves roared across the beaches and across the land, drowning fields and forests. His winds tore trees from the earth and the sides of mountains. Then He descended upon Uke-mochi and cut Her head from Her body.
But the magic which was in Uke-mochi did not die. The magic of life which She contained within Her flourished. As Her body decayed, millet and rice grew from Her corpse. These, the people of Japan eat to this day.