The Descent to Earth

1Amaterasu decreed that her grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto should descend to the Central Land of Reed-Plains and rule over it. She gave him the three sacred treasures: the mirror, the jewels, and the sword.

2'Regard this mirror as my spirit,' she said. 'Worship it as you would worship in my very presence.' This mirror would become the most sacred object in all of Japan.

3Ninigi descended from heaven through the clouds to the peak of Mount Takachiho in Hyuga. There he established his court and began to rule the land.

4He met the beautiful Konohana-Sakuya-Hime, the princess who blooms like the flowers of the trees, and wished to marry her.

5Her father offered both his daughters — Konohana and her elder sister Iwanaga, the rock princess — saying that together they would grant both beauty and eternal life.

6But Ninigi sent back the elder sister, keeping only the beautiful one. Thus the lives of the heavenly sovereigns became as fleeting as the blossoms of the trees, rather than enduring as the rocks.

7From this union came the ancestors of the imperial line, linking the earthly rulers of Japan to the sun goddess Amaterasu through an unbroken chain of divine descent.