Two Levels of Creation in Japanese Mythology
from Create" and "Born."
"World" and "Japan" in Japanese mythology.
"Japanese Islands" is a myth of "making".
The Kojiki and Nihonshoki describe Izanagi-Izanami being commanded by the gods to "solidify the land" and stirring the sea with the Amanuma-nuboko, "creating" islands solidified from the drops.
This is a creation myth of the so-called "making" type, in which the gods "create islands (countries) with their own intentions.
The entire "world" also has elements similar to "born."
On the other hand, at the stage of the creation of heaven and earth, "high heaven" and "heaven and earth" were separated from the chaotic, and the first gods (separate heavenly deities = the three Zoka deities, etc.) naturally appeared.
Before the gods commanded the formation of the Japanese archipelago, the world itself (heaven and earth) was "naturally divided and born," a process that is described.
In other words, the "fundamental part of the world" is "born" naturally, and then the "land of Japan" is intentionally "created" in a two-step structure.
--
Summary
[In Japanese mythology, there is a stage in which heaven and earth are first "naturally" divided and the gods are born ("born"), and then Izanagi and Izanami "create" the Japanese archipelago, so "born" and "created" coexist. Therefore, it can be said that "birth" and "creation" coexist in the same structure.
Thus, even the single word "create/be born" is a complex combination of both elements in some mythologies, which gives rise to the rich diversity of the mythological world.
---
This page is auto-translated from /nishio/日本神話における二段階の創造 using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I'm very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.