All Ama-no-Iwato Myth

This group gathers artworks depicting the Ama-no-Iwato myth, in which the sun goddess Amaterasu, driven into hiding inside a heavenly cave by her brother Susanoo's misconduct, plunged the world into darkness. The other kami gathered outside the cave and Ame-no-Uzume, goddess of dawn, mirth and dance, performed a bawdy, uninhibited dance that made the assembled gods laugh so loudly that Amaterasu, curious, opened the cave and let light return to the world. A bowl bearing Uzume's face and a print depicting the origin of the Iwato Kagura dance, the sacred performance still reenacting this myth today, both illustrate this pivotal episode of Japanese mythology.