“Amano-Iwato” 

This image depicts the legendary dance scene of Amenouzume-no-Mikotofrom the Japanese myth “Amano-Iwato” (the Heavenly Rock Cave). She is the ancestral deity of performing arts and dance, and her performance is considered the origin of traditional Japanese performing arts.

Amenouzume takes a dynamic and bold pose, hanging upside down from a pole extending from a wooden tub, arching her back with one leg spread wide. This incorporates acrobatic elements reminiscent of modern pole dancing to express her “stomping on a tub in a divinely possessed dance” mentioned in the text. The emphasized sole of her foot and widely extended leg symbolize her boldness and the powerful force of her stomping.

She wraps herself in blue and red cloths, which serve as substitutes for hikagekazura (club moss) and masakikazura (spindle tree vines), while holding a branch of a sakaki tree with bells (instead of bamboo grass). Her highly revealing outfit, exposing her chest and lower body, stays faithful to the “bold dance that laid bare her chest,” which moved the deities to roaring laughter. The numerous gold ornaments and prayer beads emphasize her sacredness and divine possession. Her cheerful expression, looking directly at the viewer with a smile, conveys her joyful nature as she makes the gods laugh and enlivens the atmosphere.

The background shows the deep, dark depths of the Amano-Iwato cave where Amaterasu-Omikami hid. Within that darkness, the myriad deities (Yaoyorozu-no-Kami), all clad in matching white hakama-like attire, are depicted watching her performance in surprise and laughter. The rainbow-colored light and glowing particles surrounding the central figure symbolize that her dance is not a mere performance, but a sacred act that raises the energy of the gods and transforms the atmosphere of the space.

This image vividly expresses Amenouzume’s unprecedented wit and bold initiative taken to lure Amaterasu-Omikami out of the cave under circumstances where the world was plunged into darkness due to her brother Susanoo’sviolent rampages. It was this very dance of hers that triggered the return of light to the world.