On returning from Yomi, Izanagi's first care was to bathe in the sea in order to purify himself from the pollutions which he had contracted by his visit to the Land of Yomi. A number of deities were generated by this process, among whom were the Gods of Good and Ill Luck, and certain ocean deities held to be the ancestors of some families of local chieftains and worshipped by them. The Sun-Goddess was born from the washing of his left eye, and the Moon-God from that of his right, while a third deity, named Susa no wo, was generated from the washing of his nose. To the Sun-Goddess Izanagi gave charge of the "Plain of High Heaven," and to the Moon-God was allotted the realm of night. Susa no wo was at first appointed to rule the sea, but he cried and wept till his beard grew down to the pit of his stomach. He wept the green mountains bare and the seas and rivers dry. Izanagi inquired of him, "Why dost thou continually weep?" He answered, "I wish to follow my mother to the Nether Land." Izanagi said, "Go, as thy heart bids thee," and drove him away. Another account of the birth of these three deities says that they were born to Izanagi and Izanami on earth before the descent to Yomi. The Sun-Goddess was sent up to Heaven by the "Pillar of Heaven," which then served as a means of communication. Heaven and earth were still "not far separated." _Ame no mi-hashira_ (Heaven-august-pillar) is one of the names of the Wind-God. An island is described as "Heaven's single pillar." Other myths speak of the _Ama no iha-bune_, or Rock-boat of Heaven, as used for communication by the deities. There is also mention of an _Ama no hashidate_ (Heaven-bridge-erection) which is distinguished by Hirata from the "Pillar of Heaven." He thinks the former was a sort of pier used by the Rock-boat of Heaven. A spit of land two miles long and 190 feet broad near Miyadzu in Tango is now called by this name.[69] _Ame_, or the firmament, where the Gods live, is to be distinguished from _Oho-sora_, the Great Void, which is the space between heaven and earth. Izanagi's ablutions (_harahi_)[70] represent a wide-spread rite. They remind us of Juno's lustration by Iris after a visit to Hades, and of Dante's immersion in Lethe when he had completed his ascent through Purgatory and was preparing for admission to the circles of Paradise. Alcestis, after her rescue by Herakles from Thanatos, had to be purified, and was not allowed to speak for three days. We have in the Japanese myth the counterpart of a custom described by Chinese travellers to Japan centuries before the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ were written. It was then, we are informed, the practice, when the funeral was over, for the whole family of the deceased to go into the water and wash. Lustration is a wide-world practice,[71] and the myth was clearly suggested by it, not _vice versâ_.