Japanese history teaches that in the beginning all things were chaos. There was no Creator, and no First Cause of the universe. There was merely a cosmic mass. By and by the ethereal matter sublimed and formed the heavens; what remained formed the earth. From the warm mold of the earth sprang up a germ which became a self-animate being--the first of the gods. Then four other gods were generated, all sexless and self-begotten. These gods separated the {35} primordial substance into the five elements of wood, fire, metal, earth, and water, and gave to each its properties. The last of these spontaneous divine generations were a brother and a sister, named Izanagi and Izanami. Uniting in marriage, they became the parents of the various islands of Japan and of gods and goddesses innumerable. Izanami died when giving birth to the god of fire. Her divine consort afterward visits her in the lower regions to induce her to return to him. She would fain do so, but must first consult the gods of the place. Going to ask counsel of them, she does not return, and Izanagi, impatient at her tarrying, goes in search of her. He finds her a mass of putrefaction, in the midst of which the eight thunder-gods are sitting. Disappointed in his hope, he returns to Japan and purifies himself by bathing in a stream. As he bathes new gods are born from his clothing and from each part of his body. The sun-goddess was born from his left eye, the moon-god from his right eye, and Susanoo, the last of all, was born from his nose. What a prolific breeder of gods was he! The mythology goes on relating, tale after tale, the absurd actions of these gods residing together for several generations in Japan, the center of the universe, frequently visiting both heaven and hell, and performing all kinds of miraculous feats. {36} In native history this period is called the "period of the gods." About six generations after Izanagi and Izanami, in the direct line of descent from them, the first human emperor of Japan was born. His name was Kamu-Yamato-Ihare-Biko, posthumously called Jimmu Tenno. Those Japanese to whose minds the problem of the origin of the outside nations ever occurred solved it in this fashion: the barbarian nations must likewise have descended from the mikado, the son of heaven, in very remote times, but have wandered off and are now far from the divine source. The Japanese, being still under the protection of their divine father, are very much nearer in the line of descent, and hence are the first race in the world. Thus they trace their descent direct to the gods, and their emperor is to this day considered the divine father of his people. It is a pity we cannot join with them in accepting this easy solution of the difficult problem of their origin. _Mythological History_