Her cheeks were dusty and streaked with tears. How long had she been in the cave? A day? A week? She’d lost track of time. Her grief over the death of Inari was weighing on her heavier than the darkness that hung all around her, enveloping her like a dark cloak.
Never, since her birth from Izanagi’s tears, had she ever left her place in the sky. Like the mother she never met, Izanami, she loved the people of earth. She rejoiced when their crops flourished, she wept when her brother Susanoo sent storms over their land. And beside her through all of that had been Inari - her hand-maiden, her best friend. How could she give light to others when the light of her own life had been extinguished?
Suddenly she heard a low rumbling and the sound of music from outside the cave. She turned around quickly - what could it be? The sounds grew louder. Laughter, music, shouts. Timidly she crept towards the rock blocking the entrance of the cave and pressed her ear against it. She wondered what everybody could be celebrating - hadn’t the sun gone out?
Amaterasu retired to the back of the cave again and tried to sleep, but the sounds were too distracting. Finally her curiosity got the better of her and she crept back to the door and rolled the rock slightly, immediately light came pouring in. Where could the light be coming from? She rolled the rock back farther and what she saw shocked her.
Hundreds of kami and humans alike were gathered in the field outside the cave. They were dancing, feasting, and celebrating. From the middle of the field, light was shining brightly off of some being - who was this kami? Had they found someone to take her place already?!
Amaterasu strode out of the cave. The feasting and noise stopped. Confused, Amaterasu turned to go back in the cave, but the entrance to the cave had been sealed - the Kami of Stone standing sheepishly beside it.
Amaterasu faced the crowd again and looked closer at the being in the middle of the field. It was no being at all, but only a large mirror. She realized all at once what had happened. At first she was angry at being tricked. But when she saw the faces of the humans, how relieved they looked to have the Sun back, she realized that she had been wrong to abandon them.
“I’m back!” Amaterasu cried. The crowd erupted in cheers and the feasting continued. Amaterasu would never cease to shine brightly over Japan for years to come.
Author’s Note: I decided to tell the final portion of this legend from the perspective of Amaterasu. Essentially, the kami and humans teamed up to trick Amaterasu into coming out of the cave. They gathered outside and celebrated, making her think that there was something exciting happening. Then they hung up a large mirror so that Amaterasu would see her own reflection and mistake it for a rival. They hoped that this would convince Amaterasu to come out of the cave. Then they sealed the cave behind her. I wanted the “trick” to come as a surprise to the reader as well, so I flipped the perspective. I wanted to focus on what would motivate Amaterasu to hide from people for so long and what would motivate her to come out. Even though she was motivated by curiosity and jealousy, I wanted to focus on her grief in the beginning so that it was more understandable. She wasn’t hiding away because she didn’t care about people, but because she was overwhelmed with the death of her friend. I also gave Amaterasu a moment to realize what had happened and to feel sorry for leaving the earth without the sun. This is the final story about Amaterasu - I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them!
Story Source: Wright, Gregory. “Amaterasu.” Mythopedia.