Izanagi

According to the Kojiki, Izanagi and Izanagi stood on the floating bridge of heaven and stirred the primordial ocean with a jeweled spear called Ame-no-nuboko. When they lifted the spear, salt dripped from it and formed Onogoro, the first island. They then descended to this island, married, and gave birth to the Japanese archipelago.

After fleeing the underworld (Yomi), Izanagi performed a purification ritual that produced the three most important kami in Shinto: Amaterasu (sun goddess) from his left eye, Tsukuyomi (moon god) from his right eye, and Susanoo (storm god) from his nose. These three became the divine ancestors of the imperial family and central figures of Japanese mythology.

Izanagi traveled to Yomi to retrieve Izanami after she died giving birth to the fire god Kagutsuchi, but found she had already eaten food from the underworld and could not leave. He broke his promise not to look at her and saw her rotting corpse covered in maggots and thunder deities. Horrified, he fled and sealed the entrance to Yomi with a massive boulder, causing Izanami to vow to kill 1,000 humans daily while Izanagi promised 1,500 would be born each day.

Through his daughter Amaterasu, the sun goddess, Izanagi is considered the divine ancestor of Japan's imperial line. According to tradition, Amaterasu's grandson Ninigi descended to earth, and his great-grandson Jimmu became the first Emperor of Japan around 660 BCE. The imperial family claimed direct descent from Izanagi through this lineage until Emperor Hirohito renounced divine status in 1946.