Yurei, onryo, yokai, ghost, and other creepy things about them: Izanami, goddess of creation and death

Izanami is one of the most ancient deities of Japanese mythology, wife of the god Izanagi and, together, they are considered to be the creators of the world of humans and of the cycle of life and death.

Izanagi, by Kobayashi Eitaku, 1885

According to the myth, Izanami was responsible for the creation of the cycle of life and death. After being emprisoned in the Yomi - the world of death - by his former husband Izanagi, she screamed with rage that if she was left here, she shall destroy 1000 lifes every day, in which he shouted that he then shall create 1500 lifes every day. Thus was set the cycle of life and death.

The myth of Izanagi and Izanami is similar to the greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in which the desperate Orpheus tried to fetch back his beloved dead Eurydice from the underworld and failed due to breaking the only promise he did to the gods of the underworld: not to look at Eurydice until they are out of the underworld.

What is similar to this myth is that Izanami died when giving birth to Kagu-Tsuchi, the incarnation of fire whose flames burned her mother to death. Outraged by such a loss, Izanagi killed Kagu-Tsuchi who then gave birth to dozens of other deities.
Unable to live without her, Izanagi then went to the Yomi, the shadowy land of the dead, which was accessible via a tunnel, the Yomotsuhirasaka, in order to fetch back Izanami to the living world.
However, when he finally found her, he could not see her as the omnipresent shadows were hidding her. She informed his husband that he came too late because she had already eaten the food of the underworld, becoming one with it.
Shocked by the news, Izanagi refused nonetheless to leave her and, desperate to see the once beautiful face of his lover, set his comb on fire to see her when she was asleep, only to discover with horror that Izanami became a hideous corpse with maggots and other foul creatures running over her rotten flesh.
Submerged by fear and disgust, Izanagi fled the Yomi, leaving Izanami behind. Awaken by his husband's scream, Izamani shrieked with indignation and chased him, sending demons to hunt him and bring him back to Yomi.
Now out of the Yomi, Izanagi shut the entrance with a large boulder, trapping the enraged Izanami behind it.

Izanami then became as we know today the goddess of creation and death.