Izanami Childbirth

The first account of marriage and childbirth in early Japanese literature can be found in the Records of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), which was compiled in 712, wherein the two deities Izanami and Izanagi play the most important role in creating the Japanese islands. Izanami and Izanagi, in an attempt to produce the land of Japan, dip a jeweled spear in the ocean brine and stir it. They pull out the spear, and the brine which drips from the tip of the spear solidifies and produces an island to which they descend and dwell on. Discovering their complementary sexuality, Izanami and Izanagi decide to procreate. However, on their first and second try, they give birth to a leech child and the island of APA, both of which are not reckoned as their children due to the fact that Izanami

The term ubuya, or parturition huts, was mentioned in the story about the daughter of the Sea God, Toyotamahime. In one variant of Nihongi, Toyotabahime meets Hohodemi in her father’s undersea palace when he visits the place, falls in love, and thereafter becomes his wife. When she becomes pregnant, she informs her husband of her pregnancy and requests that he build her a parturition hut by announcing “I have already conceived. I should not deliver the Heavenly Grandson’s child in the sea. Therefore when I give birth, I will go to your land. If you build an ubuya for me on the beach and wait for me, that would be just what I wish” (birth giving p. 9). The depiction of the ubuya in this version of the story does not imply that it was built due to birth-related pollution, but rather suggests that the ubuya was demanded by the princess herself and its purpose and the resulting isolation were to protect Toyotamahime from outside impurity. Thus, the ubuya was a sacred place which was specifically built for birthing process and childbirth was a sacred action that created