Yamata-no-Orochi

八岐大蛇 · Eight-Headed Serpent of Japanese Myth

Yamata-no-Orochi (八岐大蛇) is the most famous monster dragon of Japanese mythology, a massive serpent with eight heads and eight tails. The Chinese characters mean 'eight-branched great snake,' recorded in the 8th-century Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Once a year it appeared in Izumo (modern Shimane Prefecture) demanding a virgin sacrifice; refusal meant village destruction. The elderly couple Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi, who had lost seven of their eight daughters, sought help from the exiled god Susanoo to save their last daughter Kushinada-hime. Susanoo placed eight great vats of sake before eight gates, lured each of the Orochi's eight heads into a different vat to drink and fall asleep, then severed all heads and tails with the divine sword Totsuka-no-Tsurugi. From its tail emerged Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, one of the Three Sacred Treasures of the Japanese imperial regalia.