Izanami (イザナミ), formally referred to with the honorific Izanami-no-Mikoto (伊弉冉尊/伊邪那美命, meaning "She-who-invites" or the "Female-who-invites"), is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess.

[7][8] Shiratori Kurakichi proposed an alternative theory which instead sees the root iza- (or rather isa-) to be derived from isao (historical orthography: isawo) meaning 'achievement' or 'merit'.

[9] The first gods Amenominakanushi and Kunitokotachi summoned two divine beings into existence, the male Izanagi and the female Izanami, and charged them with creating the first land.

[10] Eventually they wished to be mated, so they built a pillar called Ame-no-mihashira (天の御柱,"pillar of heaven"; the mi- is an honorific prefix) and around it they built a palace called Yahiro-dono (八尋殿, one hiro is approximately 1.82 m, so the "eight-hiro-palace" would have been 14.56 m. In reality, "ya, was a sacred number to the Japanese, and may often be translated as ‘myriad’"[11]).

They had two children, Hiruko ("leech-child"), who later came to be known in Shinto as the god Ebisu,[12] and Awashima, but they were born deformed and were not considered deities.

The Kojiki talks of the death of Izanami and her tomb, which was located at the boundary between country Izumo and Hōki.

Crying out loud, Izanagi-no-Mikoto could no longer control his fear and started to run, intending to return to the living and abandon his death-ridden wife.

She also sent Yakusa-no-ikazuchi-no-kami (demons who are like Raijin) and shikome (foul women) to hunt for Izanagi-no-Mikoto and bring him back to Yomi.

[14] Izanami-no-Mikoto screamed from behind this impenetrable barricade and told Izanagi-no-Mikoto that if he left her she would destroy 1,000 residents of the living every day.

This is the traditional explanation for the purification rituals often performed at Shinto shrines in Japanese religion, where shrine-goers wash themselves with water before entering the sacred space.

Izanami is a recurring important character in the Megami Tensei video game series; such as being the true primary antagonist in Persona 4.