In Japanese mythology, the sibling progenitors Izanagi and Izanami gave birth to the islands and gods of Japan.
After Izanami died from burns during the childbirth of the fire deity Kagu-tsuchi, Izanagi was enraged and killed his son.
The snake takes a more obtrusive part in the Japanese than in the Chinese dragon and it frequently manifests itself as a god of the sea.
The cultural influences which reached Japan from the south by way of Indonesia — many centuries before the coming of Buddhism — naturally emphasized the serpent form of the dragon and its connection with the ocean.
[citation needed] Then, the great-grandson of Ōkuninushi, Mikanushi-hiko (甕主日子神) married Hinarashi-hime (比那良志毘売), who is the daughter of Okami, sister of Hikawa-hime.
680 CE Kojiki transcribes Kuraokami Kami with man'yōgana as 闇淤加美 "dark o-ka-mi god".
In the Kojiki version of this myth, Izanagi killed Kagutsuchi with his giant sword, and the blood subsequently created eight kami "gods; spirits".
The final two generated from blood that dripped off the hilt onto Izanagi's fingers were Kuraokami and Kuramitsuha Kami 闇御津羽神 "dark mi-tsu-ha god".
Another Kojiki section listing ancestors of Ōkuninushi 大国主 "great country master" says Okami Kami's daughter Hikaha Hime 日河比売 "sun river princess" had a daughter Fukabuchi no mizu Yarehana 深淵之水夜礼花 "deep pool water lost flower".
This mitsuha 罔象 is a variant of mōryō 魍魎 "demon; evil spirit" (written with the "ghost radical" 鬼).
The Man'yōshū poetry collection mentions an Okami 於可美 "rain dragon" living on an oka 岡 "ridge; knoll; hill".
For instance, Niukawakami Jinja 丹生川上神社 in Kawakami, Nara is a center of prayers for Kuraokami, Takaokami, and Mizuhanome 罔象女.