This is the Kuniumi Story (Japan’s Creation Myth) which adorns the opening of the Kojiki (the oldest historical record of Japan). There, the Kojiki tells, the two Kamis Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto churned the newly created chaotic mass below with the holy spear, briny drops dripped from the tip then solidified to form Onokorojima Island.

From Onokorojima Island Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto procreated the Japanese islands, one by one, as husband and wife. The first of those islands to be created was Awaji.

The portrayal of the two Kamis churning the physical world with the holy spear and the salty drops falling to create Onokorojima Island corresponds with salt making, an occupation of the Ama. And the image depicted in the Kojiki of the physical world being churned by the holy spear into a whirl brings to mind the great whirling tides of the Naruto Strait, where the Ama have flourished.

As well as the world’s largest whirling tides in the Naruto Strait, even today dotted on and around Awaji are numerous places from the Onokorojima Island legend, including, Eshima Island, Nushima Island, and Onokorojima Jinja Shinto Shrine.

Awaji Puppet Theatre Company is the age-old local keeper of the treasured Awaji Ningyo Joruri (Awaji Puppet Narrative), which derives from the Ebisu-mai (Dance of the Fishing and Shipping Kami), also linked to the Kuniumi Story (Japan’s Creation Myth) .

This is the majestic story of the creation of heaven and earth inherited along an unbroken timeline of 1,300 years since the compilation of the Kojiki. Starting with the Kuniumi Story, Awaji Island continues to mark the passing of time on into perpetuity.

Awaji Island lies at the eastern end of the Seto Inland Sea, which links the continent and the Korean Peninsula with territories around Kyoto and Nara, the ancient Imperial Capital.

Traces of the Umi-no-tami, who played an important role early in the formation of the ancient state still remain to this day on this island, which is the largest island in the Seto Inland Sea and stretches out in front of the territories around Kyoto and Nara. The beginnings trace back to the Yayoi period, BC. It was a period of major social change leading to the formation of the ancient state along with the flourishing of rice cultivation, and historic remains of those times are found in abundance on Awaji Island.

Representative of the period is ancient bronze-ware including 14 bronze swords and 21 dotaku (bronze bells). Most were discovered along the coast, including the 7 dotaku at Matsuho, each with its clapper; 14 bronze swords excavated together at Kotsuro; as well as the Nikkoji Temple dotaku and the Keino dotaku, which were all discovered in Keino village.

The new form of enshrinement, which designated the coast overlooking the Harima-nada Sea as a sacred site for burial, evokes the involvement of the Umi-no-tami, who flourished on the island and its seas.

Settlements appeared in the mountains of Awaji Island around 0 AD, appearing to take the place of the settlements on the plains that flourished in the Bronze Age. Settlements like these were pioneers of Iron Age culture, ahead of the territories around Kyoto and brought major transformation to Yayoi period society.

Excavations at the Gossakaito archeological site on Awaji, where ironware production commenced in the 1st century, uncovered a workshop that had been in operation for more than 100 years, as well as iron axes brought from the Korean Peninsula. Along with metal-wares, the Umi-no-tami brought advanced technology and culture. The remains of a workshop for the purification of shu (red pigment) using the mineral cinnabar as the raw material, were discovered at the Futatsuishi Ebisu-no-mae archeological site.

These periods of flourishing activity were all periods that came immediately before the emergence of Himiko, the queen of Yamataikoku, the Japanese state in the early Yayoi period. The iron and the red pigment produced by the Umi-no-tami in their mountain settlements were important materials later sought by emperors, and are thought to be the keys to solving the riddles of the Great Civil War of ancient Japan.

Surrounded in all four directions by sea, Awaji Island had for a very long time exerted its status as a producer of seafoods, making use of the sea’s bounty, including salt, fish, and seaweed. The Island’s reputation was such that it reached the ancient capital, and mentions of “Awaji salt” and “Awaji the ‘Miketsukuni’” can be found in numerous anthologies and other writings, including the Manyoshu (Collection of ancient Japanese poetry).

Yamabe-no-Akahito, for example, wrote of salt making by the Ama handed down to the Nara period in a poem in the Manyoshu thus: “At Matsuho-no-ura/ on Awaji Island/ the Ama/ gather seaweed/ in the morning lull/ and in the evening lull/ burn it for salt...” And the Engishiki, a record of court protocol compiled in the Heian period, notes that “Awaji salt” had been designated as the Zinkonjiki salt for use in a Tsukinami no Matsuri ritual of the Imperial Court, a monthly Shinto ceremony in which the Emperor dined with the gods. The text clearly shows that Awaji salt, made by hand by the Ama, was a particularly special kind of salt.

Salting making implements from various periods have been excavated at the Funaki, Hatada, Kifune Jinja, Hikino, Kyujonai, and Nushima Island archeological sites. They allow us to retrace the history of salt making, an occupation pursued by the Ama. A spring in Awaji, Oi-no-Shimizu (literally “pure waters of the imperial well”), provided water that was brought to the Imperial Capital for use in the Imperial kitchen. Oi-no-Shimizu provides pure and clean water to this day.

Various kinds of seafood caught by the Ama, as well as salt and water, were brought to the Imperial Capital. Excellent seafoods and salt made with superb skill were presented to the Imperial Court from Awaji, the Miketsukuni, fulfilling its responsibilities to supply food to the Imperial family. The Ama supported the sovereign and richly adorned Imperial life in the capital. The deep history of Miketsukuni lives on today, welcoming guests with a richly varied food culture.