World at War  /  Conflicts  /  Japanese Myth
Wars of the Kami

Susanoo & Yamata-no-Orochi

660 BC Izumo Status: ended Casualties: The serpent; Kushinada-hime saved

Banished from the high heavens, Susanoo found an old couple weeping for their last daughter — seven before her had been devoured by the eight-headed dragon. He turned the maiden into a comb in his hair, brewed eight vats of strong sake, and when each head drank itself senseless cut them off in turn. From the dragon's tail he drew the sword Kusanagi, one of the three imperial regalia. Kojiki I.

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Belligerents

  • Susanoo-no-Mikoto
  • Yamata-no-Orochi — the eight-headed serpent

Casualties

The serpent; Kushinada-hime saved

From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.