Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto Invented Taiko and Saved the World
The storm god Susanoo-no-Mikoto left his home on the ocean and started shenanigans on the land. Allegedly, he destroyed his older sister’s rice field, threw a sacred horse at her looms, and relieved himself where he shouldn’t.
Not wanting to find out what her brother would do next, the sun goddess Ameterasu Ohmikami sealed herself into a sacred cave with a boulder and vowed never to come out again.
The whole world went black. Oni, Japanese devils, came out of their hiding places and roamed the endless dark. Knowing the world was doomed without the light of the sun. All the gods and goddesses of heaven and earth came to reason, beg, and then threaten Ameterasu.
They tried to force the rock from the cave, but she would not come out. A short, elderly goddess named Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto announced she would coax the sun goddess from the cave. The others were dubious. She simply smiled, laugh lines and crow’s feet creasing her aged face. She promptly dumped out a sake barrel and jumped on top of it. She danced wildly, and the sound of her frenetic feet on the barrel made a sound never heard before, the first taiko drum. Soon all the other gods were dancing and singing. Music filled the earth and the celebration was so joyous that Ameterasu peeked out from her cave. Seeing all the gods and goddesses there, she finally came out of the cave to join the revelry.
Incidentally, Susanoo-no-Mikoto was banished back to his ocean home.