16 Susanō Goes to Takamagahara

Susanō travels to Takamagahara, the Heavenly Realm where his older sister, Amaterasu, lives. He wants to ask for permission to leave for Ne-no-Katasu-kuni.
As Susanō approaches the heavens, the mountains and rivers begin to roar, and the entire land trembles.
Amaterasu is alarmed and thinks,
“My younger brother has not come here with good intentions. He must be planning to take my land.”

Amaterasu prepares for battle by dressing like a man. She ties her hair in a masculine style and adorns her head, hair, and both arms with jeweled necklaces. She carries a quiver holding one thousand arrows on her back and another holding five hundred arrows at her side. She fastens a bamboo arm guard, raises her bow, stamps both feet firmly into the hard ground, scattering the earth like snow, and lets out a fierce cry like a mighty warrior.
Then she demands,
“Why have you come to Takamagahara?”

Susanō explains everything that has happened. He tells her that he wept because he wanted to see their late mother, that he wished to go to Ne-no-Katasu-kuni, and that their father, Izanaki, had banished him from the land of the Kami.
Even after hearing his story, Amaterasu remains suspicious. She says that he must prove his heart is pure.
Susanō proposes an Ukei.
“Let us perform an Ukei together and bear children.”

Ukei was an ancient Japanese ritual used to determine whether a person’s words or intentions were true.
Before the ritual, each person made a vow before the Kami, declaring a condition such as, “If this happens as a result of the ritual, it will prove that I am innocent.” The outcome of the ritual was then accepted as the Kami’s judgment, revealing whether a person was truthful or deceitful, or whether the omen was fortunate or unfortunate.