With the land ceded, Amaterasu first meant to send her son Oshihomimi; but as a grandson had just been born, she entrusted the rule of the earth to the young Ninigi instead.
She gave him three sacred treasures—the mirror Yata-no-Kagami, the jewel Yasakani-no-Magatama, and the sword Kusanagi—saying, ‘Revere this mirror as my very spirit.’ So began the Three Imperial Regalia. Several gods went with him as attendants.
Met on the way by the shining earthly god Sarutabiko, who came to guide him, Ninigi pushed through the many-layered clouds and descended to the peak of Takachiho in Hyuga. There the line of the imperial ancestors took root on earth—and the age of gods began to pass into the age of men.
