Dragons & Serpents ยท Japan
Yamata no Orochi
The eight-headed, eight-tailed Japanese serpent defeated by Susanoo in the Izumo myth cycle.
Legend File
Yamata no Orochi is a landscape made monstrous: eight heads, eight tails, and a terror large enough to consume daughters year after year. Susanoo defeats it through cunning, sake, and timing, then finds the sword that becomes Kusanagi inside its body. The myth ties monster-slaying to sacrifice, river fear, Izumo memory, and royal regalia.
Source Framing
Japanese mythology around Yamata-no-Orochi as eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent or dragon-serpent in Kojiki and Nihon Shoki traditions, slain by Susanoo in Izumo, with the Kusanagi sword discovered in its body.
