Izanagi ('He who Invites') is the male progenitor in the Kojiki's creation. He and Izanami stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven (Ame-no-ukihashi) and, using the jeweled spear Ame-no-nuhokohe, stir the brine below; the salt that drips forms the first island, Onogoro [S1]. There they wed and, over a series of 'birthings,' produce the great islands of Japan and then the deities (kami) who attend them [S1]. After Izanami's death in giving birth to the fire god, Izanagi follows her to the Land of Yomi, discovers her decayed body, and flees; the ensuing separation of the clean (heavenly) and polluted (underworld) realms, and Izanagi's subsequent purification (misogi), generate many further kami [S1]. He is thus a creator, a threshold-crosser between the living and dead realms, and a figure of ritual purification [S1][S2].