"In The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon, he is Prince Susanō, the youngest son of King Izanagi and Queen Izanami, about eight to ten years old. He plays with animal companions, principally Akahana (“Red Nose”), the talking black rabbit. One day, his mother disappears. When he asks where she is, his father tells him that she “has gone to another place”. The audience understands that this is a euphemism meaning that she has died, but Susanō takes it literally and throws a temper tantrum, swearing to find her and bring her home. Susanō builds a boat and sails with Akahana to the Crystal Palace, the court of his older brother, Tsukuyomi, in the Land of Night (the moon and the Shintō moon god). When he does not find her there, he throws another tantrum and destroys part of the moon court. Despite this, Tsukuyomi gives him a magic ice crystal and sends him on to their younger brother, the fire god. Susanō fights him, too, defeating him with the magic ice crystal and Akahana’s help. While in the Land of Fire, Susanō gets another companion, the Titan Bō, a friendly fire giant. Next, the three continue on to the Land of Light, the kingdom of Susanō’s older sister Amaterasu (the Shintō sun goddess). Susanō again “accidentally” destroys part of her court. Amaterasu, frightened, hides in a cave, plunging the world into darkness. The inhabitants of the Land of Light throw a big party outside the cave to lure her out. (In Shintō mythology, they throw a pornographic orgy.) Finally, the three go to Japan’s Izumo Province, where Susanō meets Princess Kushinada, a little girl his own age. She tells him how Izumo is being terrorized by Yamata no Orochi, the eight-headed dragon who has already eaten her seven sisters. Susanō pledges to kill the dragon, with the help of Akahana and Bō, and a flying horse sent by Amaterasu. At the end, Susanō’s mother’s spirit returns briefly to tell him that she cannot return with him, but he no longer cares so much because he has fallen in love with Kushinada and resolved to stay in her country.
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