In Japanese mythology, Yomi is the underworld associated with the goddess Izanami after her death.
The Kojiki describes Izanami traveling to Yomi after dying while giving birth to the fire deity Kagutsuchi. Her husband Izanagi follows in an attempt to bring her back, but he sees her transformed state and flees. Izanami then declares that she will kill people each day, while Izanagi responds that he will create more people, presenting a mythic explanation for mortality.
Yomi is often compared with the realm of the dead, but it does not map perfectly onto the Buddhist hells that became influential in Japan later. Its imagery emphasizes darkness, pollution, separation, and the danger of contact with death.
Yomi is distinct from Takama-ga-hara, the Plain of High Heaven, and Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, the central earthly land in mythology.