Japan's original fiction, according to legend, involved the sun goddess, Amaterasu, retreating into a cave and plunging the world into darkness.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia

But the drafters of the first Imperial House Law decided not to allow women to ascend the throne in order to preserve the single line that, according to legend, is descended from the sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami.

CNN: IN HER OWN RIGHT

In Thai legend, Rahu reappears as the younger brother of two men who are reincarnated as the sun and moon.

CNN: HE GODS WERE DRINKING