The jewel was created by the god Tama-no-oya-no-Mikoto and hung on a sakaki tree (a species of evergreen sacred to Shinto) along with the Yata no Kagami (mirror) when Amaterasu hid in the Ama no Iwato (cave of the sun god).
岩戸隠れの際に玉祖命が作り、八咫鏡とともにサカキの木に掛けられた。