Editing Elixir of life (section)

===Japan===
In the 8th century AD ''[[Man'yōshū]]'', {{nihongo|'waters of rejuvenation'|[[:ja:変若水|変若水]]|ochimizu}} are said to be in the possession of the moon god [[Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto|Tsukuyomi]]. Similarities have been noted with a folktale from the [[Ryukyu Islands]], in which the moon god decides to give man the water of life (''{{langx|mvi|sïlimizï}}''), and serpents the water of death (''sïnimizï''). However, the person entrusted with carrying the pails down to Earth gets tired and takes a break, and a serpent bathes in the water of life, rendering it unusable. This is said to be why serpents can rejuvenate themselves each year by shedding their skin while men are doomed to die.<ref name="Naumann2000">{{cite book|author=Nelly Naumann|title=Japanese Prehistory: The Material and Spiritual Culture of the Jōmon Period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yrla4QyhFasC&pg=PA133|year=2000|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-04329-8|page=133}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nevsky |first1=Nikolai |author-link1=Nikolai Nevsky |editor1-last=Masao |editor1-first=Oka |editor1-link=Masao Oka |title=月と不死 [Tsuki to fushi] |date=April 1971 |publisher=平凡社 |isbn=9784582801859 |url=https://docs.miko.org/index.php/%E6%9C%88%E3%81%A8%E4%B8%8D%E6%AD%BB |access-date=17 December 2018 |language=ja}}</ref>