are the holy books of

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

. The main two books are the

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

and the

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

, collectively called the .

Content

Tennōki , alternatively known as ''Sumera Mikoto no Fumi'', is a historical text purported to have been written in 620 by Shōtoku Taishi and Soga no Umako. It is recorded in the '' Nihon Shoki'', but no extant copies are known to exist. According to t ...

record of the genealogy of the

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarch, monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or emperor, empress, and the term papal family describes the family of ...

. Burned in a fire in 645 with no other copies existing. Only record is in the

. * One of the Kiki. * One of the Kiki, first of the

Rikkokushi is a general term for Japan's Six National Histories chronicling the mythology and history of Japan from the earliest times to 887. The six histories were written at the imperial court during the 8th and 9th centuries, under order of the Emperors. ...

. * * * a book that used to be part of the Kiki, generally seen as a forgery based on the ''

'', the ''

'' and the .
Encyclopedia of Shinto
' entry by Masafumi Motosawa, 2007.

Kokugakuin University Kokugakuin University , abbreviated as ''Kokugakudai'' () or ''Kokudai'' (), is a Shinto-affiliated private research university in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. The university consists of undergraduate departments in humanities and social sciences and ...

. Accessed 2013-6-19. No longer seen as scripture These books are sometimes considered scripture *

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

* * Manyoshu * *

Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the '' Six National Histories'', coming directly after the and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as t ...

* '' Konjaku Monogatarishū'' * ''

Nihon Ryōiki The is an early Heian period setsuwa collection. Written by Kyōkai between 787 and 824, it is Japan's oldest collection of Buddhist setsuwa. It is three volumes in length. Title Commonly abbreviated as ''Nihon Ryōiki'', which means "Record ...

History

The

was written first in 711. It is the oldest surviving Japanese book. It is believed that the compilation of various genealogical and anecdotal histories of the imperial (Yamato) court and prominent clans began during the reigns of Emperors Keitai and Kinmei in the 6th century, with the first concerted effort at historical compilation of which we have record being the one made in 620 under the auspices of Prince Shotoku and

Soga no Umako was the son of Soga no Iname and a member of the powerful Soga clan of Japan. Conflicting evidence has suggested that Soga no Umako was actually an emperor during the Asuka period. Umako conducted political reforms with Prince Shōtoku during t ...

. According to the ''

'', the documents compiled under their initiative were the ''

'' (, also ''Sumera-mikoto no fumi'') or the "Record of the Emperors", the ''Kokki'' (, also ''Kunitsufumi'') or the "National Record", and other "fundamental records" (, ''hongi'' or ''mototsufumi'') pertaining to influential clans and free subjects. Out of these texts, only the ''Kokki'' survived the burning of

Soga no Emishi was a statesman of the Yamato imperial court. His alternative names include Emishi () and Toyora no Ōomi (). After the death of his father Soga no Umako, Emishi took over '' Ōomi '', the Minister of State, from his father. According to th ...

's estate (where these documents were kept) during the

Isshi incident The was a successful plot by Nakatomi no Kamatari ( Fujiwara no Kamatari), Prince Naka no Ōe and others who conspired to eliminate the main branch of the Soga clan, beginning with the assassination of Soga no Iruka. It takes its name from th ...

of 645, and was itself apparently lost soon after. The ''Kojiki'' preface indicates that leading families also kept their own historical and genealogical records; indeed, one of the reasons it gives for the compilation of the ''Kojiki'' is the correction of errors that had supposedly crept into these documents. According to the preface,

Emperor Tenmu was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended ...

(reigned 673–686) ordered the review and emendation of clan documents and commissioned a certain court attendant (''toneri'') of exceptional memory named

Hieda no Are is primarily known for being instrumental to the compilation of the Japanese text '' Kojiki'' in 712. While birth and death are unknown, Are was active during the late 7th and early 8th century. Background Very little is known about Are's backg ...

to memorize records and

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

s concerning the imperial lineage. Beyond this memorization, nothing occurred until the reign of

Empress Genmei , also known as Empress Genmyō, was the 43rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 元明天皇 (43) retrieved August 22, 2013. according to the traditional order of succession. Genmei's reign spanned the years 707 through ...

(reigned 707–715), who on the 18th of the 9th month of 711 ( Wadō 4) ordered the courtier

Ō no Yasumaro was a Japanese nobleman, bureaucrat, and chronicler. He may have been the son of Ō no Honji, a participant in the Jinshin War of 672.Philippi (1968:546) He is most famous for compiling and editing, with the assistance of Hieda no Are, the ...

to record what had been learned by Hieda no Are. He finished and presented his work to Empress Genmei on the 28th of the 1st month of 712 (Wadō 5). The ''Kojiki'' is a collation of different traditions woven into a single "official" mythology, made in an attempt to justify the rule of the imperial Yamato

polity A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any group of people org ...

and at the same time to subsume different interest groups under its wing by giving them a place and an interest in the national genealogy-mythology. Apart from furthering the imperial agenda, an increased interest in the nation's origins in reaction to the influx of foreign culture and the need for an authoritative genealogical account by which to consider the claims of noble families and to reorganize them into a new system of ranks and titles are also possible factors for its compilation.Philippi, Donald L. (2015). ''Kojiki''. Princeton University Press. pp. 6–14. The ''Kojiki'' narrative establishes the Yamato line's right to rule via myth and legend, portraying it as the progeny of heavenly deities and the rightful heir to the land of Japan. A good part of the latter portion of the text is spent recounting various genealogies which served not only to give the imperial family an air of antiquity (which may not necessarily reflect historical reality), but also served to tie, whether true or not, many existing clans' genealogies to their own. Regardless of the work's original intent, it finalized and possibly even formulated the framework by which Japanese history was examined in terms of the reign of emperors. The

and

Nihongi The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

are believed to have been derived from earlier written sources. Such sources were not clear, but a structure of the Kojiki can be deduced as such. # The first gods were

Ame-no-Minakanushi Ame-no-Minakanushi (天之御中主, lit. "Heavenly Ancestral God of the Originating Heart of the Universe") is a deity (''kami'') in Japanese mythology, portrayed in the ''Kojiki'' and the ''Nihon Shoki'' as the first or one of the first deitie ...

Takamimusubi Takamimusubi (高御産巣日, lit. "High Generative Force") is a Creator deity, creation deity in Japanese mythology, who was the second of the Kotoamatsukami, first beings to come into existence. It is speculated that Takamimusubi was origin ...

, and

Kamimusubi Kamimusubi (神産巣日, lit. "Spirit Generative Force"), also known as Kamimusuhi among other variants, is a ''kami'' and god of creation in Japanese mythology. They are a '' hitorigami,'' and the third of the first three ''kami'' to come into ...

. # Izanagi and Izanami, god siblings, came from heaven. They had children. Izanami created the

Japanese archipelago The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...

. She died birthing the fire god Kagutsuchi and was taken to

Yomi is the Japanese language, Japanese word for the underworld, land of the dead (World of Darkness). According to Shinto mythology as related in ''Kojiki'', this is where the dead go in the afterlife. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is ...

the land of the dead. Izanagi couldn't retrieve her. Cleaning himself, he created

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

Tsukuyomi , or simply or , is the moon kami in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the Old Japanese words and . The ''Nihon Shoki'' mentions this name spelled as , but this ''yumi'' is likely a variation ...

, and

Susanoo-no-Mikoto __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (, ; Historical kana orthography, historical orthography: , ), often referred to by the honorific title Susanoo-no-Mikoto (), is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical an ...

. # After fighting Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Amaterasu hid in a cave. The world became dark. Gods performed a ceremony to bring her out. Susanoo-no-Mikoto and Okuninushi got powerful treasures. They used them to build lands. # Takami-musubi and Amaterasu wanted to rule Japan's central lands. They convinced or forced Okuninushi and the other Kunitsukami to surrender the land. # They sent Ninigi, their grandson, to Japan. This was the Tenson Korin or the descent from Heaven. Ninigi came with many other Amatsukami. # Ninigi's great-grandson, Emperor Jinmu, moved from Kyushu to Yamato in the mythical war Jimmu's Eastern Expedition. He defeated the desdendants of Kunitsukami with the help of Amatsukami. # The descendants of Jimmu ruled over Japan and expanded their rule. The narrative transitioned to recorded history. The Kojiki frequently makes brief mentions of figures who are never mentioned again, It is interpreted as a compression of a much larger mythology dedicated to the overarching purpose of legitimizing Imperial rule. This contrasts with the

which differs in three core ways # Follows Chinese dynastic histories in its structure with consistent dates. # Has multiple versions of each myth with a main version first, followed by subsequent quoted versions. # Omits much of the story of Okuninushi. ## Less focus on the Kunitsukami in general. # Has a lower presence of Solar imagery, and does not mention

as an ancestress of the imperial lineage. The

came second in 720 In with the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki is the first of six histories commissioned by the imperial court, which was modeled on Chinese dynastic histories and was intended to be a national chronicle that could be shown with pride to foreign envoys, the ''Kojiki'' is inward looking, concerned mainly with the ruling family and prominent clans, and is apparently intended for internal consumption. Whereas the ''Nihon Shoki'' uses a variety of source documents (including Chinese texts), the ''Kojiki'' is apparently based on sources handed down within the court. The historical relationship between the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki are unclear. But during the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

the Kojiki was generally not quoted. Imperial edicts from 697 to 749 referenced the Emperor as a descendant of the sun but also Cthonic associations. In the

there is a myth related to the rule of Emperor Sujin, Yamato Okunitama and a possible decline of the role of

. The idea of there being a static "Canon" mythology may have originated in the early 700s as a product of an attempt to legitimize Imperial rule. In 807 the Kogo Shui a record of the

Inbe clan Inbe clan (忌部氏; also spelled Imibe clan or Inbe clan) was a Japanese clan during the Yamato period. They claimed descent from Futodama. The Inbe clan originally had a religious function by preparing and taking care of offerings. According ...

was written, showing mythology was still in flux at that time. It is believed to have been written to raise the status of the Inbe clan, a sacerdotal clan that ran Awa Shrine and Inbe Shrine. Later on the Kujiki was written as a compilation of elements from the

and Kogo Shui, likely by an author from the

Mononobe clan The was a Japanese aristocratic kin group (''uji'') of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, partly on religious grounds, claiming that the local deities wo ...

as it seems to prominently praise the clan. It may indicate a decline of Imperial influence as it challenged the established authority of the Kiki. Scholarship on the generally considers it to contain some elements, specifically that Book 5 preserves traditions of the Mononobe and Owari clans, and that Book 10 preserves the earlier historical record the . The

directly follow the Nihongi but are considered separate due to their historical nature

Early modern period

It was only in 1790 when

Kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Edo period. scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of ...

scholar

Motoori Norinaga was a Japanese people, Japanese scholar of active during the Edo period. He is conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies. Life Norinaga was born in what is now Matsusaka, Mie, Matsusaka in Ise Province ...

published

Kojiki-den The (古事記伝) is a 44-volume commentary on the written by the ''kokugaku'' scholar Motoori Norinaga. Overview The is a commentary on the , an eighth-century work of Shinto historiography and mythology, by the Edo period ''kokugaku'' sch ...

that the Kojiki became widely studied. Before then the primary source that was used was the

. Unlike the Nihon Shoki, Kuni-no-Tokotachi does not have a creator role in the Kojiki, and he was highly significant in the currently dominant Suika Shinto and

Yoshida Shinto Yoshida (written: 吉田 lit. "lucky ricefield") is the 11th most common Japanese surname. A less common variant is 芳田 (lit. "fragrant ricefield"). Notable people with the surname *Ai Yoshida, Japanese sailor *, Japanese idol, singer and mo ...

. Early

thinkers actually avoided the usage of the word Shinto as it was associated with

.. The was recognized as a forgery in the Edo period and stopped being used then. The became more prominent in the Meiji period since it was used for

State Shinto was Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...

.Philippi, Donald L. (2015). ''Kojiki''. Princeton University Press. pp. 30–32.

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

Waka (poetry) is a type of poetry in classical Japanese literature. Although ''waka'' in modern Japanese is written as , in the past it was also written as (see Wa (Japan), Wa, an old name for Japan), and a variant name is . Etymology The word ''waka'' has ...

* Chinese creation myths *

Japanese creation myth In Japanese mythology, the is the creation myth, story that describes the legendary birth of the celestial and creative world, the birth of the first gods, and the birth of the Japanese archipelago. This story is described at the beginning of th ...

* Kiki no Michi a path named after the Kiki *

References

Bibliography

* Bentley, John R. ''The Authenticity of Sendai Kuji Hongi: A New Examination of Texts, With a Translation And Commentary''. () * Brownlee, John S. (1997) ''Japanese historians and the national myths, 1600-1945: The Age of the Gods and Emperor Jimmu''. Vancouver:

University of British Columbia Press The University of British Columbia Press (UBC Press) is a university press that is part of the University of British Columbia. It is a mid-sized scholarly publisher, and the largest in Western Canada. The press is based in Vancouver, British Col ...

. () Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. () * Brownlee, John S. (1991). ''Political Thought in Japanese Historical Writing: From'' Kojiki ''(712) to Tokushi Yoron (1712)''. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. () * * Ono, Motonori ''Shinto: The Kami Way'' * Starrs, Roy (2005). "The ''Kojiki'' as Japan's National Narrative", in ''Asian Futures, Asian Traditions'', edited by Edwina Palmer. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, * Wittkamp, Robert F. (2018). "The Body as a Mode of Conceptualization in the ''Kojiki'' Cosmogony" in「東西学術研究所紀要」第51輯 (''Tōzai gakujutsu kenkyūsho kiyō'' 51, pp. 47–64, PDF online available). * Wittkamp, Robert F. (2020): "Re-Examining Japanese Mythologies: Why the ''Nihon Shoki'' has two books of myths but the ''Kojiki'' only one" in「東西学術研究所紀要」第53輯 (''Tōzai gakujutsu kenkyūsho kiyō'' 53, pp. 13–39, PDF online available). * {{cite book , last=Yamaguchi , first=Yoshinori , title=Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshū: ''Kojiki'' , author2=Takamitsu Kōnoshi , publisher=

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

, year=1997 , isbn=4-09-658001-5 , location=

Tōkyō Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which ...

External links