Kojiki

Written in 712 CE by the Japanese courtier Ono Yasumaro, the Kojiki is the oldest existing record of Japanese history and the oldest text of any kind from Japan. The narrative begins with the gods and the creation of the world, progresses to a mythic genealogy of the early emperors, and concludes with the reign of Empress Suiko in 628 CE. As this summary suggests, the Kojiki should not be regarded as a source of historical truths. Instead, it is best understood as a foundational myth of Japan, asserting the island’s cultural exceptionalism. The myths contained in the Kojiki are part of the inspiration behind the creation of a unified and coherent Shinto religion. Shinto is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and revolves around the worship of ancestors and nature spirits, as well as a belief that both animate and inanimate things possess sacred power. Developed in the eighth century CE, Shinto was the state religion of Japan until 1945.