Kojiki

The Kojiki is an eighth-century Japanese chronicle of creation myths, the origins of the imperial line, and ancient events. Compiled in 712, it is Japan’s oldest surviving book.

Izanagi and Izanami: In Japanese mythology, a divine pair whose union produces the Japanese islands and many gods. Their creation story opens the Kojiki’s account of the formation of the world and Japan.
Empress Genmei: The Japanese empress who commissioned the compilation of the Kojiki in the early eighth century. Her commission initiated the project that produced the chronicle in 712.
Nihon Shoki: An officially sponsored Japanese chronicle completed in 720, presenting national history in classical Chinese. Completed eight years after the Kojiki, it recounts many of the same myths in a different format.
Yamato dynasty: The imperial house of Japan, historically rooted in the ancient Yamato polity. The Kojiki gives the ruling line a divine genealogy extending back to Amaterasu.
Amaterasu: The Shinto sun goddess, traditionally regarded as the mythical ancestor of Japan’s imperial line. Her descendants link the Kojiki’s divine age to the imperial genealogy.
Ō no Yasumaro: A Japanese courtier credited with compiling and writing down the Kojiki. The chronicle’s preface attributes its written compilation to him.
Fudoki: Provincial gazetteers compiled in eighth-century Japan, recording local geography, products, customs, and legends. These regional records offer a local counterpart to the Kojiki’s court-centered account.
State Shinto: The modern system through which the Japanese state organized and promoted Shinto institutions and imperial rites. Its imperial ideology drew on myths and genealogies preserved in the Kojiki.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto: A grandson of Amaterasu whom Japanese mythology sends from heaven to rule the earthly realm. His descent bridges the Kojiki’s heavenly myths and the ancestry assigned to the emperors.
Hieda no Are: A court figure said to have memorized inherited genealogies and narratives used in compiling the Kojiki. The preface credits Are’s recitation as the remembered source material Yasumaro recorded.

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