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Download as PDF; Printable version; ... Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, ... Romance stories from old Japan, pre-1919—Free to read and ...
Table illustrating the kami that appeared during the creation of Heaven and Earth according to Japanese mythology.. In Japanese mythology, the Japanese Creation Myth (天地開闢, Tenchi-kaibyaku, Literally "Creation of Heaven & Earth") is the 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.
The Kojiki (古事記, "Records of Ancient Matters" or "An Account of Ancient Matters"), also sometimes read as Furukotofumi [1] or Furukotobumi, [2] [a] is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 [3] concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the kami (神), and the Japanese imperial line.
The documents record early Japanese government and Buddhism including early Japanese contact with China, the organization of the state and life at the Japanese imperial court. They are housed in 14 Japanese cities in temples (35), museums (13), libraries or archives (6), shrines (4), universities (2) and in private collections (2).
Other early Japanese works from the Nara period include biographies of Prince Shōtoku, cultural and geographical records and the Man'yōshū, the first anthology of Japanese poetry. Necessarily all of these works were either written in Chinese or in a hybrid Japanese-Chinese style and were modeled on Chinese prototypes.
The Kojiki was written first in 711. It is the oldest surviving Japanese book. [10] [11] 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 ...
A representative sampling of Japanese folklore would definitely include the quintessential Momotarō (Peach Boy), and perhaps other folktales listed among the so-called "five great fairy tales" (五大昔話, Go-dai Mukashi banashi): [3] the battle between The Crab and the Monkey, Shita-kiri Suzume (Tongue-cut sparrow), Hanasaka Jiisan (Flower-blooming old man), and Kachi-kachi Yama.
In the 8th century, the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki were written; these are the earliest known writings in the Japanese language and provide an important source of information about ancient Japanese religion. The kojiki describes, among other things, Japanese mythology and divine origin stories for the Japanese imperial line.