What the Kojiki Actually Says

What This Book Covers

1. Prologue
2. Chapter One - In the Beginning, Mist
3. Chapter Two - Izanagi and Izanami
4. Chapter Three - Yomi, the Land of the Dead
5. Chapter Four - Amaterasu, the Sun
6. Chapter Five - Susanoo, the Storm
7. Chapter Six - The Cave and the Mirror
8. Chapter Seven - Ninigi’s Mission
9. Chapter Eight - The Birth of Emperor Jimmu
10. Chapter Nine - The Sacred Bloodline
11. Chapter Ten - Mortal Kings and Shifting Power
12. Chapter Eleven - Women of the Kojiki
13. Chapter Twelve - Shrines and Rituals
14. Chapter Thirteen - The Emperor as God
15. Chapter Fourteen - Echoes of the Ancients

Excerpt

PROLOGUE BEFORE JAPAN HAD novels, samurai, or even the word “Shinto” was in use, there was the Kojiki. It means Record of Ancient Matters. Written in 712 CE. Commissioned by the imperial court. And it wasn’t just to preserve old tales; it was to forge a divine ancestry. Picture the scene: a young Japan, still consolidating its political power, still organizing its lands, still locking in its lineages. The emperor, Tenmu, wants a clear origin, one that says: We were born of the gods. Our authority is sacred. Our reign is righteous. But it’s not him who finishes it. His wife, Empress Genmei, finalizes the request. Enter Ō no Yasumaro, the court scribe, and Hieda no Are, the oral memorizer...