Japanese Mythology

The two foundational texts, the Kojiki (712) and the Nihon Shoki (720), were compiled at court and had a job to do: trace the imperial line to Amaterasu, the sun. They are the earliest Japanese books of any kind, and they are also political documents, which is worth holding in mind on every page.

The narrative begins with Izanagi and Izanami, who make the islands and then each other’s ruin — she dies bearing fire, he follows her into Yomi, looks at what he was told not to look at, and flees. Washing afterwards, he produces Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo. Susanoo’s violence drives his sister into a cave and the world into darkness, and getting her out again takes a mirror, a jewel, and a dance obscene enough to make the gods laugh.

Kami does not map onto “god”. A kami may be a deity, an ancestor, a waterfall, a remarkable tree, or the emperor. The tradition names eight million of them and does not mean the number literally.