KOJIKI r a

Introduction

An investigation of a nation's origins, whether they are comparativelyrecent or shrouded in ancient myths and traditions, is an interestingguide to the modem nation. Very often the beginnings of a nation'shistory involve tensions, contradictions, and difficulties which continuto operate, overtly or latently, for many centuries. Even if the externalforros of life undergo change-even revolutionary change-many ofthe carly concepts, attitudes, and beliefs maintain a surprising vitality,influencing the nation throughout its entire history. This has certainlybeen true of Japan.

All students interested in the origins of Japan must of necessity turnto the Kojiki. Completad in -712 A.D. under the auspices of the imperialcourt, it is the oldest extant book in Japanese and, as its title (literally,"Record of Ancient Things") suggests, an account of a still earlier era.It is the court's statement about the origins othe imperial clan and theleading fanlies and the beginnings ofJapan as a nation; and it is, at thesanee time, a compilation of myths, historical and pseudo-historical nar-ratives and legends, songs, anecdotes, folk etymologies, and genealogies.

While using the Kojiki as the earliest source book in Japanese litera-ture and history, the contemporary reader may also consult the wealthof supplementary information which has recently become available.The postwar years in Japan have witnessed a great revival of interest inthe early centuries of Japanese history. Released from the prewar ven-eration of the Kojiki and the national myths as sacred text, historians,archeologists, philologists, and students of mythology and literaturehave been able to look at their subjects anew, evaluate critically thematerial at hand, and make early Japan more accessible to the studentand layman.

In this book 1 have attempted to relate the translated text to theachievements of modern scholarship. As 1 did not think it sufficientmerely to transliterate the narres of persons, families, deities, or places,1 have tried to identify all of them, to go into their etymologies when-

3

Kojikiever possible, and to put them lato perspective against the backgroundof the history and social structure of early Japan. The glossary, foot-notes, additional notes, and cross-referentes Nave been provided inorder to help the reader gain a sophisticated, accurate, and (it ishoped) up-to-date understanding of the Kojiki-and, incidentally, tohelp him avoid the pitfalls to which facile acceptance or rejection of thecontents of this complex book would load.

In short, it is hoped that this book will serve not only as a translationofJapan's oldest extant book but also as an introduction to the history,genealogy, social structure, mythology, language, and literature of earlyJapan. In the introduction which follows, 1 Nave outlined the prove-nance of the Kojiki, the Archaic Japanese language and writing systems,and the manuscripts and history of criticism of the Kojiki. Since thereare several good, general accounts of early Japanese history in English,1 will not discuss that history here. The reader may find the followingbooks useful: J.E. Kidder, Japan before Buddhisrn (New York: Praeger,1959) ; George B. Sansom, Japan, a Short Cultural History (New York :Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962) and A History of Japan to 1334 (Stan-ford: Stanford University Press, 1958); Robert Karl Reischauer, EarlyJapanese History (2 vols.; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1937).Robert Brower and Earl Miner's Japanese Court Poetry (Stanford: Stan-ford University Press, 1961) provides an excellent introduction to earlyJapanese poetry and poetic theory, and Roy Andrew Miller's TheJapanese Language (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967) is aninformative study of the Japanese language and writing systems en-compassing all periods.

THE PROVENANCE OF THE KOJIKIThe Kojiki is, as its narre implies, a book of antiquities; it is a record

of events which, by the seventh and eighth centurias, had become an-cient history. The events recorded had been simplified and distorted inthe collective memory and were heavily encrusted with legend andmyth. The Kojiki was also the contemporary court's attempt at anauthoritative historical statement about its own origins.

Scholars believe today that the compilation of genealogical and an-

Introductior

ecdotal histories began in the sixth century, during the reigns of Enape-rors Keitai and Kimmei. It has often been suggested that the "now" ofthe Kojiki refers to this period, the time of the first collection of thesource documents which were later combined and elaborated to makewhat we now Nave as the Kojiki.

The first concerted effort at historical compilation of which we haverecord is that nade in 62o under the authority of Shtoku Taishi andSima n5 opo-omi. The works which, according to the Nihon shoki,were compiled under their initiative at the time were: i) the "Recordof the Emperors" (Tenu5~ki, also read Srtniera-niikoto n pumi) ; 2) the"National Record" (Kokki, also read Kiini h1-patm.i); and 3) the''funda-niental records" (hongi, also read nust-tiu pumi) of the titled families andfree subjects.1 All but one of these works were destroyed by Eire in theTaika coup d'tat of 645 when Soga nh Umako;s house, where theywere stored, was burned to the ground. A scribe named Pune-n-pubitb Wesaka rescued one book, the "National Record," from theburning house and presented it to Prince Naka-tu-opo-ye, the futuroEmperor Tenchi.2 As there is no further mention of the book, it mayhave been lost after Tenchi's death during the upheavals of the JinshinRebellion of 672.

The preface of the Kojilei indicates that the leading families also kepthistorical and genealogical documents. One of the chief reasons it givesfor the compilation of the Kojiki is the correcting of the lnistakes andcorruptions which liad been allowed to creep finto those documents.

The only information we have in regard to the process by whichthe Kojiki was compiled comes from the preface of the Kojiki itself.In it, the compiler Opo n YasumarS informs us that Emperor Tenimu(reigned 673-686), deploring the falsehoods which had crept hato thefamilies' genealogical and historical records, decided to review andemend these documents with the purpose of "discarding the mistakenand establishing the true," and conveying the latter to posterity as anofficial body of historical doctrine.3

1 W. G. Aston, trans., Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 679(London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1956), hereafter cited as Aston, II, 148.

2 Ibid., 193.3 Cf. Preface: 39-42, 54. See the account of a previous attempt at regularization of

4 5

KojikiIt is easy lo understand that by the reign of Emperor Temmu the

introduction of foreign culture should have produced, as a reaction, anincreased interest in the nation's origins and the native civilization. Butan even more important consideration must have been the need forauthoritative genealogical accounts by which to consider the claims ofthe noble families and to reorganize them into a new system of ranksand tules. At a time when noble families based their claims for distinc-tion on ancestry and when questions of precedente and rank weredecided by considerations of birth, ancestry, and degree of relationshipto the imperial family, it is only natural that falsification of familyrecords should have reached alarming proportions. It was, in fact, vitalto the state to establish a definite system of ranks and titles based on a"correct" genealogical account acceptable to the imperial family, andwe find evidente of this intenso conceni for genealogical data on almostevery page of the

As a result of Emperor Temmu's concern for the revision of histor-ical documents and the establishment of an acceptable master-text, animperial command was given to a toneri, or court attendant, calledPiyeda n6 Are, to "learn" the texts of what appear to be two separaremanuscripts: the "imperial Sun-Lineage' '4 and the "Ancient Dicta ofFormer Ages."5 We are told that Are was a8 years old at the time ofChis comniission, and that he was endowed with remarkable intelligenceand powers of memory.s

The preface also makes it plana that Chis project of compilation andrevision of historical materials was not completed by thc time of Empe-ror Temmu's death in 686. No doubt we are to understand that thcproject of historical compilation was abandonad at that time. Interest-ingly, at the emperor's funeral, held in 688, the ceremonies includedthe pronouncing of eulogies detaihng "the circumstances of the servicesrendered" by the ancestors of different prorninen.t noble families and,

narres and titles during the reign of Emperor Ingy, 12L:I1.1 Somera inikt no pi-tugi, a genealogical source docuanelt.5 Saki-n-y ti poro gti or Sendai ki ji, evidently a collection of myths, legends, and

songs connected with the forebears of time Yamatb ruling family.' Preface: 43-46.

Introdiiction

again, of eulogies giving "thc succession to the throne of the imperial

ancestors.'The process of re-exam.ining and re-editing the genealogical and

historical materials was resumed after a lapse of twenty-five years (afterthe reigns of Jit5 and Mommuj in the fourth year of thc reign ofEmpress Gemmei, which was in fact the year after the palace had beenmoved to the new capital of Nara. On the i 8th day of the ninth nionthof 711, says the preface, the empress, appalled at the mistakes and cor-ruptions in historical documents, issued a command to Opo rif Yasu-mar6 to "record and present" those documents which had been learnedby Are at the command of Emperor Temmu.8

Empress Gemmei was the daughter of Emperor Tenchi and the meceand daughter-in-law o Emperor Temmu. Perhaps her doubly closerelationship to Emperor Temmu accounts in part for the empress' desireto complete the project left unfinished at his death. No doubt also theconservative character of her reigns was responsible for her convictionthat, in order to finish the adninistrative reorganization begun at theTaika Reform and given more concrete forro ni the legal com.pilationsand reforms nade under Eniperors Tenchi, Temmu, and Mommu,corrections should be made in the genealogical and historical records,which were regarded as containing doctrine of fundamental state ini-port-as being in fact "the framework of the State, Che. great foundationof the imperial influence."10

In the past there has bcen disagreement about the exact nature ofYasumar5's rle in the compilation of the Kojiki. It now appears that,haviug reccived the imperial command, he set to work re-writing thedocuments "learned" by Are, taking great tare to preserve their linguis-tic and semantic peculiarities by a graphic system skillfull.y combiningphonetic and ideographic use of Chinese ideographs.11 The source doc-uments were probably written in a style long out of fashion, which

Aston, II, 388-89." Preface: 5.

The Shoki+ nihongi says that "she did not alter the previously established parteros, butfollowed then unswervingly." (Tempy 8:11.)

,o Preface: 41.^i Cf. Preface: 37-6z.

6 7

Kojiki

required considerable mnemonic effort to master and reduce to oralrecitation. 12

Yasumar's task was presumably to combine the two pre-existingdocuments, the "Imperial Sun-I,ineage" and the "Ancient Dicta ofFormer Ages," into one work, couched in an up-to-date graphic styleand supplied with glosses to clarify the meanings or readings of unclearpassages. The resulting work, in three books, was presented to theempress four months later, on the 28th day of the first month of theyear 712.13

THE GENEALOGICAL AND THE ANECDOTAL SOURCEDOCUMENTS

It is now generally believed that the basic documents from whichthe Kojiki was compiled were the above-inentioned two books, thefirst a genealogical source-book, the second an anecdotal work contain-ing myth, legend, and song sequences. In the preface the two documentaare identified, in accordance with the requirements of Chinese cadencedprole writing, by a number of apparently interchangeable terms:

A. The genealogical source document :Sumera-mikt n pi-tugi ("Imperial Sun-Lineage");Teiki ("Imperial Chronicles") ;Senki ("Former Chronicles").

la Many documents of that time were written in a `scribe style' of script which hadbecome extremely difficult to decipher and which contained many irregularly writtenideographs and copyists' errors (cf. Aston., II, 41). It appears that Are was especiallygifted in deciphering and remembering the contents of such documents. The importanteof memory in the learning of kambun documents (lee section entitled "Writing Systemsin Early Japan") will be recognized by all students of Japanese. In time a whole systemof mnemonic devices and reading signs, annotations, and phonetic glosses carne into useto assist the reader. The Kojiki text has been patiently outfitted with reading glosses,which tell the reader how to pronounce certain difficult words; the word order has beenhybridized to enable the native reader to perceive the Japanese sentence structure; andthere are even a few accent marks, whose purpose has not been fully explained but whichmust have been a guide to proper enunciation of the text. Undoubtedly these readingaids are largely or entirely the fruit of Are's rote knowledge of the original source texts.Yasumarii no doubt re-wrote the texts in a more contemporary graphic style en thebasis of Are's memorized readings.

18 Preface: 67-69.

8

Introduction

B. The anecdotal source document:Saki-ni-,vi n5 puru gt, also read Senda Kuji ("Ancient

Dicta of Former Ages") ;Honji ("Fundamental Dicta");Kuji ("Ancient Dicta").

Although some scholars doubt that the anecdotal source documentexisted at that time as one single book, it is highly probable that bothsources were pre-existing written documents. There is documentaryevidente for the existente in 746 of a one-volume book Nippon teikiand in 748 of a two-volume Teik^i.14 Quoted in the Nihon shoki andelsewhere, works of this title are believed to have been concise, mem-orandum-like compilations containing data on the order of imperialsuccession, the offspring of the emperors, and occasional brief accountsof the chief accomplishments of their reigns.

After the First Book (Chapters 1-46), the text of the Kojiki can bedivided into two radically different styles. The genealogical informationfor each reign is written in a kambun style, in a remarkably consistentformat. The songs and anecdotal prose narratives interspersed with thegenealogical data are written in a Japanese style and have no consistentformat. The genealogical data for each emperor contain the followinginformation (the bracketed elements occur irregularly) :

i. [Relation to the previous emperor.]2. The emperor's name.3. The name and location of his palace and the words "ruled the

kingdom." [The number of years of his reign.]4. The names of the emperor's consorts and offspring. [Brief ac-

counts of their numbers and memorable activities.]5. [Brief accounts of important accomplishments during the reign.]6. [The age of the emperor at his death. The location of his tomb.

The date of his death.]Although there are minor variations in style and in degree of detail,

there is consistency in all these entries, and we can suppose that thegenealogical sections were derived from a single genealogical source

14 See Takeda Ykichi, Kojiki kenkyu, 1: Teikik5 (Seijisha, 1944), 96-112. (All workscited are published in Tokyo unless otherwise indicated.)

9

Kojikidocument, which usted for each emperor in succession the types ofinformation enumerated aboye.

Fitted around this basic framework are all those accounts not derivedfrom the genealogical document, but from an anecdotal source-doc-ument, the so-called Kuji, Hoi ji, or Saki-n-y5 n puro gt. Almost allof the mythological First Book must be assigned to this anecdotalsource. Sections from the two sources have been combined in theSecond and Third Books. However, Chapters 56-64, 69, 77, 89-91, 99,Io8-IO9, 120-21, 127, 135, and 14o-49 are almost entirely genealogical;the other chapters are largely anecdotal, with occasional admixtures ofdata from the genealogical document.

A number of scholars have suggested that the imperial genealogy,the so-called Sumera-mikt n pi-tugi, was originally a simple documentcontaining little more than the names of the elnperors, which was latercollated with family records of the n.obili.ty, the sources of the names ofconsorts and offspring. Interestingly, the dubious reigns between Jimmuand Sujin were especially popular sources of ancestors for the noblefamilies. Naturally, ancient ancestors were more venerable than newancestors, and it is much easier to fabricate an ancestry from an im-memorably ancient period than from a comparatively recent age. Falseaccounts attached at one time or another to a family's genealogicalrecords gradually gained currency, and despite the imperial policy ofadhering to tradition and discouraging innovation, some of the fabrica-tions must have been adopted in official quarters. The account of therectification of names under Emperor Ingy, quoted approvingly inthe preface of the Kojiki, may well have been true. Such attemptscontinued sporadically until the early ninth century when the Shinsenshjiroku, the voluminous genealogical directory, was prepared. Thepreservation of purity in genealogical accounts proved an impossibletask, since even in the Shinsen shjiroku one can find fabrications orig-inating later than the Kojiki and Nihon shoki.

The genealogical glosses in the Kojiki, usually written in a smallerhand in two parallel columns under the names of the particular ancestor,are in large measure later fabrications. Most of the groups mentionedin the glosses claim as ancestors princes of the periods before Emperor

I Introduction

Ojin, i.e., in dimly remembered periods. There are few families in theKojiki, Nihon shoki, or Shinsen shjiroku who claim descent from empe-rors or princes living in more recent, historical periods.

In sum, the genealogical source document used in the Kojiki wasprobably a work originating at an early date-perhaps fifth but cer-tainly sixth century-which was augmented in a series of redactions,the last of which occurred in the late seventh century or at the time theKojiki was actually written.15

The bulk of _the material in the Kojiki comes from the anecdotalsource document and is more structurally complex than the genealogicalmaterial. Here we have to do with myths, legends, and songs-theparts of the Kojiki which are of literary interest but of little historicalveracity.

The exact provenance of the anecdotal material of the Kojiki cannotbe determined. We do not know, for example, whether Yasumar hadbefore him a single document or several. Judging from the rapiditywith which he completed his work, we may assume that he had asingle anecdotal source document which had been composed at someprevious time from a plurality of sources, oral and written traditionscurrent in the imperial family, in various noble families, and amongthe common people.

The anecdotal sections are descriptive and rhythmical, interspersedwith song sequences; they are suitable for oral recitation. The concernwith pronunciation and accent in the glosses evinces the compiler'sdelire to make a text which could be pronounced or recited. Somescholars, Motoori for instante, believe that Piyeda n Are preserved thetexts by memory and that Yasumari5 reduced the recited texts to wrtingand unified them into a single work. Other scholars, notably HirataAtsutane, argued that Piyeda no Are was a woman whose specialty wasthe memorization of oral literature.

It is, of course, not impossible that ancient traditions of great lengthcould have been committed to memory and recited verbatim. Longmythological and epical accounts are recited from memory in manypre-literate societies, such as that of the Ainu of Hokkaid in contem-

11 For a discussion of the evidente for these several redactions, see Takeda, Tekik.

IO II

Kojiki

porary times. However, in eighth centuryjapan, writing had been usedextensively for historical documents and important records for hun-dreds of years, and the katari-be, or corporations of reciters, hadpractically disappeared from the society.16 It is difficult to fmd anyconvincing reason in the highly literate atmosphere of the court forabandoning written documents and having Are memorize a long ac-count. Moreover, the wording of the Kojiki preface points to the neces-sity of "learning"17 older texts, i.e., familiarizing oneself with theirgraphic peculiarities in order to be able to recite them aloud. Thus,Are's work cannot be considered in the absence of a written text.18We should also add that the inconsistencies and nonsequiturs in thetext (for instance, see notes to 33:13, 74:5) make it apparent that therehas been some merging of elements from a plurality of written doc-uments.

Some of the possible sources of anecdotal and song material are:i. Traditions transmitted from mouth to mouth by the katari-be,

whose duty was to preserve information by rote before writing becamewidespread.

2. The repertoire of the court musicians, who preserved a large num-ber of native Japanese songs and dances as well as music of foreignorigin. Many, if not all, of the song texts in the Kojiki must owe theirpreservation to the court music department.

3. Popular legends, beliefs, and rites. Of special interest are the folketymologies of place names and the old sayings quoted in manychapters.

4. Accounts of foreign origin. Some of the myth sequences containelements which can be identified with southern Asia and Korea ordetected as a reflection of Chinese ideas.

5. Traditions of noble families such as the Nakatmi, the Mn-n-be, and, of course, the Sarume to which Piyeda n Are was related.

6. The imperial court itself. One of the means by which Yamat

1e And6 Masatsugu, "Kojiki kaidai," in Kojiki kamiyo no mak , comp. Kat6 Genchi(Sekai Seiten Zensh Kankkai, 1920), pp. 13-20.17 Preface: 46.ld Okada Masayuki, dmi Nara-cha no kambungaku (Ytokusha, 1946), pp. 131-32.

Introduction

forged the Japanese islands into a unified nation was the creation of asingle "official" mythology, in which the protagonists of local mythol-ogies were woven into a common framework. In this way, the an-cestors of powerful local rulers were given r6les in the vast nationalgenealogy-mythology, and the deities they worshipped were madeblood relations of the ancestral deities claimed by the Yamat emperors.

We cannot understand the Kojiki's genealogies, myths, and legendsunless we constantly bear in mind the composite nature of the work,the fact that it is a collation of separate accounts and traditions made inan attempt to justify the rule of Yamat and at the same time to re-concile subordinate interest-groups and to give them a place and aninterest in the national mythology-genealogy. Such political myth-making was to the advantage of both the central rulers and the localaristocracies, and we can easily see that the latter took much of theinitiative in this work.

Whereas the style of the genealogcal sections is unvaried and weari-some, the style of the narrative sections is characterized by a certaindegree of conscious literary art. Some passages reach dramatic heightsand seem appropriate subjects of dance-dramas or mimes, and in fact,we are told that some of the songs are performed "today" on particularoccasions, such as imperial funerals (88:27) or the appearance of theKuzu at court (103:20).

The book abounds in folk accounts of origins of place names andicustoms current at the time; a mentality which delights in myths, which `seeks for a hallowed explanation of present realities in the dim past, ispresent in all folk societies. The naive liking for origins accounts is akinto the unhistoric glorification of heroic personalities, to whom is at-tributed sole responsibility for long historical processes. For instante,the Kojiki's account of the legendary Emperor Jimmu's expeditionfron Kyiish to Yamat may be a concrete statement of the complexhistorical process of the cultural penetration of the Yayo culture.Yamat-takeru-no-mikti is depicted as a heroic figure wanderingabout conquering the enemies of the kingdom-a reflection of an ex-tended process of conquest and national unification. Empress Jing'smiraculous conquest of Korea is a legendary account of a series of actual

1213

Kojiki

events. The people among whom these accounts originated lacked thesophisticated historical sense visible in the Nihon shoki accounts for thepost-Keitai reigns and reduced long, complex historical processes torousing legends center-ed in a single heroic figure.

The anecdotal source document comes to an end with the reign ofEmperor Kenz, c. 498. The genealogical source document may Naveexisted as a single composite document by the first half of the sixthcentury; additions and changes were subsequently made from timeto time.

The First Book of the Kojiki is a major statement o early Japanesepolitico-mythology; its clmax is the Heavenly Descent myth sequence,in which is proclaimed the destiny of the "offspring of the heavenlydeities" to rule the land.

The mythology of the First Book can be divided into the followinggroups:

A. Cosmogony sequencesB. Izanagi-Izanami sequencesC. Takama-n6-para sequencesD. Idumo sequencesE. Land-ceding sequencesF. Heavenly Descent sequencesIn the mythology we find reflections of two separate myth worlds:

the Takama-n6-para myth world, home of the heavenly deities whowere ruled by Ama-terasu-opo-mi-kan- and worshipped by the Yama-t6 court and the aristocracy aligned with it; and the world of theearthly deities, represented as autochthonous gods of the land-moun-tain deities, sea-deities, deities of the home and hearth, etc.-andattached to Opo-kuni-nusi, a culture-hero and land-creator deity whosecenter of worship was at Idumo. The Land-ceding myth sequence,which precedes and sets the stage for the Heavenly Descent sequence,appears to be a mythical statement of a compromise settlement betweentwo religious systems and ways of life: the Takama-n6-para religion,characterized by agricultural rites and concepts of divine kingship, andthe earthly deity religion, based on older and more popular beliefs.

The pseudo-historical legends and tales of the Second and Third

Introduction

Books are full of lyricism and captivating naivet. Some chapters are sowell delineated that they are, in fact, the first Japanese short stories. Wemust read many of these episodes not as factual accounts of real histor-ical personages, but as idealized episodes in the lives of the heroes whomthe nobility appreciated and emulated as models of the sublime anddesirable in human life. We may profitably study these old tales asconcrete examples of how nobles acted, or ought to act, in certain

situations.The Kojiki also abounds in verse. Its some iii songs are among the

oldest recorded in the Japanese language; here is the beginning of rec-ordedJapanese poetry. The value of the verse portions is incomparablyenhanced by the extreme care with which the texts have been tran-scribed phonetically. Many of the songs recount scenes of hunting,fishing, and farming and betray a humble origin. As the texts of thesongs do not always seem appropriate to the narrative in which theyare incorporated, they may Nave an independent origin. Also, we shouldnot forget the magico-religious r6le of song in the ceremonial life of theearly court. The songs of the Kojiki reveal a preoccupation with dis-plays of technical virtuosity which sometimes overshadow the "mean-ing" of the song itself. The imagery often stands independent of itsallusive functions ; indeed, at times the natural images seem to have onlya vague connection with the semantic content of the song.

KOJIKI AND NIHON SHOKIThe Kojiki and the Nihon shoki should be studied together. Not only

were they planned and finished at almost the same time, but also, indealing with the same subject matter, they often echo, complement,and elucidate each other. No serious study of early Japan is possiblewithout making full use of both.

The Nihon shoki, which was completed in 720, some eight years afterthe presentation of the Kojiki, was also a compilation from previouslyexisting source documents. Since the Nihon shoki lacks a preface, how-ever, its process of compilation is less clear than that of the Kojiki. TheNihon shoki itself records that in 682, the tenth year of the reign ofEmperor Temmu, the emperor commanded an assembly of princes and

14 ts

Kojiki

nobles to "commit to writing a chroniclematters of high ant of the emperors, and aleo ofpersona, one from iquity " (joko no shji, inisipe na kt6- at .

the Nakatmi family and one from the Peguri am-fly, personally took up their brushdes an began compilation. This com-

mand is regarded as the initial impetus in an extensive wfhistoricalcompilation which began in ork oresulted the time of Emperor Temmu and whichfmally in the compilation of the

Nihon shoki. Thus, the interestin historiography of Emperor Temmu eventually resulted in both theKojiki and the Nihon shoki.During the Temmu period the T'ang

government and national unification under strongon eem pe ror

or rulize gthrough a bureaucracy-the ideal of the Taika Reform-gained cept_

ance. Despite the wastes of the jinshin Rebellion throughwhi h he hadcome to power, Emperor Temmu strengthened the position of theemperor; and the nobility, feeling a new spirit, eagerly adopted theculture ofT'ang China. At a time of rapid ilnportation and adoption ofan advanced foreign culture, increased interest in the national originsand history, as distinct from those of China and Silla, was natural. Theemperor and his advisors also felt that they should clarify and coordi-nate the internal political structure by adopting a well-defined, hier-archical social order. Not only was it necessary to prevent any furtherfalsification ofgenealogical records, but also-because of the promulga_tion of the Temmu eight-rank social system-it was necessary tocompile a correct genealogy, acceptable to the imperial famil Tilisnecessity is given clear expression in the preface of the

Kojiki. Thestate's needs in tercos of interna] politics and social order are evidentthroughout the Kojiki,even though_it records in detail the remoter

periods ofhistory and says nothing about recent matters. Though con-centrating ore "ancient" history, the Kojiki

nevertheless gives the genea-logical details of a larger number of noble families than does theNihon shoki.

On the other hand, the Nihon shoki,although not lacking an interna]

political significante, was aboye all an attempt at an official nationalhistory which could be shown with pride, should the occasion demand,

" Aston, II, 350-

16

Introduction

to any foreign emissary or court. National prestige demanded an au-thoritative history conforming to certain international standards. Thetitle bears the narre Nihon, at that time a eulogistic expression forYamati; its chronological format is like that of the Chinese dynastichistories, and its language and style is the florid style of literary Chinese.It is less attentive than the Kojiki to the minutiae of genealogical detail,it becomes more informative and reliable as historical time moves for-ward, and it contains subjective judgments and reflections on some ofthe events it records. Whereas the source documenta of the Kojiki wereapparently limited to two compilations, both of them handed downin the court, the Nihon shoki attempted to bring together a wide selec-tion of documentary source materials. This accounts in part for thetwo books' differences in detail and emphasis.

The scope of the two books is significantly different. The Nihonshoki records history up to the death of Empress Jito (697), but theKojiki ends with the death of Empress Suiko (641) and records-nothingexcept genealogies for the period after the death of Emperor Kenz(487?). There is a gap of over 200 years between the last of the anecdotalincidente the Kojiki records and the date of its completion and presenta-tion to the court; the time lag in the Nihon shoki is only some twentyyears. The records for the post-Kenz periods fill only a few pages inthe Kojiki, but 437 pages in Aston's translation of the Nihon shoki.

Thus, we can say that the Nihon shoki is our main historical sourcefor the post-Kenz reigns and that it becomes more reliable as timegoes on until it is, fmally, a contemporary history, as trustworthy anduseful a work as the other, later official histories.

With regard to the pre-Kenz period, however, both the Kojiki andNihon shoki are unreliable witnesses to historical fact. A number ofarticles in the Nihon shoki do seem to ring true for these periods; wefind quotations in extenso from Korean historical materials, which areof the utmost value, and there is a greater wealth of detail than in theKojiki. But we also fid a gross manipulation of dates and facts, falsechronology, frequent speeches and passages quoted verbatim from Chi-nese sources but attributed to Japanese speakers, and the pervasiveinfluence of continental thinking, which often led to unfortunate elab-

17

Kojikiorations based on a foreign model.

Although the anecdotal material in the Kojiki is best appreciated asliterature, its historical value is precisely that it tells us as no otherdocument does of the life values, the deals, and the political conceptsof the early Japanese. Also-as literature or history-it does have aliterary style, relatively free of undgested, imported diction and vocab-lary and relatively reluctant to follow foreign models.

The information in the Kojiki's genealogical sections is of consider-able value. Not only does the information frequently differ from thatgiven in the Nihon shoki, but also it gives us a sporadic but surprisinglyprobable chronology of death dates for fifteen emperors. The glossescontaining these death dates (written in the sixty-year, cyclical datingsystem) are of considerable antiquity and of a provenance differentfrom the genealogical source-document, which records conflcting in-formation about the length of the reigns and the life-spans of the sameemperors. The dates are found only in the Shimpuku-ji manuscript ofthe Kojiki, and were suppressed by Motoori-for unconvincing reasons-in his edition of the Kojiki. We can be sure that these dates are ofearlier orgin than the Nihon shoki chronology because they dare todiffer so radically from the contrived systein adopted by the later offi-cial history. The problems of conversion of the cychcal dates intocalendar dates are taken up passim in the notes to the passages. The fol-lowing table compares the Nihon shoki and Kojiki dates, both convertedinto Western calendar dates.

DEATH DATES OF EARLY JAPANESE SOVEREIGNS(Kojiki) (Nihon shoki)

Jimmu 585 B.C.Suisei 549Annei 51 1Itoku 477Kbsh6 393Kan 291Krei 215K6gen 158

Introduction

98258 A.D. 30

355362

394427

432437454

489

527535

584587592628

70 A.D.

130

190200269aro

399405410

4534564794844874985o6

531535539571585587

592-628

From the foregoing remarks, we can conclude that the Kojiki is awork containing many pseudo-historical narratives which often havea basis of historical actuality. Frequently the reader encounters mem-ories of complex historical processes, such as the national unification orthe expansion on the Korean peninsula, treated as naive anecdotes aboutheroic figures. Such material, revealing an unsophisticated sense ofhistory, should be used with caution, but the Kojiki's chronology andsorne of its genealogical data are of the greatest documentary valueeven in their present form.

KaikaSujinSuininKeikSeimuChaiJing (regent)OjinNintokuRichHanzeiIngyAnk6YryakuSeineiKenzNinkenBuretsuKeitaiAnkanSenkaKmmeiBitatsuY6meiSushunSuiko

18 19

Kojiki

THE ARCHAIC JAPANESE LANGUAGEThe most striking fact about the Japanese language, both archaic and

modem, is its quasi-isolation from all surrounding language groups.The only language which can be scientifically related to Japanese is

the group of dialects spoken in the Rykys and known collectively asOkinawan. Hattori, a philologist experimenting with glottochronol-ogy, has proposed that Okinawan separated from the dialect spokenin the Japanese home provinces about 500 A.D.20

Despite the efforts of a large number of scholars to discover otherprovable connections between Japanese and other languages, it is onlytoo obvious that Japanese must have developed in isolation for a longperiod of time. Although sorne modern scholars21 see a relationship withthe Korean and Altaic languages, any connection between them musthave ended thousands of years ago, if it in fact existed.22

The earliest examples of Japanese are recorded in what we may callArchaic Japanese, the dialect of the Yamat court in the seventh andeighth centuries.

Some ofits characteristics are as follows:The normal word order is: subject before predicate, modifiers before

noun, inflections and particles after nouns and verbs.Verbs and adjectives are inflected. Inflection shows grammatical rela-

tion (final, attributive, consecutive, etc.) rather than time, number,or person.

Auxiliary verbs are placed after verbs and adjectives to indicate pas-sive and causativa constructions, perfection ofaction, future or expecta-tion, affirmation, etc. ; these are also inflected to indicate grammaticalrelation rather than number or person.

Honorifics are used to show person-to-person relations and levels of

zo Hattori Shir, Nihongo no keit (Iwanami Shoten, 1959), p. 83. This work is espe-cially valuable for its very complete review of the literature on the subject of the relation-ships of Japanese and other language groups.

71 See, e.g., Samuel E. Martin, "Lexical Evidente Relating Korean to Japanese,"

Language, Vol. XLII, No. 2 (April June, 1966).El Hattori, p. 96. For an exhaustive study of the genetic relationships of the Japanese

language, see Miller, pp. 1-89.

Introduction

speech. The personal pronouns are not highly developed and are usedsparingly. There are no relative pronouns.

There are no long vowels or diphthongs. All vowels are short.The syllabic structure is extremely simple, the only possible patterns

being V or CV. All syllables are open and there are no initial or finalconsonant clusters. The final nasal -n does not appear graphically untilthe ninth century.

Words do not begin with r or with voiced consonants.Voiced consonants vary with their unvoiced counterparts in certain

positions.Definite affinities exist among certain groups of vowels in word

roots. Because some vowels never or rarely appear together in the sameroot, some scholars have spoken, somewhat inaccurately, of traces of"vowel harmony" in Archaic Japanese.

In recent years the phonology of Archaic Japanese has been studiedwith some success by means of a scientific analysis of the availablephonetic writings-not the least of which is the Kojiki itself.23

The phonemes which may be graphically distinguished in earlywritings are shown in the following list in the orthography adopted inthis translation :

VOWELS :a i 1 u e ^ o 6

CONSONANTS:k g nS z mt d yp b r

w

Whereas Modern Japanese has five vowels , early Japanese documentshave graphic distinctions for eight; the thirteen consonants found inearly documents are somewhat less in number than those existing inModern Japanese.

21 The scholars mainly responsible for this research have been Hashimoto Shinkichi,

Arisaka Hideyo and Ono Susumu . See particularly no, Jsdai kanazukai no kenkyii(Iwanami Shoten , 1953 ), PP. 167-70-

20 21

Kojiki

During the seventh and eighth centuries the pairs of vowels i i, e ,and o amalgamated-gradually-finto single vowels i, e, o. It is pos-sible to trace the progress of this process in the documents of thosecenturies and to see that the six vowels had been simplified into thethree vowels i, e, and o; the graphic distinctions were no longer madeby the ninth century. The ModernJapanese syllabaries evolved on thebasis of the resulting 5-vowel system (a, i, u, e, o).

The following list shows the syllables in early Japanese writing:a i u eka ki ki ku kega gi gi gusa si suza zi zuta ti tuda di dupa pi pi puba bi bi buna nima mi miya

ra riwa wi

nu

mu

yuru

ge

se

ze

te

depe

bene

me

ye

re

we

yo yro rwo

NOTE: The syllables mo and m are distinguished graphically inthe Kojiki, but in no later document.

It will be readily understood that the many differences between thephonemic structure of Archaic Japanese and that of Modern Japanesemake it imperative to transcribe Archaic Japanese words in an orthogra-phy capable of distinguishing all the phonemes which were graphicallydistinguished in early Japanese documents. A transcription into ModernJapanese readings blurs many semantically significant distinctions,makes us vulnerable to mistaken interpretations, and obscures unneces-sarily the etymologies of the vocabulary. As in all cases of dead dialectspreserved only in writing, it is often impossible to determine the exactphonetic value of any given phonme; but it is ofthe utmost importance

Iritroduction

to preserve in the orthography at least all graphically distinguished

phonemes.The following is not a complete definition of the phonetic values of

the Archaic Japanese phonemes, but a guide to help the reader relatethem to their counterparts in Modern Japanese.VOWELS :

a, i, u, e, o. Appear to correspond with the same vowels in ModernJapanese.

i. The exact phonetic value has not been established. In the ninthcentury, combined with i. In Archaic Japanese frequently alternateswith u and sometimes with . Thus, the word kam', `deity' (strik-ingly similar to the Ainu loan-word kamui, also meaning `deity')has an alternative form kamu used in compounds. The word Yiimi,`Hades,' has the alternative form Ym. The vowel i may Navebeen a central vowel between [i] and [i], similar to the [i] heardin the dialects of northeastern Honsh today.

e. The exact phonetic value has not been established. In the Mlithcentury, combined with e. In ArchaicJapanese frequently alternateswith a. For example, the word up, `up,' has an alternative formupa used in certain compounds. Phonetically, it must have beenbetween [e] and [a], perhaps similar to the [x] heard in somemodem dialects.

. In the ninth century, combined with o. Its phonetic valueArchaic Japanese has been established as

CONSONANTS:k. Corresponds to k in Modern Japanese.

[e].

in

g. Voiced k; it evidently corresponds to Modern Japanese g.s. In the combinations si, su, and se, corresponda to the [s] in Modern

Japanese sa. Si is probably [si] rather than [Si]. Sa, so, and si are[tsa], [tso], [ts].

z. Voiced s. Zi is [zi] rather than [d3i]. Za, zo, and z are [dza],[dzo], [dz].

t. Corresponds to Modern Japanese t in the syllables ta, te, to, ti. Tiis [ti] rather than [tSi], and tu is [tu] rather than [tsu].

d. Voiced t. In the syllables da, de, do, and di, corresponds to the22 23

k2

ge

Pebe

o

kogo

so

zo

k

gsztda

no n

todoPobo

nii; mo [m]

96.'38

KojikiModern Japanese phoneine. Di is [di] rather than [d3i], and du is[du] rather than [zu].

p. Corresponds to the ha gy of Modern Japanese. This has been theleast stable of all Japanese consonants. In the earliest periods it waspronounced [p] in all positions, and there is evidence that the [p]pronunciation was preserved cantil the early Heian period. At thattime the consonant split into pairs of positional variants :

Initial Non-initialpa: fa wapi: fi ipu: fu upe: fe ePo: fo o

In Modern Japanese, the variants are as follows:pa: ha wapi: hi [ci] ipu: fu upe: he ePo: ho o

b. Voiced p; corresponds in all positions to the Modern Japaneseconsonant.

n. Corresponds to the Modern Japanese initial n.ni. Corresponds to the Modern Japanese m. In Archaic Japanese it

sometimes alternates with b.y. Corresponds to the Modern Japanese y. Modern Japanese lacks

the syllable ye; ye and e have been represented graphically with oneset of symbols since the Heian period.

r. Corresponds to the Modern Japanese r.w. Corresponds to the Modern Japanese w. Modern Japanese has

written forms for the syllables wi, we, and wo, but these are pro-nounced i, e, and o.

The following table equates Archaic and Modern Japanese syllables.Both Archaic and Modern transcriptions are given for everyJapaneseword usted in the Glossary.

Y

ARC. MODERNa a

ba babe beb^ bebi bibi bibo bobu buda dade dedi jido dod dodu zue e

ga ga

ge ge

ge ge

gi gigi gi

go go

g gogu gu

ARC. MODERN

ko ko

k koku kuma ma

me me

mu me

mi mimi mi

mo mo

m momu mu

na na

ne ne

ni nino no

no no

nu nu

o

papeP2pi

piPopu

o

ha [wa]he [e]he [e]hi [i]hi [i]ho [o]fu [u]

ra ra

re re

ri riro ro

Introduction

ARC. MODERNrru

sa

se

siso

ssu

ta

te

tito

ttu

u

wa

we

wiwo

ze

jizo

zo

zu

NOTE : The bracketed forms are used in Modern Japanese innon-initial positions.

2524

KojikiWRITING SYSTEMS IN EARLY JAPAN

The Japanese never developed a writing system independent of for-eign influence. The so-called shindai-moji (Age-of-the-Gods scripts) arecrude inventions of Edo period scholars and correspond to phonemicsystems of a later age. Chinese ideographs, in which the entire Kojiki iswritten, were the only type of writing known in early Japan and werethe basis from which the Japanese syllabaries evolved in the Heianperiod.

Chinese script was known in Japan during the protohistoric period.Official history records the introduction of Chinese learning during thereign of Emperor jin.24

During this period the Yamat court began to have close relationswith Paekche and used continental immigrants-Chinese, KoreanizedChinese, or Paekche Koreans-as hereditary groups of scribes and lit-erati. The Japanese themselves probably did not learn or become proficient at writing for some time. The Nihon shoki records the appointmentof local scribes, probablyjapanese, during the reign of Emperor Rich.

Chinese script was, naturally, used at first to write communicationsin unmodified Chinese; the use ofliterary Chinese (in Japanese, kambun)has been preserved and was the dominant style in historical and oficialrecords for many centuries.

However, almost from the beginning both Korea and Japan modifiedthe imported Chinese writing, first to transcribe individual propernouns and then to write entire sentences in the vernacular. Within afew centuries, the Korean scribes gave up their attempts to write Koreanwith Chinese ideographs, but the Japanese developed a number ofdevices by which Japanese words and sentences could be written inChinese script, either in a modified kambun style or in manygana, asystem in which Chinese ideographs were used phonetically.

The oldest known inscription in Japan, found on a sword whichdates from about 438 in the Funayama burial mound, reveals a use ofChinese considerably adapted to the needs of Japanese sentences.

Generally speaking, there are three ways in which Chinese ideographs

24 Aston, 1, 262.

Introduction

were used in ancient Japan. Examples of all three may be found in theKojiki.

i. Chinese writing (kambun), with a pure Chinese vocabulary andsentence structure. By far the majority of the extant early Japaneseworks are written in an almost pure kambun style; the entire Nihonshoki, except for its verse portions, is in this style, as are most of theother early historical works. The preface of the Kojiki is written entirelyin kambun, as are a few sections scattered throughout the work. Modernscholars do not know whether the early Japanese read kambun in asemi-Chinese pronunciation or, mentally and orally, in Japanese trans-lation, as is generally the case today. We do know, however, that textswere already read in Japanese in the Nara period. In time a standardsystem of reading signs indicating Japanese inflections and word orderdeveloped; kambun texts were supplied with these reading signs to aidthe reader in translating them into Japanese.

2. Chinese ideographs used phonetically, completely divorced fromtheir lexical meaning, to represent Japanese sounds. This technique orig-inated in China, where Indian proper nouns and technical tercos wererendered phonetically in the Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures.It was first used in Korea and Japan to transcribe sounds which occurredonly in the native languages. In the system, each Japanese syllable wasassigned one or more Chinese ideographs whose sound approximatedthe Japanese sound. This system has been called manygana because ofits prevalence in the Manyshi{. Later it gave rise to the hiragana andkatakana syllabaries, which are basically cursive abbreviations of theideographs. This type of phonetic writing was not widely used inantiquity; we find lengthy passages in it only in the verse portions ofthe Kojiki and Nihon shoki, in parts of the Manysha, and in song textsrecorded in other documents.

3. Chinese ideographs used in a modified or hybrid kambun styleand read in pure Japanese. In this system, words were written phonet-ically or ideographically in their Chinese equivalents but were read inJapanese, much as we might read the Latin abbreviation i.e. in English,calling it "that is." Although certain conventions and compromiseswere adopted by which Chinese grammatical particles represented

26 27

KojikiJapanese inflections and particles, often the troublesome details wereomitted, so that a variety of readings was possible. The Kojiki compiler,for example, provided some glosses to indicate the reading or the accent.The modem reader of the Kojiki, the main text of which is written inthis comphcated style, has a sort of bilingual puzzle which he mustdecipher as he goes along. He may often be uncertain about a readingbut, generally, he can understand the meaning of the passage thanks tothe predominant use of ideographic elements, the lexical meaning ofwhich is more or less fixed.

One sometimes wonders why the Japanese, once they had developeda phonetic script of Chinese ideographs which could express all theJapanese sounds, continued nevertheless to write in pure or hybridkambun.

There are probably many reasons. First, kambun had tremendousprestige; throughout Japanese history, to know the ideographs and tobe able to compose original writings in them was to be on the highestimaginable cultural level. Second, kambun was more concise and eco-nomical than phonetic writing, which required at least twice as manyideographs to express the same idea. Third, to eyes accustomed toideographs, a mass ofphonetic symbols was burdensome and sometimesincomprehensible. As there were no spaces between words, it was diffi-cult to separate the mass of symbols into word-units, and countlessambiguities resulted. For instante, there was no way to indicate suc-cinctly the meanings of unusual or difficult words or to distinguishbetween homonyms or between shades of meaning. All these draw-backs are painfully evident in the phonetic verse portions of the Kojiki-which are among the most difficult Japanese texts. Finally, kambunwas an "international" writing system, used in every state which hadcome under China's advanced cultural influence; Japanese written pho-netically could not be understood by anyone but a Japanese. Kambunwas preferred for centuries for the same reasons that Latin was so longpreferred over the vernacular languages of Europe.

The translator of a text like the Kojiki written primarily in a hybridkambun style has a number of special interpretation problems. Althoughthe ideographic portions of the text may be semantically clear, their

Introduction

Japanese readings are, strictly speaking, conjectural except in those caseswhere the compilers have added phonetic glosses to indicate a specificreading. Conversely, the phonetic sections-the song texts and the pho-netically written Japanese words in the hybrid text-can be "read," butthey include no indication of word division, sentence structure, ormeaning. The phonetic sections can really be interpreted only by in-ference, by analogy with other examples of Archaic Japanese, and bycomparison with later usage.

A special interpretation problem is posed by a convention which weinight call graphic substitution. There are cases in which one ideographis used in more than one sense. It can refer to a Japanese word corre-sponding in meaning to the Chinese concept and, at other times, toexpress another, hom.onymous Japanese word which is unrelated tothe Chinese word and its lexical meaning. For example, the ideographwhich has the lexical meaning "jewel" is used in earlly Japanese texts torepresent two Japanese words: the Japanese word for ` jewel" or"bead," which is pronounced tama, and the Japanese word for "spirit"or "soul," which is also pronounced tama. Another example is theideograph for "comb," which sometimes representa the Japanese wordfor "comb," pronounced kusi, and sometimes an adjective meaning"wondrous," which is also pronounced kusi. Thus, in reading or translating the Kojiki, one must always bear in mind that many apparentlyideographic elements are really substitutes and that mechanical transla-tion of the ideographs according to their dictionary meanings will beto no avail in such cases.

The science of attaching Japanese readings to the ideographic sectionsof such texts as the Kojiki is called kunkogaku; and it is to this task ofestablishing acceptable readings that Japanese scholars devote a greatdeal of their effort. The readings current today are essentially guessesmade by scholars on the basis of their studies of the readings of variousearlly documents. Of course, kunkogaku need not be of primary impor-tance to the translator, because the predominant semantically meaning-ful stratum within the texts permits translation without resort to aphonemic reconstruction. In other words, the ideographic portions ofthe text are meaningful and can be translated into any language no

28 29

Kojkimatter how they are read by any one scholar, or even if they cannotbe "read" at all. In the present translation, in cases of several possiblereadings or interpretations, 1 have usually chosen that translation whichconveys the lexical meaning inherent in the ideograph.

MANUSCRIPTS AND HISTORY OF CRITICISMWhereas the manuscripts of the Nihon shoki go back as far as the

Heian period, the Kojki is available only in comparatively late man-uscripts. This situation is a result of the relative neglect of the Kojkithroughout the Heian and medieval periods.

Of the some thirty-two existing manuscripts of all or parts of theKojki, the oldest is the so-called Shimpuku-ji manuscript, copied inthree fascicules in 1371-72 by Ken'y, a priest in the temple of Shim-puku-ji. The manuscript is written entirely in ideographs, having nointerlinear glosses in syllabic script and no reading marks. The SecondBook of the manuscript is thought to be of a different provenancefrom that of the First and Third Books. This famous old manuscript isavailable to the student in excellent photographic reproductions.

There are three extant manuscripts of all or prt of the First Bookwhich come from the same source as the Shimpuku-ji manuscript.These are the Dka manuscript (a portion of the First Book copied in1381) ; the Dsh manuscript, also called the Ise-bon or Ise manuscript(the entire First Book copied in 1424) ; and the Shun'yu manuscript, alsocalled the Second Ise manuscript (a copy of the Dsh manuscriptapparently made in 1426). These three manuscripts are also available inphotographic reproductions.

All other extant manuscripts of the Kojiki belong to the tradition ofthe Urabe family. The chief among this group of manuscripts is theMaeda manuscript or the Yhan-bon, which is the property of theMaeda family and dates from 1522. A large number of afinitive man-uscripts exist; all of them seem to have been transcribed after theMaeda manuscript.

The earliest printed edition of the Kojki was the Kan'ei Kojiki, printedin Kyto in 1644 from a manuscript of the Urabe type. A second earlyprinted edition was prepared and annotated by Watarai Nobuyoshi, a

Introduction

Shinto priest at Ise, and published in Ise in 1687. Motoori Norinaga'stext was the basis of the Teise kokun Kojki, first published in 1803 andfrequently re-issued. Among the numerous later printed editions, thecritical edition published by Tanaka in 1887 is of great value.

This translation is based on the critical edition published by Heibon-sha in 1958 as volume 7 of the Kojki tasei; students interested in textualvariations among the Kojki manuscripts would do well to consult thisuseful volume. Generally speaking, the various Kojki manuscripts, be-ing of relatively late date, are quite uniform. In the case of trouble-some variants, I have attempted to choose from all the available sourcesthe most likely and satisfactory version. In some cases, when the variantswere semantically significant, I Nave added notes to alert the reader.

The comparative scarcity of old manuscripts can be explained by thenon-canonical nature of the Kojki, which was never one of the officialhistories. Whereas the Nihon shoki was the first of six massive kambunofficial histories, the smaller Kojiki, written in a hybrid style, was re-garded until the Edo period as, at most, a variant account to be read forthe light it could shed on the official accounts.

After the first printed editions of the Kojiki began to appear in theseventeenth century, interest in it revived, an interest historically con-nected with the kokugaku (native learning) movement, a classicist andnationalistic movement in scholarship which produced such figures asKada no Azumamaro (1657-1725) and Karno no Mabuchi (1697-1769).Arai Hakuseki (1657-1725), the scholar and statesman, was among thefirst to recognize the independent value of the Kojiki, and both Azuma-maro and Mabuchi produced annotated editions of it.

But the Kojki received its most serious study and exposition at thehands of Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), the most famous kokugakuscholar. Although Motoori had obtained a copy of the Kojiki in 1754,it was not cantil his celebrated meeting with Karno no Mabuchi in 1763that Motoori began to consider himself an adherent of the kokugakumovement and a disciple of Mabuchi. At this time he decided to devotehis efforts to the scholarly study of the Kojiki. He began the Kojiki-den,a monumental commentary and a triumph of Japanese scholarship, in1764 and completed it thirty-four years later in 1798. Publication of

30 31

iKojkithis voluminous work was finished only in 1822, after Motoori's death.

With Motoori, the Kojiki assumed an importance at least equal tothat of the Nihon shoki. In fact, in Motoori's view the Kojiki, which wasfree from the intrusions of "Chinese mentality," was a purer and morereliable source book for the ancient Japanese traditions than was theNihon shoki. Motoori's contributions to the scholarly study of the Kojikiwere so great that his work is still a basic starting-point for contem-porary scholars.

Motoori's work was carried on, though in a somewhat differentdirection, by his disciple Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843) and also by hisopponents Fujitani Mitsue (1768-1823) and Tachibana Moribe (1781-1849). Each of them produced commentaries and treatises which havea certain interest even today.

After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the attention of native scholarstumed away from the national cultural heritage for some years, butthe Kojiki became once more the object of scholarly discussion withthe inauguration of folklore and mythology studies in the Meiji period.The importance of the Kojiki as a work of literature-or, more pre-cisely, as a work having elements of literary value-was recognized asnever before; and scholars realized that the accounts in the Kojiki andNihon shoki were comparable in many ways with the myths and legendsof the ancient Greeks and Romans.

An epoch-making event in the history of modem Kojiki research wasthe publication in 1913 of a study by the historian Tsuda Skichi. In aseries of books Tsuda set out to show that the Kojiki, particularly in itsearlier sections, was neither history nor myth but a late fabrication bycourt intellectuals for the sole purpose of legitimizing andjustifying therule of the imperial house. Tsuda's work created a sensation, and subse-quent scholarly study of the Kojik amounts largely to modification andcorrection of the une of thought proponed by him. His basic textual-critical writings on the Kojiki are currently available in his 2-volumeNihon koten no kenky (Iwanami Shoten, 1948-So).

Among the reactions to Tsuda's work was Watsuji Tetsur's Nihonkodai bunka (Iwanami Shoten, 1920), which argued that literary impulsewas clearly at work in the Kojiki, imparting to it an inner unity and co-

32

Introduction

herence. Kurano Kenji, in his Kojiki no shinkenky (Shibund, 1927),proposed that the Kojk had elements of epic literature and that it mightbe regarded as a national epic like Beowullf

During the 192o's and 3o's, Hashimoto Shinkichi, the philologist,studied the phonology of Archaic Japanese, and in time his conclusionswere applied by scholars to the study of the Kojiki.

Tsugita Uruu's Kojiki shink5, the first and best of the modern com-mentaries, was published in 1924.

A critical study of the textual structure of the Kojiki has been made inrecent years by Takeda Ykichi, whose Kojiki kenky, Vol. 1: Teikik6(Seijisha, 1944), Kojiki setsuwagun no kenky (Meiji Shoin, 1954), andKiki kaysh zenk (Meiji Shoin, 1956) are of great value.

The folkloristic school of Yanagita Kunio and Orikuchi Shinobu hasbeen responsible for other studies, including a re-ernphasis of the theorythat Piyeda nii Are was a woman.

The study ofJapanese mythology reached a high point in the monu-mental four-volume work by Matsumura Takeo, Nihon shinwa nokenky (Baifkan, 1954-58).

There have also been numerous literary and historical studies of sub-jects related to the Kojiki. Especially noteworthy is Heibonsha's multi-volume Kojiki taisei. This collection includes a critical text, a comment-ary, and a concordance. The learned society called the Kojiki Gakkaipublishes annually the Kojik nemp, which includes critical articles andbibliographical surveys of the year's work in Kojiki studies.

33

Preface'

I I, YASUMAR5,2 do say:

2 When the primeval matter had congealed but breath and formhad not yet appeared, there were no names and no action 3 Whocan know its form?

3 However, when heaven and earth were first divided, the threedeities became the first of all creation.4 The Male and Female5 herebegan, and the two spiritss were the ancestors of all creation.

4 Whereupon after the going in and coming out from the seenand unseen worlds,7 the sun and moon were revealed in the wash-ing of the eyes.e

5 After the f oating and sinking in the sea-waters, die deities wererevealed in the washing of the body.9

6 Thus, though the primeval beginnings be distant and dim, yet by

1 The so-called Preface is actually a document presenting the Kojiki to the EmpressGemmei. It is entirely Chinese in style and diction, containing many phrases modeledafter Chinese writings.

2 Opo n8 YasumarS ; cf. verse 70 of the Preface. The word translated 'I' is fi , meaning'subject' or 'vassal.'

3 'Primeval matter' might also be translated 'chaos .' This matter congeals or hardeus.Breath and form are two of the three attributes of life, the third being substance. In theprimeval state these attributes had not yet emerged . The idea of such a primeval name-less state of inactivity seems to be borrowed from Taoist thought. The whole paragraphis thoroughly Chinese in conception.

4 Verses 3-18 contain referentes to many of the accounts in the Kojiki text. The' three deities ' are those mentioned in i:i of the text.

Literally, the Yin and Yang.s The two deities Izanagi and Izanami (2:2).

I.e., Izanagi's visit to YimJ in Chapter 9.e C 11:22-23.

Cf. 11:13-18.

37

Kojiki

7

89

the ancient teachings do we know the time when the Lands wereconceived and the islands born; though the origins be vague andindistinct, yet by relying upon the sages of antiquity do we per-ceive the age when the deities were born and men were made tostand.1o

Truly, after the hanging up of the mirrorll and the spitting outof the jewels,12 the hundred kings followed in succession; after thechewing of the sword and the slaughtering of the serpent,13 themyriad deities flourished.

Io Conferring by the YASU river, they pacified the kingdom;14 dis-puting by the beach, they purified the land.16

Prefacei5 Then, warned by a dream, he reverenced the gods,23 and there-

fore was lauded as the wise emperor.2416 He looked at the smoke and trcated the people with benevol-

ence, and to this day is reputed a saintly ruler.2117 The borders were determined and the Lands were developed18 during the reign at TIKA-TU-APUMI,26 and the tit les were cor-

rected and the clan-narres selected during the rule at TAPO-Tu-A S UKA.27

i9 Although each reign differed in the degree of swiftness or slow-20 ness, and each was not the same in refinement and simplicity; yet

there was not one [ruler] who did not by meditating upon antiq-uity straighten manners which had collapsed, and who did not bycomparing the present with antiquity strengthen morals and teach-ings verging on extinction.28

Coming now to the reign of the emperor who ruled OPO-YA-SIMA in the great palace of KIYOMIPARA in ASUKA :29

Already as latent dragon he embodied the royal qualities, and therepeated thunder-peals responded to the times.30

Hearing the song in a dream, he thought to inherit the Throne;

II At this, PO-N-NINIGI-N5-MIK5T5 first descended to TAKA-TI-Po peak,'6 and the emperor KAMU-YAMAT passed through [theisland of] AIt_I-DU-SIMA. 17

12 The ghostly bear carne forth from the river,18 and the heavenlysword was obtained from TAKA-KURA.1s

21

13 Men with taus blocked the road,20 and a large crow led the wayto YESINO.21

22

14 Dancing in rows, they swept aside the bandits; hearing the song,they vanquished the foe.22

23

1 Kurano Kenji equates the 'deities' with the 'myriad deities' and the 'men' with the'hundred kings' of verse 9. The parallelism of verses 6 and 7 is a common feature of thestyle of Chinese writing used as a model by Yasumard. See Kurano in Kojiki taisei,ed. Hisamatsu Sen'ichi et al. (Heibonsha, 1956-58), VI, 6.

n A reference to the ceremonies before the Heavenly Rock-cave (c 17:11).la A reference to the contest between Susa-nd-wo and Ama-terasu-opo-mi-kartti (see

Chapter 15). The 'chewing of the sword' also refers to that contest (see 15:2ff).13 Susa-nd-wo's slaying of the eight-tailed dragon (see Chapter 1g).la The divine convocation of 32:5ff.ls The confrontation of 35 :8ff.1s C 39:13.17 The expedition of Emperor Jimmu, recounted in Chapters 47-52ls The bear is, of course, the bear mentioned in 49:1. In no document, however, is

this bear said to come from a river. Most manuscripts have 'put forth his claws,' whichis believed to be an error for 'came orth from the river.' See Kojiki taisei, VI, 7.

12 A shortened form for Taka-kurazi, the person who brought the sword to EmperorJimmu (cf. 49:3).

20 An allusion to so:8ff. Perhaps the road was 'blocked' in the sense of being throngedwith greeters.

21 An allusion to 50:2-3-11 The sentences in verses 14-16 contain no grammatical subjects; personal pronouns'

have been supplied by the translator. Each paragraph refers to a different person orpersons. Verse 14 refers to the warriors who killed the Tuti-gumo, the 'men with tails,'in Chapter 52.

22 Emperor Sujin in 65 :2ff.14 C 68:7.21 This paragraph refers to Emperor Nintoku (cf. 110:2-7).20 The reign of Emperor Seimu (cf. 90:4).27 The reign of Emperor Ingy (c 121:11).21 Although Motoori attached little importante to this section, the nationalistic

Yamada Yoshio regarded verses 15-2o as a summary of the highest principies of Japanesepolitics. Reverente to the gods, benevolent rule, the designation of local borders, andthe correction of names and titles are, he says, the four basic principies of good rule aslaid forth by Yasumard. Kojiki jobun ksgi (Shiogama [Miyagi Prefecture] : ShibahikoShrine & Shiogama Shrine, 1935), pp. 67-68.

22 Emperor Temmu (reigned 673-686). Verses 21-38 are an elaborate encomium ofthis emperor, dwelling especially upon the circumstances which led to bis ascent to thethrone after the Jinshin rebellion of 672, in which he was the victor against the pretenderPrince Opo-tdmd (the so-called Emperor K6bun).

30 'Latent dragon' is a Chinese expression for 'crown prince,' or the destined emperorwho has not yet come to the throne. The 'repeated thunder-peals' are signals cawng himto the throne.

38 39

Kojiki

24

arriving at the water by night, he knew that he was to receive theDignity.31

But the time of Heaven had not yet come, and cicada-like heshed his wrappings in the southern mountains.32

As popular support grew for his cause, he walked tiger-like inthe eastern lands.33

26 The imperial chariot proceeded with quick will.ingness, crossingover the mountains and rivers.

27 The six regiments shook like thunder, and the three armiesmoved like lightning.

28 The spears and javelins revealed their might, and the fierce war-riors rose up like,smoke.

29 The crimson banners gleamed upon the weapons, and the treach-erous band collapsed like tiles.

30 Before a fortnight34 had elapsed, the foul vapors had been puri-

31

fied.Thus they released the cattle and rested the steeds, and returned

peacefully35 to the capital.32 Furling the banners and putting away the halberds, they re-

33

34

mained singing and dancing in the city.As the star rested in the region of the Cock,36 in the second

month, in the great palace of KIYOMIPARA he ascended [the throne]and assumed the Heavenly Dignity.

In the Way he excelled the Yellow Emperor; in Virtue he sur-passed the king of Chou.37

31 The passage does not identify the song ; perhaps it was the popular waza-uta towhich prophetic meanings were attached (cf. Aston, II, 299). The 'water at night' refersto the YSkb-gapa river at Nabari, where a divination indicated that Temmu wouldbecome Emperor . Ibid., 306.

37 The future Emperor Temmu, shortly before the death of the preceding EmperorTenchi, renounced the world (Le., shed cicada-like his worldly adornments) and retiredto Mount YSsino (or Yesino), for purely tactical reasons . See Aston , II, 297.

33 Emperor Temmu went to the eastern part of the kingdom and rebelled againstPrince Opo-tim in 672.

34 Actually , a period of 52 days. The word is used loosely.31 Or 'in triumph.'33 Le., in the year of the Cock,673.37 The Yellow Emperor (Huang Ti) was a legendary Chinese ruler. The king of

Chou is evidently Emperor W@n (W@n Wang), a ruler of the Chou dynasty.

35

PrefaceGrasping the regalia, he ruled the six directions ; gaining the

Heavenly Lineage, he embraced the eight corners.36 Adhering to the Two Essences , 33 he put the five elements in right

37

38

39

40

41

42

434445

order.39He set forth profound principles to implant good practices, and

he proposed noble manners to issue throughout the land.4oNot only this, his wisdom was vast as the sea, searching out

antiquity; his mirad was bright as a mirror, clearly beholding for-mer ages.

Whereupon, the Emperor said:"I hear that the Teiki41 and Honji42 handed down by the various

houses have come to differ from the truth and that many false-hoods have been added to them.

"If these errors are not remedied at this time, their meaningwill be lost before many years have passed.

"This is the framework of the state, the great foundation of theimperial influence.

"Therefore, recording the Teiki and examining the Kuji,43 dis-carding the mistaken and establishing thc true, 1 delire to handthem on to later generations."

At that time there was a court attendant44 whose surname wasPIYEDA and his given name ARE. He was twenty-eight years old.

He possessed such great native intelligence that he could repeat

se The Yin and Yang.s3 The five elements are water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. Kurano regards this as

a referente to Emperor Temmu's repeated homage to the wind god of Tatuta and thegod of Pirose. Kojiki taise, VI, 24.

40 Kurano regards these as definite accomplishments of Emperor Temmu's reign.Ibid., 24-25-

11 'Imperial Chronicles.' A document or documents recording genealogical and otherbasic data concerning the Imperial House. It is regarded as identical with the Senki ofverse 54 and the Sumera-mkt n pi-tugi of verse 46. See Introduction.

42 'Fundamental Dicta.' These were evidently documents recording ancient rnyths,legends, and songs and are believed to be the same as the Kuji of verses 42, 54, and 55and as the Sak-no-y6 n puru gt of verse 46. See Introduction.

a3 'Ancient Dicta.' Used interchangeably with Honji.44 Toneri. A male attendant of low rank who served the person of the emperor or a

prince of the blood. See GLOSSARY.

40 41

Kojiki Preface

orally whatever met his eye, and whatever struck his ears wasindelibly impressed in his heart.

53 It must be said that her fame is greater than that of EmperorY,64 and her virtue surpasses that of Emperor T'ang.55

46 Then an imperial command was given to ARE to learn45 theSumera-mikt n5 pi-tugi4 and the Saki-n5-y5 n puro gdt.47

54 Hereupon , appalled at the mistakes in the Kuji, she determinedto correct the corruptions in the Senki.

47 However, the times went on and the reign changed before thisproject48 was accomplished.

55 On the eighteenth day of the ninth month of the fourth year ofWad,55 an imperial command was given to me, YASUMAR, torecord and present the Kuji learned by imperial command by

48 Prostrate , 1 consider how Her Imperial Majesty,49 gaining the PIYEDA No ARE.One,50 illumines , the Universe; being in communion with theThree,61 nurtures the populace.

56 Reverently , in accordance with the imperial will , I chose andtook them up in great detail.

49 Ruling in the Purple Pavilion, her virtue extends to the lirnit ofthe horses ' hoof-prints ; dwelling in the Concealed Palace, her in-fluence illumines the furthest extent of the prows of the boats.51

57 However, during the times of antiquity , both words and mean-ings were unsophisticated, and it was difficult to reduce the sen-tences and phrases to writing.57

50 The sun rises with doubled radiante ; the clouds are scattered 58 If expressed completely in ideographic writing, the words willand there are no mists. 59 not correspond exactly with the meaning, and if written entirely

51 Auspicious signs - connected stalks and double rice-ears - are phonetically , the account will be much longer.6852 ceaselessly recorded by the scribes ; tribute from across countless

border beacon-fires and through numberless translations does notleave the treasury empty for a single month.53

6o For this reason, at times ideographic and phonetic writing havebeen used in combination in the lame phrase, and at times thewhole matter has been recorded ideographically.

61 a note has beenort is difficult to gatherurwhen theThus45 The Chinese expression used here means both to familiarize oneself with the con- ,p p,tents of a written document and to memorize it so that one can recite it without the text. added to make it clear; but when the meaning is easy to under-Are was commissioned to familiarize himself with the difficult old texts, to repeat themover and over again by rote , and thus to learn or memorize them. Kojiki taisei , VI, 32. stand, no note is given. k hi h i ihf11 `The Imperial Sun-Lineage .' This was probably the same document as the Teiki 62 ttens wras Kusa csurnames suc a , wAgain, in the case oor Senki. Fl T, and given names such as Tarasi , which is written , the

41 This may also be read Senda-kuji and may be translated 'Ancient Dicta of Former e 59has been followed without chanof writintraditional waAges.' It was probably the same document as the Kuji or Honji. g .gy48 The project of editing the old traditions as outlined in verse 42.49 Empress Gemmei (reigned 707-715). After a short encomium (verses 48-53), Yasu-

mara records the empress' command in regard to the compilation of the Kojiki (verses54-55).

so Le., the throne.51 I.e ., heaven, earth, and roan.11 The expressions "to the limit of the horses' hoof-prints" and "the furthest extent of

the prows of the boats " are reminiscent of Japanese phrases found in the norito for theGrain-petitioning Festival in the Engi-shiki.

51 The phraseology is intentionally continental. The sense of "across countless borderbeacon-fires and through numberless translations" is that the tribute comes from suchdistant states-as well as from the nearer countries-that it must cross many borders andbe explained in many languages before it reaches the imperial treasury. Cf. Kojikitaisei

, VI, 36-37.

64 The legendary emperor who founded the Hsia dynasty, 2205 B.C.15 Thc founder of the Yin or Shang dynasty, 1766 B.C.56 711 A.D.

57I.e ., Chinese writing. In verses 57-62 Yasumarii dilates upon the principies headopted in editing the texts making up the Kojiki.

11 If translated entirely finto literary Chinese, there will be discrepancies between theideographic text and the original traditions; if written entirely phonetically, a muchgreater number of ideographs will be required to express the same meaning . Yasumariigives a good statement of the dilemma of the scribe in the Japan of that period.

se Yasumarh follows the traditional transcriptions of various proper names, evenwhen there seems to be no logical reason for perpetuating them.

42 43

Kojiki63 In general, the account begins with the beginning of heaven and

earth and ends with the reign of WOPARIDA.so64 Thus everything from AMi -N-MI-NAKA-NUSI-NS-KAMi through

PIKO-NAGISA-TAKE-U-GAYA-PUKI-APHZU-N,5-MIKOTj 1s included inthe first volume.61

65 Everything from Emperor KAMU-YAMATj-IPARE-BrKO throughthe reign of POMUDA is included in the second volume.88

66 Everything from Emperor OPO-SAZAKI through the reign at theGreat Palace of WOPARIDA is included in the third volume.63

67 These three volumes are recorded together and are reverentlypresented.

68 Thus do 1, YASUMARb, full of awe, full of fear, reverently bowmy head again and again.

69 The twenty-eighth day of the first month of the fifth year ofWad.64

70 The ASOMI OPO Nb YASUMAR, upper fifth rank and fifth orderof merit.

80 Empress Suiko.el Cf. I:1; 46ae2 C 47:1; 99:1es C 109 :1; 149:1

ea 712 A.D.

KojikiBook One

44

Book One, Chapter 1

CHAPTER i

THE FIVE SEPARATE HEAVENLY DEITIES COME

INTO EXISTENCE.

I At the time of the beginning of heaven and earth,l there carneing finto existence in TAKAMA-N5-PARA a deity named AMH-N5-MI-NAKA-NUSI-N-KAMI; next, TAKA-MI-MUSUBI-N5-KAMI; neXt, KAMI-MusuBI-N6-KAMi. These three deities all carne into existence as sin-

gle deities,2 and their forms were not visibles2 Next, when the land was young, resembling floating oil and drift-

like a jellyfish, there sprouted forth something like reed-shoots 4From5 these carne hito existence the deity UMASI-ASI-KABI-PIKO-DI-N-KAMI; next, AMB-N-TSK5-TATI-NS-KAMI 6 These two deities

also carne into existence as single deities,5 and their forms were notvisible.3

3 The five deities in the aboye section are the Separate HeavenlyDeities.'

1 See ADDITIONAL NOTE I for a discussion of the cosmogony of this chapter. Fordiscussions of proper narres see GLOSSARY.

2 Pitri gami; unlike the pairs of male and female deities who carne into existencelater, these deities carne into being one by one and had no counterparts. However, itlater becomes apparent that both Kamf-musubi-no-kar i and Taka-mi-musubi-n5-kam3had children (c 3o:4; 38:5).

8 Or `they hid their bodies.'Asi-kabt; the word forros part of the narre of the next deity.Or 'by, by means o'

e The first two sentences of this verse are written phonetically, for the most part, andmust have originated in oral tradition. Kanda Hideo surmises that the section from1:2 through 2:2 was originally a poetas depicting the birth of all things from reed-shootsspringing up in the muddy water of some primeval period. Kojiki no kzd (Meiji Shoin,1959), PP. 246-47.

Kbt5-ama-tu-kami. For sorne reason which is unclear to us today, diese frve deitieswere distinguished from the other heavenly deities and were set apart in a specialcategory.

47

Kojiki

CHAPTER 2

THE SEVEN GENERATIONS OF THE AGE OF THE

GODS COME INTO EXISTENCE.

I Next there carne into existente the deity KUNI-NO-TUO-TATI-

N-KAMi; next, T iY5-KUMO-NO-N5-KAMI. These two deities also

carne into existence as single deities,l and their forms were notvisible.2

2 Next there carne into existence the deity named U-PIDI-NI-N5-KAMi; next , his spouse3 SU-PIDI-NI-N-KAMI. Next, TUNO-GUPI-

N-KAMI; next, his SpOuSe IKU-GUPI-NO5-KAMi. Next, OPO-TO-N-DI-N-KAMi; next, his spouse OP0-TO-N5-BE-N-KAMi. Next, OM-DARU-NO5-KAMI; next, his spouse AYA-KASIKO-NE-N-KAMI. Next,

IZANAGI-N5-KAMI; next, bis spouse IZANAMI-N5-KAMI.

The deities in the aboye section, from KUNI-NS-TOK5-TATI-N5-KAMi through IZANAMI-N-KAMi, are called collectively the Seven

Generations of the Age of the Gods.4The first two single deities' are each called one generation .b The next pairs of ten

deities are arranged in couples , each couple being called one generation.5

3

4

' Pitrigama.Or 'they hid their bodies.'Imo. Literally, 'younger sister.'Kami-y5 nana-y.Y5. The two single deities in verse i are each counted as one y; the ten deities which

follow are in couples, each couple being reckened as one yii. Thus there are altogetherseven y. Verse 4 is a redactoral gloss, written in small characters in the original, nodoubt by Yasumarii. For the cosmogony of this chapter, see ADDrrIONAL NOTE 2.

Book One, Chapters 2 and 3

CHAPTER 3

IZANAGI AND IZANAMI ARE COMMANDED TO

SOLIDIFY THE LAND. THEY CREATE

ONUR ISLAND.

At this time the heavenly deities,l all with one command,2 raidto the two deities IZANAGI-N5-MIK05T and IZANAMI-NS-MIKTO:

"Complete and solidify this drifting land !"32 Giving them the Heavenly Jeweled Spear,4 they entrusted the

mission to them.Thereupon, the two deities stood on the Heavenly Floating

Bridge5 and, lowering the jeweled spear, stirred with it. Theystirred the brine with a churning-churning sound;6 and when theylifted up [the spear] again, the brine dripping down from the tip ofthe spear piled up and became an island. This was the islandON5G5R5.7

3

1 Evidently the Separate Heavenly Deities of Chapter i.2 Some manuscripts have 'giving a command.' A heavenly mandate is not an essentiai

element in the story of Izanagi and Izanami (its omission in most of the versions in theNihon shoki reveals that it was something of an afterthought). Matsumura Takeo con-tends that it was included in the Kojiki version to conform with a traditional idea thatany deities descending from the heavens to perform any activities should be acting undera mandate from the heavenly deities. Nihon shinwa no kenky, II, 71-83.

8 The land mentioned aboye (1:2) as 'drifting like a jellyfish.' A similar command isgiven later to Opo-kuni-nusi (cf. 30:5).

' Am n m-bok. The words am no ('heavenly') are a stylized epithet praising anobject by connecting it with the heavenly abode of the gods. Nu is an element whichseems to mean jewel'; thus, nu-bok would mean a spear made of, or decorated with,precious stones.

6 Am n uki-pasi; cf. 32:3; 39:13. A bridge over which divine beings traveled be-tween heaven and earth. Commentators have interpreted it as a boat or raft, a highladder, a bridge of rainbows, or the Milky Way.

6 Kwori kwor ni. This onomatopoeia, which appears again in the song in 133:57-58, has also the sense of'curdling' or 'congealing.' This section of the narrative is perhapsreminscent of the ancient Inland Sea custom of manufacturing salt by boiling downsea water.

Ondgr island, which may literally mean 'self-curdling' island (see GLOSSARY),48 49

Kojiki

CHAPTER 4

IZANAGI AND IZANAMI MARRY AND BEAR

THEIR FIRST OFFSPRING.

I Descending from the heavens to this island, they erected a heav-enly pillar' and a spacious palace.2

2 At this time [Izanagi-n-mikt] asked his spouse IZANAMI-N-MIKT, saying:

3"How is your body formed?"She replied, saying :"My body, formed though it be formed, has one place which is

formed insufficiently."4 Then IZANAGI-N-MIKOTO said:

"My body, formed though it be formed, has one place whichis formed to excess. Therefore, 1 would like to take that place inmy body which is formed to excess and insert it into that place inyour body which is formed insufficiently, and [thus] give birth tothe land. How would this be?"

5 IZANAMI-N5-MIKT 5 replied, saying :"That will be good."

6 Then IZANAGI-NS-MIK5T said:"Then let us, you and me, walk in a circle around this heavenly

pillar and meet and have conjugal intercourse."7 After thus agreeing, [Izanagi-n-rnik t] then said:

was evidently thought to be near what is now bsaka Bay (see 111:22). The drippingbrine congealed or crystallized to form this island, which became the base of operationsof Izanagi and Izanami when they descended from the heavens to begin their procrea-tive work.

1 For a discussion of the significance of this pillar (ame n5 mi-pasira), see ADDITIONALNOTE 3.

2 Ya pir-ddn. The wedding palace of Izanagi and Izanami. According to Kurano,pir is a unit of length equivalent to the distance from fmgertip to fingertip when aperson has both arms extended.

Book One, Chapter 4

"You walk around from the right, and I will walk around fromthe left and meet you."

8 After having agreed to this, they circled around; then IzANAMI-N-MIKdT said first:

9"Ana-ni-yasi,3 how good a lad !Afterwards, IZANAGI-N i-MIKOT said:"Ana-ni-yasi, how good a maiden !"

io After each had finished speaking, [Izanagi-n-mikt] said tohis spouse:

"It is not proper4 that the woman speak first."II Nevertheless, they commenced procreation and gave birth to a

leech-child.5 They placed this child into a boat made of reeds andfloated it away.

12 Next, they gave birth to the island of APA. This also s notreckoned as one of their children.

An exclamation of wonder and delight.Or 'it bodes no good.'Piru-go; for a discussion of the leech-child, see ADDITIONAL NOTE 4. The leech-child

and the island of Apa were considered failures and were not counted among Izanami andIzanagi's rightful progeny (c 7:25).

50 51

Kojiki

CHAPTER S

IZANAGI AND IZANAMI, LEARNING THE REASON

FOR THEIR FAILURE, REPEAT THE

MARRIAGE RITUAL.

Then the two deities consulted together and said:"The child which we have just borne is not good. It is best to

report [this matter] before the heavenly deities."2 Th