![]() The Chinese had been thorough and careful about recording their history. During the seventh century Japan was greatly influenced by its much larger neighbor, China, and many elements of Japanese culture reflect this influence. The Kojiki is as much a political document as it is a holy work. In order to understand why Shinto is so uniquely Japanese, it is necessary to understand the history of the Kojiki's composition. In this way it differs from religions such as Christianity, which is not identified with any particular culture or country. ![]() The chief one is the concept of the "world." While people who practice Shinto can be found worldwide, Shinto is truly a Japanese religion. The creation account of the Kojiki contains a number of elements that are important to Japanese culture. The creation story goes on to recount Izanami's death and Izanagi's pursuit of her to the underworld, or the Nether Regions. Later, the two gods produced additional gods, including Kagutsuchi, the fire god. So, too, were the kami, especially the spirits that ruled the islands. The islands of Japan were seen as the god and goddess's children. This male prominence is an important feature of historic Japanese culture and can still be found in the twenty-first century. The story notes, however, that because Izanami spoke ahead of her husband at their wedding ceremony, the ceremony had to be repeated so that the male god was given priority over the female goddess. This is in contrast to religions such as Christianity and Judaism, which see creation as the work of a male god alone. Shinto recognizes both a male and a female principle, or element, in creation. The Shinto creation story relates the activities of Izanagi and Izanami, a god and goddess who created the Japanese islands out of chaos, a state of disorder or formlessness. Over the centuries, the Kojiki has become an important part of Japanese/Shinto mythology and helps define the Japanese worldview. ![]() These sections also record taboos (social or religious bans or restrictions), rituals, and ceremonies that were important to Shinto. The remaining sections list the line of succession of the Japanese emperors, linking these emperors to the gods and goddesses. The first third gives an account of the creation of the world (and of the Japanese islands, in particular), the birth of the gods and goddesses, and the descent of the gods and goddesses to Japan. Kojiki means "Record of Ancient Matters." The book consists of 180 sections. "Before the heavens and the earth came into existence, all was a chaos, unimaginably limitless and without definite shape or form." It also contains an account of the creation of the world, one that in many respects is similar to creation accounts contained in the scriptures, or holy texts, of other world religions. Part holy text, part history, and part folktale (a story passed on through oral traditions, usually containing a timeless truth, custom, or belief) and myth, it represents an effort to document much of the history of early Japan. Until the end of World War II in 1945, Shinto was the state religion of Japan. Shinto is a native Japanese religion that focuses on the worship of natural spirits called kami. The Kojiki, an eighth-century Shinto text, is the earliest surviving document written by the Japanese. Published in 1999 by Harcourt Brace Custom Publishing Kojiki compiled by O No Yasumaro in the eighth century "Japanese Creation Myth," from Tales from the Kojiki, in Reading about the World, available online at ∼wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/kojiki.html
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