Shinto

Japan

Land of the Rising Sun

126

Generations from Jimmu, the first Emperor

Sacred Texts

The Kojiki

The Record of Ancient Matters, compiled from oral tradition in 712, the Kojiki is a sacred source book for ceremonies, customs, divination, and magical practices of ancient Japan. It includes myths, legends, and historical accounts of the imperial court back to the reign of Empress Suiko (628).

Nihongi

Also known as Nihon Shoki, or Chronicles of Japan, it is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history compiled by court scholar Ono Yasumaro. The work begins with the story of Creation, records oral legends of Shinto gods, and ends with the reign of Empress Jito in 697 CE. It is considered a sequel to the Kojiki.

Japanese religion dating from the early 8th century and incorporating the worship of ancestors and nature spirits and a belief in sacred power (kami) in both animate and inanimate things. Shinto shrines, or jinja, are the sacred locations of one or more kami, and there are some 80,000 in Japan. Certain natural features and mountains may also be considered shrines.