Kojiki

Description

The Kojiki, the earliest source book in Japanese literature and history, was completed in A.D. 712 under the auspices of the imperial court. It is the oldest extant book in Japanese and, as its title (literally, "Record of Ancient Things") suggest, an account of a still earlier era. It is the court's statement about the origins of the imperial clan and the leading families and the beginnings of Japan as a nation; and it is, at the same time, a compilation of myths, historical and pseudo-historical narratives and legends, songs, anecdotes, folk etymologies, and genealogies.