Kojiki
- Language:
- English
- Translation:
- Basil Hall Chamberlain
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Recorded or compiled by others
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~68,600 words · 326 passages
Cite this work
- APAKojiki. (n.d.). Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) [Kojiki] (Basil Hall Chamberlain, Trans.). Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/kojiki/kojiki-records-of-ancient-matters
- MLAKojiki. Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) [Kojiki]. Translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/kojiki/kojiki-records-of-ancient-matters.
- ChicagoKojiki. Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) [Kojiki]. Translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/kojiki/kojiki-records-of-ancient-matters.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
Kojiki (712): the oldest book in Japan.
Context and history
Creation myths, the genealogy of gods and emperors, and songs far older than the prose around them. Basil Hall Chamberlain's translation. **Note: the catalogue had held a copy of the Nihongi misfiled under Kojiki; it was retired on 2 Aug 2026.** This one is the Kojiki.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
The names of the Deities that were born next were the Earthly-Eternally-Standing-Deity, next the Luxuriant-Integrating-Master-Deity. These two Deities were likewise Deities born alone, and hid their persons. The names of the Deities that were born next were the Deity Mud-Earth-Lord, next his younger sister the Deity Mud-Earth-Lady; next the Germ-Integrating-Deity, next his younger sister the Life-Integrating-Deity; next the Deity Elder-of-the-Great-Place, next his younger sister the Deity Elder-Lady-of-the-Great-Place; next the Deity Perfect-Exterior, next his younger sister the Deity Oh-Awful-Lady; next the Deity the Male-Who-Invites, next his younger sister the Deity the Female-Who-Invites. From the Earthly-Eternally-Standing Deity down to the Deity the the Female-Who-Invites in the previous list are what are termed the Seven Divine Generations. (The two solitary Deities above [-mentioned] are each called one generation. Of the succeeding ten Deities each pair of deities is called a generation. [Sect. III.—The Island of Onogoro.] [Sect. III.—The Island of Onogoro.] Hereupon all the Heavenly Deities commanded the two Deities His Augnstness the Male-Who-Invites and Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites, ordering them to “make, consolidate, and give birth to this drifting land.” Granting to them an heavenly jewelled spear, they [thus] deigned to charge them. So the two Deities, standing upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven, pushed down the jewelled spear and stirred with it, whereupon, when they had stirred the brine till it went curdle-curdle, and drew [the spear] up, the brine that dripped down from the end of the spear was piled up and became an island. This is the Island of Onogoro. [Sect. IV.—Courtship of the Deities the Male-Who-Invites and the Female-Who-Invites.]