The Kojiki–Nihon Shoki Mythos

The twelve core figures drawn from the Kojiki (compiled 712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (compiled 720 CE), the two oldest mytho-historical chronicles of Japan. From the primordial creation through the birth of the islands and ten thousand spirits, the Yomi tragedy (Yomotsu-shikome), the three noble children (Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo), the slaying of the eight-headed serpent, Ōkuninushi's rule of Izumo, the surrender of the land at the hands of Takemikazuchi, the heavenly descent of Ninigi guided by Sarutahiko, and the tragic hero Yamato-takeru. Arranged in narrative order, the twelve cover the foundations of the Japanese cosmos, religion, polity, and culture, with successive readings from Motoori Norinaga, Orikuchi Shinobu, Matsumae Takeshi, Segawa Takurō and others sustaining their interpretation across two millennia of continuous reception.