Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters

Of all the mass of Japanese literature, which lies before us as the result of nearly twelve centuries of book-making, the most important monument is the work entitled Kojiki (古事記) or Records of Ancient Matters, which was completed in A.D. 712. It is the most important because it has preserved for us more faithfully than any other book the mythology, the manners, the language, and the traditional history of Ancient Japan. E.M. Satow, in his paper on the "Revival of Pure Shintō," says: "The Empero