Literature—Japan

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Literature—Japan

Japanese literature has flourished from the early eighth century to the present in a myriad of genres and styles reflecting the nation's cultural periods. The Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), the earliest Japanese text, was completed in 712. A history based on oral traditions, this work provides a justification for the supremacy of the imperial family and its right to rule and includes myths of creation documenting the foundations of the Yamato state, those clans along the Inland Sea that formed the nucleus of the early Japanese nation.

In the creation myths in Kojiki, the god and goddess Izanagi and Izanami describe creation in terms of the union of male and female and emphasize the importance of rituals and purity. They see humanity as part of nature and stress harmony over conflict. A second cycle of myths concerning Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Susanoo, the storm god, describes solstice rituals and depicts an agrarian society. These myths are also political narratives reflecting a conflict between the Izumo culture on the Sea of Japan coast and the Yamato culture across the mountains from it. A parallel history, the Nihon shoki (Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to 697 CE), compiled in 720, contains much of the same material as the Kojiki but is presented more formally in imitation of Chinese dynastic histories.

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