Japanese mythology is typically identified with the Kojiki (Record of ancient matters) and Nihonshoki (Chronicle of Japan). Together referred to as the Kiki texts, they record the history of the Yamato court's rule, which extended throughout the Kinki region of Japan. Both the Kojiki (712 CE) and the Nihonshoki (720 CE) were compiled when the Ritsuryō state, which adopted Chinese legal codes and institutions, neared completion. Both texts begin with tales of deities, narratives that are today understood as myths.

The study of Japanese mythology has, until recently, been guided by the question of how to read the Kojiki and Nihonshoki in relation to themselves. That is to say, the texts alone provided the assumed framework for all readings, and the question of what position they occupied within the discursive space of the day—the space occupied by the Kiki—has rarely been asked...