Japanese mythology

"Japanese legend" redirects here. For the Japanese pantheon, see List of Japanese deities. For urban legends, see Japanese urban legends.
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Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology.[1] The history of thousands of years of contact with Chinese and various Indian myths (such as Buddhist and Hindu mythology) are also key influences in Japanese religious belief.[1][2][3]

Japanese myths are tied to the topography of the archipelago as well as agriculturally-based folk religion, and the Shinto pantheon holds uncountable kami ("god(s)" or "spirits").[1]

Two important sources for Japanese myths, as they are recognized today, are the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki.[4][5] The Kojiki, or "Record of Ancient Matters," is the oldest surviving account of Japan's myths, legends, and history.[6] Additionally, the Shintōshū describes the origins of Japanese deities from a Buddhist perspective.[7]

One notable feature of Japanese mythology is its explanation of the origin of the Imperial Family, which has been used historically to deify to the imperial line.[4]

Japanese is not transliterated consistently across all sources (see spelling of proper nouns).

  1. ^ a b c Piggott, Juliet. (1983). Japanese mythology (New revised ed.). New York, N.Y. pp. 6–8. ISBN 0-911745-09-2. OCLC 9971207.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Tylor, Edward B. (1877). "Remarks on Japanese Mythology". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 6: 55–58. doi:10.2307/2841246. JSTOR 2841246.
  3. ^ Kitagawa, Joseph M. (1963). "Prehistoric Background of Japanese Religion". History of Religions. 2 (2): 292–328. doi:10.1086/462466. ISSN 0018-2710. JSTOR 1062069. S2CID 162362195.
  4. ^ a b ANDASSOVA, Maral (2019). "Emperor Jinmu in the Kojiki". Japan Review (32): 5–16. ISSN 0915-0986. JSTOR 26652947.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Smits, Gregory J. (1991). "Political Thought in Japanese Historical Writing: From Kojiki (712) to Tokushi Yoron (1712). By John S. Brownlee. Toronto: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1991. xvii, 158 pp. $35.00". The Journal of Asian Studies. 51 (3): 666–667. doi:10.2307/2057985. ISSN 0021-9118. JSTOR 2057985. S2CID 154761651.
  7. ^ Kadoya, Atsushi; 門屋溫; Padoan, Tatsuma (2006). "On the Formation of Shintō Icons". Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie. 16: 151–182. doi:10.3406/asie.2006.1255. ISSN 0766-1177. JSTOR 44171454.