The Kojiki Myths

When people think of myths they usually think of the Greek or the roman but there are many more cultures with myths but they usually all relate to the same things. Myths are the traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a culture (NA“ Myths”). One of the most popular myths is the Greek story of Hercules the strongest mortal alive. Did you know that the native American tribe Blackfoot used myths too? Yes, they did many native American tribes used myths too ,but they are more likely to be called a fable or a folktale. There is a tale of a Crow Brings the Daylight which is related to the Greeks story when Apollo son of Zeus rides a gold chariot over the sky and carries the sun. Then there is the Chinese which is called

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

As I mentioned above, everything began with Christopher Columbus discovering America in 1492. History is non-fiction, and perhaps the most concrete example of this non-fiction is the story of the beginning of the Indians. Native American mythology contains may different types of character including heroes, tricksters, and more. These characters can have both good and bad qualities, and fall into many categories. For example, creator gods usually restore order, but in some stories can be destructive. Tricksters can even be considered the hero in some stories. (Myths Encyclopedia, 2007). Indian stories are born from experiences and beliefs. Ross also states that “Native American societies are based on the concept of interdependence. Interdependence

The Ainu are originally historically residents of Hokkaido, Japan’s nothernmost large island, their origins mostly unknown but theorists believe that a people called the Yayoi made their way to the island nation through means unknown and integrated themselves with an indigenous population called colloquially the Jomon-jin or “Rope Pattern People” so called for the distinctive appearance of various pieces ofi neolithic pottery found in ancient burial sites. Though it can be stated that the Yayoi didn’t reach as far as Shakalin or Kamchatka which has allowed the Ainu culture to survive in those areas, though the Kamchatke Ainu have been extinct since prehistory. There are Ainu myths that claim that “They lived in this place one hundred thousand years before the Children of the Sun came.” Their rich culture aside, the Japanese government has for hundreds of years and only stopped recently pursuing both officially and unofficially

“Let There Be Light”, A saying used to illustrate the illumination, or beginning of something. Through creation stories and myths, we can analyze, or have a better understanding of how past civilizations may have looked at life, science, and nature. I will compare the similarities, and point out the differences between the Greek culture, Christian/Jewish, and Iroquois Indian civilizations. How they characterized the primordial, creation, and the gender gap through narrative. This gives us insight to their societies values and beliefs at the time they were written. As discussed in class, and watched a video of Alan Watts speaking about the concept of something from nothing, the term Tao says that space and form go

The Japanese culture has been greatly influenced by its religions, and one of the most influential religions has been Shintoism. Shintoism has been dated back to 500BC, when the descendants of the sun goddess, Amaterasu-OmiKami, worshiped the gods and goddesses of Japan. Shinto means "way of the gods" and that represents what people who practice Shintoism believe in. Shintoism is a religion based on Japanese mythology, which is centered on a male god, Izanagi, and a female goddess, Izanami. These two gods were believed to have created Japan, which was thought to be the only land in the whole word. The two gods had two children, the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the storm god, Susanowo. These two gods fought over control of the people of

She spied the seal as he climbed out of the water and onto the rocks. The seal looked to be her, Mr. Seal. He was out beyond the breakers on one of the quartzite pillars which the local seals used to bask in the sun.

Another thematic poem is that of Yee Bow. Yee Bow was an Asian man who worshipped Confucius. The people of Spoon River tried to convert him, but he was faithful. One day, without warning, the clergyman’s son hit and killed Yee Bow. Yee was grief-stricken, knowing that his progeny could not worship him while he lie in Spoon River.

The principal Japanese institution was the uji, or clan. Each clan controlled their own territory, and was composed of both commoners and aristocrats. It also had its own mythology centered on a divine ancestor. The imperial family, the Yamato clan, gained domination over the other clans, and became the primary focus of Japanese myth. Jimmu-tenno was said to be the founder of the imperial family, although he did have an older brother who was killed in battle during their quest to move east to find the best place to rule and for new territories.

As we learned in lecture, the Japanese people, including their most elite, were viewed as submissive to the Chinese Imperial Court. We can infer this from the fact that the Chinese rulers were titled Emperors whilst the Japanese rulers were titled the lower Kings. In the Japanese Imperial Family's quest to legitimize their rule and prove their divinity with the heavens, the Japanese mythos, compiled in the Kojiki, was created. The extensive history doesn’t just explain the Yamato Emperor’s divinity though; the Record of Ancient Matters also details how many of the cultures, customs, and beliefs of the Japanese people came about. When reading Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book, many of these customs and beliefs are mentioned again, demonstrating

Kojiki is the earliest Japanese story which emphasizes the divine origins and the succession to prove emperors’ of yamato appropriateness as rulers.

The Japanese traditions state that the sun goddess created Japan and its emperors. However, researchers highlight 400AD as the start of Japan’s history after its foundation by the Yamato clan in Kyoto. The group controlled other families in the eastern and western parts of the region and tried to extend their rule in Korea. However, such interaction led to the introduction of Buddhism. In the 700s, China joined the Yamato clan and ruled through an imperial court. With the help of the samurai, the Minamoto clan established a military government under Yoritomo’s leadership in the 1100s. The entry of the Portuguese missionaries, Spanish, English and Dutch traders in the 16th century led to the collapse of the dictatorial military government as marked by the transition to the current power in the 19th century.

The first five gods told Izanagi and Izanami to make Japan, and they gave them a jeweled spear. Standing on the Bridge of Heaven, they dipped it in a floating landmass and stirred. They pulled out the spear, and where they stuck the spear an island formed. On this island they built a temple and a column that reached the

In addition, the Kokinshū also contains the manajo, or Chinese preface, which served as a political statement to China about the recognition of Japanese poetry as its own. The Man’yōshū, on the other hand, though it had many concluding envoys for its poetry, did not have a preface written by its compilers or poets.

Compiled nearly 1300 years ago, the Kojiki is the oldest surviving collection of Japanese myths, which serve as the backbone for Shinto practices. Thirteen centuries later, those very same myths live on, sometimes in forms which could not even exist until about a decade ago. In particular, the myth of The White Hare of Inaba is reincarnated through a few modern-day games. It tells the story of a cunning rabbit who crosses the sea by tricking wani (translated as crocodiles by B. H. Chamberlain, but it can also be rendered as sharks) into lying in a row. The hare reveals the nature of his trickery, and the last crocodile enacts revenge by ripping off all of the hare’s fur. Eighty gods, all brothers, stumble upon the hare, but they respond to the rabbit’s plea for help by giving dishonest advice that only causes the white hare more pain. The eighty-first brother, named Ōkuninushi, then finds the hare and gives proper aid to restore the rabbit’s hide. In return, the white hare of Inaba prophesizes that Ōkuninushi will marry Princess Yakami of Inaba, whom the eighty-one brothers sought to court. As can be seen through examples from Cardfight!! Vanguard and the Touhou series, the myth can be taken, reshaped, and used in a variety of ways without completely losing the original context.