Shinto

Read the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), Japan's oldest chronicle compiled in 712 CE at the order of Empress Genmei. It records the age of the gods (kami), the creation of the Japanese islands by Izanagi and Izanami, and the divine descent of the imperial family. Alongside the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan, 720 CE), these texts form the mythological and spiritual foundation of Shinto. The Basil Hall Chamberlain translation of the Kojiki (1882) is the classical English rendering.