Japanese Mythology's Original Texts 4: The Nihon Shoki & Its Variants

Thank you for visiting. This article is the fourth installment in a series explaining the original texts of Japanese mythology.

In Articles 1–3, we traced the myths recorded in the other original text, the Kojiki. This time, I explain the other pillar that conveys Japanese mythology, the Nihon Shoki, focusing on the original text itself — what kind of book it is, and how it records the myths.

For an overview map of Japanese mythology’s original texts as a whole, please see this summary article.

The Original Texts of Japanese Mythology — Kojiki, Nihon Shoki & Indexen.senkohome.com/myths-religions-origins-japanese/

What Is the Nihon Shoki — the State’s Official History

The Nihon Shoki is Japan’s first “official history (a history book compiled officially by the state),” completed in AD 720 (Yōrō 4). It is said to have been compiled, beginning at the command of Emperor Tenmu, centered on his son Prince Toneri and others.

Its format differs greatly from the Kojiki, composed eight years earlier.

Whereas the Kojiki tells the myth in a single thread as a domestic story, the Nihon Shoki is written in full-fledged classical Chinese in an annalistic style (recording events in chronological order), modeled on Chinese history books. This is thought to have been for the diplomatic purpose of showing the international society of East Asia at the time that Japan was a formal state with an ancient history.

The Compilation — a 40-Year State Enterprise

The compilation of the Nihon Shoki was not achieved overnight. Its starting point is taken to be the decree of AD 681 (Tenmu 10), in which Emperor Tenmu commanded his princes and vassals to record and fix the Teiki (imperial genealogies) and the Kuji (old traditions). In fact, this decree is also taken as the starting point of the Kojiki’s compilation, and it is thought that the Kiki originally branched off from a single state enterprise.

The enterprise was carried on after Emperor Tenmu’s death, and after about 40 years, in AD 720 (Yōrō 4), it was completed centered on Emperor Tenmu’s son Prince Toneri and presented to Empress Genshō. Its text incorporates many of the styles and expressions of the Chinese official histories such as the Book of Han and Book of the Later Han, and there are not a few passages within the text that quote Chinese classics directly. It was a grand attempt to record the history of the nation of Japan in the form of a classical Chinese history book, the “world standard” of East Asia at the time.

It was also the Nihon Shoki that fixed Emperor Jimmu’s enthronement at 660 BC. This is thought to have been calculated backward according to the Chinese chen-wei theory, the idea that “a great revolution occurs in the year of the metal rooster (shin’yū)”; the process by which myth and calendrical thought joined to fix “Japan’s founding year” can also be read from this original text.

A Handbook of Japanese Myths and GodsView on Amazon → An Anatomical Illustrated Guide to the Gods of JapanView on Amazon →

The Structure of the Nihon Shoki — Only 2 of 30 Volumes Are the Age of Gods

The Nihon Shoki is a great work of 30 volumes (and 1 genealogy volume). Looking at its structure, the place that myth occupies becomes clear.

Worth noting is that the myth (the age of gods) is only the first 2 volumes, and the remaining 28 are devoted to the history of the successive emperors. This shows that the Nihon Shoki is above all a “history book,” in which myth is positioned as the starting point of that grand history. Its emphasis differs from the Kojiki, which devotes much space to the stories of the gods.

The Story of the Two Age-of-Gods Volumes — the Eleven-Section Structure

Volumes 1 and 2, dealing with the age of gods, have traditionally been read in divisions called the “eleven sections (dan).” Tracing what myth each section records makes clear in what order the Nihon Shoki arranges the stories of the gods.

In this way, the Nihon Shoki age of gods has a plot that explains precisely “how rule of the nation by the emperor began”: “birth of heaven and earth → genealogy of the gods → formation of the land → the imperial ancestor goddess Amaterasu → pacification of the earth → descent of the heavenly grandchild → birth of the emperors’ ancestor.” Worth noting is that the story of Izanagi’s visit to the land of Yomi, found in the Kojiki, is not treated prominently in the Nihon Shoki’s main text and only leaves a trace within a “one book.” Even with the same myth, the difference in character of the two original texts appears clearly in what is placed as the main thread and what is omitted.

”One Book Says” — the Distinctive Policy of Recording Variants

The most important and characteristic thing in reading the Nihon Shoki as an original text is the way of recording called “one book (aru fumi) says.”

Whereas the Kojiki tells the myth in a single fixed thread, the Nihon Shoki age-of-gods volumes first present a “main text (the formal account),” then record several different traditions of the same scene as “one book says.” For a single myth, in some cases more than 10 kinds of variant are recorded side by side.

This is an expression of the compilers’ attitude of not deciding on a single tradition, but faithfully writing down, as source material, the various variant accounts handed down by different regions and clans. Thanks to this, we today can know that ancient Japanese mythology had “many versions.” This is an extremely precious value as an original text for mythological research.

For example, in the opening creation (section 1), after the main text describes how heaven and earth divide, six or seven “one book says” line up in succession, introducing different accounts of the beginning of the world one after another. Likewise, in the birth of the three nobles (section 5), the main text and several “one books” diverge on how Amaterasu and Susanoo were born. In other words, the Nihon Shoki age of gods is structured less like a single story than like a “trade fair of traditions” over the same scenes. The reader, comparing the main text and the “one books,” can surmise which tradition connects to which clan or region.

The Myths the “One Book” Conveys, Differing from the Kojiki

In fact, the Nihon Shoki records many traditions that differ from the Kojiki. Let’s look at some representative ones.

• The birth of the three nobles: In the Kojiki, in the purification after Izanagi returns from the land of Yomi, Amaterasu is born from his left eye, Tsukuyomi from his right eye, and Susanoo from his nose. In the Nihon Shoki main text, by contrast, it records that the two gods Izanagi and Izanami together gave birth to the sun god (Amaterasu), and the version of being born from the purification is treated as one of the “one books.”
• The protagonist of the land transfer: In the Kojiki, the war god dispatched to Izumo is mainly Takemikazuchi, but in the Nihon Shoki, Futsunushi is depicted at the level of a protagonist.
• Where Susanoo descended: There are also small differences between the main text and the “one books” in the setting and circumstances of the slaying of Yamata-no-Orochi.

In this way, the very fact that “even the same myth is told differently depending on the original text” is the real pleasure of reading the two original texts side by side. Much of what we know as “Japanese mythology” is, in fact, the traditions of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki each, blended into one by later ages.

Traditions Living in the Age-of-Humans Volumes Too — Yamato Takeru and Empress Jingū

The 28 age-of-humans volumes following the two age-of-gods volumes are not a mere chronology either. There, many famous traditions standing between myth and history are recorded. Let me give two representative ones.

One is the story of Yamato Takeru (Yamato-takeru-no-mikoto), recorded in volume 7 (the chronicle of Emperor Keikō). The subjugation of the Kumaso and the eastern expedition, the Kusanagi sword, and the ending in which he becomes a swan after death and flies away. Interesting is that his characterization differs greatly by original text. Whereas the Kojiki depicts a tragic hero who dies in loneliness, shunned by his father, the Nihon Shoki depicts a polite prince who serves the emperor faithfully. The same hero changes this much depending on the character of the original text (a story book, or an official history).

The other is Empress Jingū, to whom the whole of volume 9 is devoted. The tradition of the “conquest of the three Koreas,” in which, becoming god-possessed and receiving an oracle, she crossed the sea to campaign against Silla while pregnant, and the child born after her return is taken to be Emperor Ōjin, later enshrined as the god Hachiman. There has long been debate about its historicity, but the very exceptional treatment of devoting an entire volume to a single empress tells how important this tradition was to the ancient court. A divine oracle guides the fate of the nation — the logic of the age of gods still flows into the age-of-humans volumes too.

Why Were Two History Books Made?

Why, at almost the same time, were two books, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, compiled?

Behind it is said to be a movement in the era of Emperor Tenmu to correct the confusion of traditions and to clarify, through history, the legitimacy of rule of the nation by the imperial house. On that basis, it is thought that two books of differing purpose were born — the Kojiki, which tells the origin of the imperial house to a domestic audience, and the Nihon Shoki, which presents the state’s official history outwardly. Because two original texts of differing character were preserved together, Japanese mythology was able to keep its richness and depth.

As the Foremost of the Six National Histories — the Nihon Shoki Afterward

The Nihon Shoki did not end with its completion. Following it, the court went on to compile, beginning with the Shoku Nihongi, a total of six official histories.

These six are called the “Six National Histories (Rikkokushi),” and the Nihon Shoki is positioned as their memorable first work. Japan’s formal historical writing began with this book.

Furthermore, in the Heian period, the Nihon Shoki was repeatedly read and interpreted by nobles in court lecture sessions called the “Nihongi kōen.” In the Kamakura period, Urabe no Kanekata wrote the commentary Shaku Nihongi, and it remained an original text studied long as the nation’s fundamental history. In contrast to the Kojiki, which was once apt to be forgotten and was re-evaluated by Motoori Norinaga in the Edo period, the Nihon Shoki also occupies a special place in that it has been read and handed down almost without interruption since its composition.

To Learn More

Here are some related books. Reading them alongside this series lets you savor this world even more deeply.

The Nihon Shoki: Full Modern Translation + Commentary, Vol. 1, Age of GodsView on Amazon → The Easiest-to-Understand Japanese MythologyView on Amazon →

Conclusion

In this article, I explained the other original text of Japanese mythology, the Nihon Shoki, in detail, true to the original text itself. How was it?

The Nihon Shoki was a full-fledged “official history” — composed in AD 720, 30 volumes, annalistic in classical Chinese. The myth is concentrated in the opening 2 age-of-gods volumes, and the value unique to this original text lies in its recording many variants side by side as “one book says.”

The Kojiki, which makes you read it as a story, and the Nihon Shoki, which records variants as source material — by reading these two together, the true form of Japanese mythology rises into view.

In the next article (Article 5), I will explain the original text that conveys myths not found in the Kiki, the Fudoki, and other classics.

The Original Texts of Japanese Mythology — Kojiki, Nihon Shoki & Indexen.senkohome.com/myths-religions-origins-japanese/

I hope you’ll read the next article too.