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    Its content was clear and not problematic, as opposed to the writing, as syllabic alphabet was not yet known and the writing had to be done with the use of Chinese characters. Thus there are no artistic uses in Kojiki but the raw (non-literary) contents. However, few beautiful songs can be found.
    Moreover, one can attach two first books of Nihongi written in 720 to the Kojiki which were also written by O-no Yasumaro. Nihongi means 'the cronicle of Japan' and is well developed, has many shoulder versions in which one can easily get lost.
Kojiki and the first two books of Nihongi describe the Japanese mythology. There are tales about gods and famous humans up to the legendary founder of the imperial family.
The japanese neighbours and its various inhabitants had a significant influence on the contents of the japanese mythology. For instance the Izumo province worshipped Susanoo god, but it was inferior to the Yamato provice which in turn worshipped the sun goddes Amaterasu,so Susanoo had to be dislodged.
    Amaterasu became the most important goddess. She was to found the imperial family. The members of this house often used this fact to strengthen their position. They were not concerned that she was a female goddess because in the ancient times it often happened that a woman commanded a single tribe and in the nearer past a woman was the empress. Women in general played an essential role in the history of Japan. There were many exquisite female writers such as e.g. Sei Shonagon.
    There were a few dozen deities In Japan, with Amaterasu and many lesser ones. There were countless numbers of the latter ones. There are mentions that there were 8 million of them, and the numeral '8' in early japanese meant many. It is suspected that there are dozens or even hundred of thousands of them. Nobody, however, managed to count them. Those kinds of deities were created in various ways. Each town, even the smallest village had its own deity and also worshipped and celebrated holidays of the higher gods as well.
    The Japanese gods, desrcibed in Kojiki and in Nihongi were just embodiments of the forces of nature. The sun, moon, wind, water, mountains, trees, stones, sea, etc were represented by each god. They gods are called Kami. Kami usually have two souls: the mild and the violent one. This split personality explaines their odd behaviours. Thoughtfulness, calmness and goodness can very easily become wildness, anger and crulety. Demons are the evil creatures always presented in black colours.They are the creators of such disasters as earthshakings, vulcano eruptions, tsunami and other hazards not only natural ones. However, their destructive power is quite specialised and thus limited.
    The Japanese gods were not allmighty. In Kojiko they vere often lacking omniscience, even the higher gods. That is why they had to use envoys and to know the future they would use oracles.
The Japanese heaven is not that far away. It is a land very close to Earth but situated on a fillar built on a high mountain by the inhabitants of heaven and connected in the mythical times with a rainbow bridge. The heavenly landscape does not differ much form the Japanese one. The Milky Way seen from the Earth was considered the heavenly river Amanogawa and had a wide stoney riverbed.
Under the Earth surface there is a Dark Land, Yomi (full name - Yomitsukuni or the Land of the Roots).One could get there in two ways: one of them was situated somwehere near the seashore, the second in the Ijumo province. In the underground land there are demons but they do not punish the people for their sins, they just live there. The general idea of rewarding and punishing came to Japan along with Buddism. In shito texts there aren't any mentionings about this.
And now few words on how the authors of the ancient Japanese chronicles imagined the beginning of the Universe:
    The first god came to life at 'the beginning' of the sky and the earth. It all happened in the earliest distant times. The heavenly creature that was created quickly hid its powers from the entities that were about to come. Then, two more gods came to life, fulfilling the magical number of three. Those two also made thier powers secret from the other living creatures. And for the further mythology they didn't seem to exsist (except Takagi the later guardian sent to Earth, the founder of the imperial family). Later from the young, not yet shaped matter (liquid as oil, gentle as jellyfish) came out a smooth cane, from which a pair of gods emerged, that also hid themselves from the others. The last two completed the five heavenly gods, comprehended strictly abstract and considered not to interfer in the earthly matters.
    Two more independent deities emerged and they also hid their material coatings. After that there were only pairs (five of them) of gods emerging on the Earth. The Japanese chronology dates generation from the two independent deities and each next pair makes up one generation. Counting in this way (1+1+5=7) gives a seven which is the number of the heavenly generation.
The narrative part begins just after the last heavenly pair - Izanagi - the greeting husbant and Izanami - the greeting wife. Their task was to revive the half-liquid and empty and uninhabited Earth. They bagan their work the moment they stepped onto the rainbow brigde, the only connection between the Earth and the heaven. They took the magic spear and mixed the waves. When the half-liquid matter began to unite, they raised the spear and the drops that fell from it created the first Japanese island Onogoro, the beginning of the firm land.
    Izanami and Izanagi moved to the freshly created land. They raised a palace there supported by only one column in the middle. The pair walked around the fillar - he on the left, she on the right and when they met eachother Izanami said, 'How lucky am I to meet such a charming man' (this phrase explains her name). However, because she was the first to speak and it was against the ritual, she commited a serious offence. She did not wait for the punishment. Their son found out to be a person not worthy of gods, as he was sickly and weak that he wasn't able to stand on his own feet. The parents did not consider him thier child and so abandonned him, putting him in a cane basket floating in the river. The next pair of gods created another island which was a failure - Awashima. It is a narrow strip of land along the western coast of Hondo. Izanami and Izanagi were very concerned that thier children would be born with defekts. The older gods adcised them to remarry as the first marraige was informal.
    So it happened and this time Iznagi spoke first. From their relationship many Japanese islands were created. When everything was ready there came a time of the element gods and the manifests of the nature. Those deities were brought to life by Iznami. Tragedy happened during the birth of the fire god, because it burned the mothers womb. This way Izanagi became a widower. From the vomits, urine and excrements (similar substances appears commonly in many places, it is a popular motive) of the dying Iznami few other gods managed to arise, before the mother died. Iznagi was furious and he shredded his son into pieces from which several Japanese mountains were made of. Izanagi decided to go down to tha Land of the Roots, the dark Yomi,to take his spouce back. Finalny, he Got the permission of the dark gods to do so but the condotion was that he wouldn't look at her while bringing her home. But Izanagi broker off a parto f his comb and lit it as a torch in order to see the interior of the dark underground palace. What he saw was a disgusting sight of decomposing body of Iznami, half-eaten by worms and eight infernal thunders (there still is a superstition in the Kazusa province where you cannot light a single light and throw a comb). The spouse shouted: "You have insluted me" and she sent to him a bunch of underground witches. In that moment Izanagi used magic. This way of fighting was commonly used by many Japanese heroes and heroines. The greeting husbant cast his wreth and his comb, which changed into grapes and bamboo shoots. The ugly creatures were lured by those delicacies and did not attack him. There were only thunders and 1500 infernal warriors left. The poor husbant had to use magic again and this time he cast behind himself magic peaches which helped him get out of the underground and block the gate. Standing on the opposite ends the paired made a discussion which turned into a quarrel. They decided they must separate. Iznami remained in the underground forever and Iznagi went to Kiushiu in order to purify his body in the waters of a swifty river. This ritual washing was taken to the real world (the first emperors after the death of their predecessors changed the location of their residence because the previous place was tinted with death). Anyways, during this ritual many kami came to living. From Iznagi's rejected walking stiuk, belt and his clothes, 12 dieties were created. From the filth of the body came an evil god of disasters. Iznagi wanted to oppose him and therefore he made a good goddess and a god who could fix evil. The submerge itself created 3 gods of sea.
    Now came the time for the most important event in the whole Japanese mythology. When Iznagi washed his left eye a goddess named Amaterasu came to life. This name means: forever shining dignified deity. From his right eye came Tsukiyomi. The full translation of this name is: dignified moon among the darkness. Washing Iznagi's nose brought to life Susanoo - the fast and violent male dignity.
    When these three gods were created Iznagi was happy as he finally made the most wonderful three children. Amaterasu received from her father a sparkling necklace and a power to rule the sky. Tsukiyomi received the land of the night, Susanoo got the sea. In the nihongi chronicles it is a bit different: Tsukiyomi gets the sea, Susanoo gets the world. This is why the sun - Amaterasu and the moon - Tsukiyomi never meet, explaines the chronicle. Tsukiyomi is sent by his sister to the earth to visit a food goddess Tojoukebime (later called Inari).
    When she saw Tsukiyomi she turned into land and spitted boiled rise. Next she looked at the sea and from her mouth came big and small fish. Later she turned to tthe mountains and all kinds of animals came from her lips. The food from all the corners of Japan was on tables ready for feasts. However, Tsukiyomi did not like the way he was greeted so he took a sword and killed the goddess. When Amaterasu found out what he did she said she doesn't want to see him ever again face to face (this expaines that the moon becomes smaller when it is nearer the sun). From the body of Tojoukebime came out a horse and ano x, from Her eyebrows - silkworms and then later corn and other agricultural plants. Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi ruled well according to the will of tir father. However Susanoo was in sorrow after the loss of his mother and he was raging in his kingdom. He decided to go to Yomi to his mother. First, however, he went to see his sister Amaterasu. He got the permission for this from Izanami and this was the last sign of Iznami's power as he soon died. He did not go to Yomi to rest but instead he chose one of the earthly islands. Susanoo loudly and in rage went to his mister and she was already prepared for him with bow and arrows. She asked him why he came to her. Susanoo said he wants each of his siblings to gile birth to another generation of gods of their own gender. If he made male gods it would mean his intentions were sincere but if he made female goddesses it would mean he was false and evil. She agreed to this proposition. She took her brothers sword, crashed it, chewed and blew a light steam. Three goddesses came from that gust. Susanoo asked his sister to give him 5 strings of precious jewels. He squeezed them in his teeth and his breath gave life to 5 male gods. Because they came from her jewels Amaterasu considered them to be her sons. One of them was Jimmu Tenno - the great grandfather of the first eperor. This way Amaterasu became the ancestor of the imperial family and so it was untill 1946 when the United States forced to remove from the constitution that the emperors are of divine origin. The remaining four gods were the founders of the rich Japanese houses.
    Susanoo was so happy from his idea that he often showed his happined by destroying the makings of his sister. She forgave him many of his deeds however she couldn't stand this for long and decided to take revenge. She went to a cave and hid herself and as she did that the sun stopped shining and the world was covered in darkness. The darkness was so horribile that 8 million kami decided to make a plan to retrieve Amaterasu back. The god of good advices had an idea. They brought two roosters and made a great party near the cave where the goddes was sitting. She was distracted by all the merry noise and concerned that the world was celebrating even when she was not there. So out of curiosity she came out and the gods trapped her and put a mirror against her and so the light returned to the world.
    Susanoo was then punished for his mischief. He was shaved and his nails were torn off and he was expelled from the gathering of the gods. The banished god went to earth, where there was nobody to be found. But he found a chop stick floating on a river so he suspected there was some city near him. He went to look for it. He found two elder men and a crying girl. He found out that a dragon would come everyday and eat young girls and she was the last one to be eaten. He promised to save Kushinadahime, marrying her in return. The god changed the girl into a comb which he then put in his hair. He built a gate with 8 doors and at each door he put a bottle of sake with strengthened power. Then came the dragon with 8 heads, drank the sake and fell asleep. Susanoo took out his sword and cut off each head. He then was chopping the body when he came across something firm and strong. He found out that there was another sword inside the dragon. Its name was Kusanaginotsurugi and it became one of the imperial insignia. Susanoo married Kushinadahime and lived with Her in a beautiful castle Suga. Soon he had many other wives and mistresses and 180 children. After a long life he went down to Yomi where he became its ruler and lord.
    Susanoo had a daughter named Suseribime who was married to a human named Okuninushii. Susanoo was always jealous of his daughter and was making up tests and riddles that Okuninushii had to pass. And always during those trials Suseribime was helping her husbant not to fail. Finally Susanoo liked and accepted his son in law. He let him and his wife leave Yomi and live in a palace under the foot of the Uma mountain. Unfortunately, their relationship was not going very well. Okuninushi was cheating his wife and she was very jealous. Okuninushi decided to run away to which his wife agreed. He then had yet many wives an children.
    However, the gods did not consider the Susanoo dynasty to have the right to rule Japan. So Amaterasu decided to give this ruling to her son. When he was about to come down to earth by the rainbow bridge the gods were discussing how to reorganize the earth so that there are not so many good and evil kami there. They didn't really knew much about the relationships which were present on earth between people. So they sent a messenger to the earth to examine the human relations. But the messenger became friends with Okuninushi and forgot about his mission. After three years the worried gods sent another messenger. But he too was a bad choice. He married Okuninushi's daughter and as a king started to counquer other lands. The gods were very worried so after 8 years they sent a pheasant to the earth to tell them what was wrong. The bird was spotted by a mistress of the king and he took it as a bad sign so he killed the pheasant with a magic spear. The spear flew up to heaven and reached the throne of Takagi the very first of the three older gods. He returned the spear in anger back to earth and pierced the heart of Wakahiko (the second messenger).
    Amaterasu still wanted her dynasty to rule over Japan. Her grandson Ningi wanted to reign and with the help of gods he managed to throw Okuninushi and his sons out of his throne. Okuninushi then went to the underworld where he had ruled the evil spirits since then.
So came the times when Ningi went down to earth to rule it. His insygnia were: the sword taken out of the 8 headed dragon, a holy mirror (the one that lured Amaretasu out of her cave), talismans used to create the children of Amaretasu and finally many ancient Japanese artifacts. Ninigi chose Kiushiu as his residende, in the province of Hiuga. He decided to make his own dynasty so he started looking for his new bride. He asked the local god of mountains - a son of Inzagi and Iznami - to present him his daughters. The first - Sakuyabime - the Princess of blossoming cherry - was very beautiful but sickly and weak, the second - ugly, but lively and able to give birth to many children. Their father encouraged Ninigi to marry the second one but he chose otherwise. That is why the heirs of this dynasty have always been weak and sickly but also know for their divine beauty.
After the wedding night Ninigi realised that hid bride was pregnant. He suspected that she was not a virgin in the first place. The insluted girl decided to close herself in a house with no doors for moths. When she was about to give birth she decided to prove her innocence by the test of fire. She would walk in flames and if she was burnt then it would mean she wasn't honest with her husbant. If nothing happened - she would be innocent. She came out of the flames not hurt and carrying 3 infants. Ninigi was sorry for his mistake and he took his family back.
The firstborn son - prince Hoderi was a talented fisherman and the youngest Hohodemi a great hunter. One day they were playing and swapped their atributes but Hohodemi lost the golden hook from the Hoderi's fishing stick. Hoderi was furious because he valued this hook more than anything. Nothing could ease Hoderi's anger. Hohodemi was very upset, he went to the shore and cried. A god of salted waters heard him and gave him some advice. Hohodemi got into a small boat and rowed his way to a palace of fish scales where he found a daughter of the god of salted waters. They fell in love and got married.
    They lived in peace for years but Hohodemi remembered about his angry brother. He asked the god of salted waters to help him find the lost hook. Many fish and sea creatured were involved in the searchings. They found a small fish which was suffering stomach ache for a long time. It was carrying the golden hook inside and soon the hook was returned to Hohodemi. His father in law gave him two talismans: of high tide and of low tide. He also advised him to make rise plantation on locations different than his brother. This was a good advice because on Hohodemi's fields everything was blossoming and on Hoderi's fields everything was rotten. Hoderi was mad because of that but he couldn't oppose his brother who had the power over the tides and could easily flood him. Meanwhile, Toyotamabime was pregnant and shut herself in a coast hut. But Hohodomi could not wait that long so he peeped though the key hole and saw an ugly sea monster inside. The wife was ashamed he saw her like that and vanished in the sea waters and the infant wet to her sister.
Only the last of the Hohodemi's grandsons manager to start the imperial dynasty. His name was Jimmu and after his death people called him Tenno, which means emperor. So Jimmu was the first to estasblish the imperial dynasty and as a heir of Amaterasu all of his successors had heavenly blood in their veins.
    He did this in the following way: when he was 40 he gathered all his sons and brothers and went from his hometown province Hiuga on Kiushiu island to conquer the remaining Japanese islands. The great Takagi came to him with help and gave him a magical great crow. The first emperor created the capital with a imperial palace Kashiwabara on the south of the Biwa lake in Yamato province near Unebi mountain. According to the legend, the first emperor was to rule the Yamato region just after defeating many barbarians. Presumably, it was a tribe of hunters and fishermens Ainu which came to Japan about three thousant years b.c.

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