JAPAN

PAGE

Introduction—The oldest youngest civilized race and its revelations of primitive religious thought . . . 1

I.—The Kojiki, or "Records of Ancient Matters" (A.D. 712) . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Birth of the Deities . . . . . . . . 14
Quarrel of the Gods Izanagi and Izanami . . . . 23
Ama-terasu, the Sun-Goddess . . . . . . . 30
The Beast Legends . . . . . . . . 43
The Champion of Japan . . . . . . . . 51

II.—The Nihongi, or "Chronicles of Japan" (A.D. 720) . . 63
The Age of the Gods . . . . . . . . 67
Conquest of Japan . . . . . . . . . 76
Laws of Kotoku (A.D. 645) . . . . . . . 101
The Later Rulers . . . . . . . . . 147

III.—The Yengishiki, or Shinto Rituals (A.D. 927) . . . 161
The Harvest Ritual . . . . . . . . 165
Ritual for the Wind Gods . . . . . . . 166
Ritual for Evil Spirits . . . . . . . . 169
The Road God's Ritual . . . . . . . . 171
Rituals to the Sun-Goddess . . . . . . . 172
Purification Ritual . . . . . . . . 174

IV.—The Man-Yoshu, or "Myriad Leaves," Japan's oldest poetry (A.D. 760) . . . . . . . . 177