Author: John D. (Page 84 of 202)

Snakes: St Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2015 / John D.

What on earth does St Patrick’s Day have to do with Shinto, you may well be wondering? Well, one aspect that caught my attention concerning the celebration of Ireland day was the matter of snakes. Look at the following by way of example:

“Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17) is marked with celebrations and remembrance of the great Irish saint who awakened the dead and drove out the snakes from the Island. Snakes here symbolize the inner demons and pagans, to let the radiance of God shine forth. With more than 35 million Americans having Irish roots we have a great time on this feast day of St. Patrick. We let our hair down and guzzle green beer, wear the pious symbol of trinity, shamrock and send Irish Blessings to our loved ones. The message is to drive out the snakes of lust, anger, and greed and give way to generosity, love and peace. Cheers!”

Benten, muse of the arts, dance and music, here seen playing the biwa (lute). Her familiar are white snakes, suggestive of regrowth and fertility of mind.

Snakes play a large part in pagan cultures, and in Shinto in particular. It’s the reason why they became demonised by Christianity and used as a symbol of paganism. In the Bible, famously, they act as a representative of evil in the temptation of Eve.

In Japan snakes are best known as the familiars of Benten, goddess of the arts. Since she’s associated with watery depths, one imagines they are water snakes. Inevitably they are white snakes, since that’s the distinctive mark of purity and the divine.

But there is more to the snake cult in Japan than just Benten. The most famous story is that of Omiwa, where the kami manifested itself in the form of a snake according to a mythological story. Visit Miwa Shrine now, and you’ll find eggs laid out as offerings for the snake kami in honour of the ancient cult.

The following excerpts from the Kokugakuin encyclopedia make plain how close was the identification of the snake with fertility and regeneration (because of its ability to slough off skin and start anew).

Another episode in Nihongi relates that Ōmononushi was wed to a woman named Yamato Totohimomosohime, but visited her only at night; when she requested to see his true form, he hid in her comb case, where she found him as a small snake. After her alarm caused the snake to flee in shame to Mt. Miwa, the woman felt remorse and used chopsticks to stab herself mortally in the genitals.

Paying respects to the mythological snake kami – notice the eggs on the table as offering.

Kojiki‘s tale of Ikutamayoribime is similar, with the maiden becoming pregnant by a young man who visits her only at night. Anxious to learn the identity of their daughter’s lover, her parents tie a thread to the hem of his garments and follow the thread the next morning, whereupon they find it leads to the shrine at Mt. Miwa. These legends are the basis for the broad category of legends of the “Mt. Miwa type.”

Another episode in Nihongi relates that Ōmononushi was wed to a woman named Yamato Totohimomosohime, but visited her only at night; when she requested to see his true form, he hid in her comb case, where she found him as a small snake. After her alarm caused the snake to flee in shame to Mt. Miwa, the woman felt remorse and used chopsticks to stab herself mortally in the genitals.

Kojiki‘s tale of Ikutamayoribime is similar, with the maiden becoming pregnant by a young man who visits her only at night. Anxious to learn the identity of their daughter’s lover, her parents tie a thread to the hem of his garments and follow the thread the next morning, whereupon they find it leads to the shrine at Mt. Miwa. These legends are the basis for the broad category of legends of the “Mt. Miwa type.”

One should not forget too that the dragon has a snake like body, such that depictions often look like a snake with a dragon head and legs. The cult of the dragon deity as sea kami is believed to have been particularly spread by practitioners of Shugendo, a form of mountain asceticism. Also the serpent kami of Konpira Shrine in Shikoku was worshiped by seafarers who revered the deity as a tutelary who would protect them from the perils of the sea – “During the Edo Period the Indian deity Kumbhīra (a dragon king sea deity) was conflated with Konpira, and the cult spread along with the development of shipping and the creation of transportation networks,’ notes the Kokugakuin encyclopedia.

Dragons have snake-like bodies, as can be seen here, incorporating the regenerative and other qualities of the creature.

Kitano 2) Shrine fabric

March 16, 2015 / John D.

The fearsome komainu at the entrance torii. If you were an evil spirit, would you dare to enter?

Entering into the inner precincts through the Chuumon (Middle Gate)

Kitano Tenmangu has spacious grounds, though in the past they were much more expansive and enveloped a large Shinto-Buddhist complex of shrines and temples. Look to the left as you walk along the long entrance path and you’ll see a temple that was once an integral part of the complex, and in the shrine’s museum the prized possession is the Kitano mandala.

It’s a reminder of the long tradition of syncretism, and that those responsible for pacifying the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane were actually Budhhist priests. These were associated with the Heian aristocracy and anxious to please the rulers by exorcising the angry spirit of Michizane and turning him into the kami of the sky, Tenjin. Not a lot of people are aware of the history, and such is the success of the Meiji enforced split between the religions that contemporary Japanese automatically assume the process leading to deification must have been entirely ‘Shinto’.

A performance of Edo-era puppet theatre in the grounds, part of the shrine's association with the arts

The most striking feature of the architecture is the combinatory Haiden (Worship Hall) and Honden (Sanctuary) under one cypress-bark roof, built in 1607. Look at the picture below this text in which people are queuing, and you’ll notice at the top the gorgeous decorations adorning the otherwise plain wood. They are typical of the sumptuous Azuchi-Momoyama period, and the buildings were even given lacquered floors (the Haiden no longer has its, though the Honden does).

Along the front of the Worship Hall runs a series of good fortune animals, including a tiger (for strength), a baku (for eating bad dreams), a kirin (for prosperity or serenity) and, improbably, a unicorn (for goodness). To either side of the building, unusually, are music chambers, another indication of the lavish treatment and artistic connections of the shrine.

Sugawara no Michizane was a man of many accomplishments, who wrote poetry and was versed in calligraphy. He was an exceptional scholar too. The shrine is therefore associated with literary accomplishments as well as academic endeavour. There are often displays of traditional and contemporary arts, but the most striking aspect of Michizane’s legacy is undoubtedly the masses of ema hung up by schoolkids and students in the hope of persuading Tenjin to help them pass their exams.

The throng of ema tucked into one area of the grounds is testimony to how the tradition still thrives in modern times. The number of ema is almost overwhelming, but of greater interest perhaps is the open-sided ema-dokoro building in which ancient ema are displayed. These large wooden paintings have themes related to the shrine in one form or another and thought to be pleasing to the kami. It’s the best collection I’ve seen and one that indicates how precious these votive plaques once were as offerings.

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Tenjin-san is the popular name of the monthly flea market held at Kitano Tenmangu. Held on the 25th of every month, it’s a bustling, popular and lively affair with many bargains for those seeking Japanese paraphernalia. Information for this and the previous posting Kitano 1): plums and oxen is taken from Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan’s Ancient Religion published by Univ. of Hawaii Press in 2013.
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Queuing to pay respects at the Haiden (Worship Hall). Note the gold finishing and painted decorations at the top as well as the most unusually shaped mirror.

Haiden detail: the mythical bad-dream eating baku

Haiden detail: the mythical unicorn

Haiden detail: the dragon

All dressed up to ring the bell before praying – with someone special in mind?

The shrine office does a brisk trade in ema and omamori, the descriptions of which are helpfully displayed on a board above the payment window.

Most of the ema display the reclining ox associated with Michizane, though some people like to add their own touch of artistry. The banks and banks of ema attest to the popularity of Michizane with schoolchildren wanting to pass exams.

The Ema Hall has a collection of ancient ema which were donated to the shrine in times past. Many are faded now, but this one gives an indication of how big the Shinto-buddhist complex used to be.

Pictures of horses used to be common, but ema in the past were by no means limited to that.

Komainu clearly enjoying the sunny spring weather and the crowds visiting the shrine at this time of year to see the plum blossom

Kitano 1) plums and oxen

March 13, 2015 / John D.

There are over 10,000 Tenmangu shrines in Japan which honour the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), a Heian era statesman and poet who was unjustly exiled to Kyushu for plotting against the emperor. Years later oracular dreams indicated that his ‘angry spirit’ (goryo) was responsible for a series of disasters in the capital, and measures were taken to placate it. Apotheosised as Tenjin (Spirit in the Sky), he replaced an earlier thunder kami that had been worshipped at Kyoto’s Kitano.

Kitano Tenmangu now stands at the head of some 10 – 20,000 Tenmangu shrines nationwide (though Dazaifu Tenmangu in northern Kyushu, where he was buried, has claims too). Anyone familiar with such shrines will know three things: 1) they feature plum blossom; 2) they have ox statues; 3) their ema are hugely popular at exam time, as the deified spirit is the kami of scholarship.

Sugawara no Michizane had been a great lover of plum trees, and so the tree is planted at shrines in his honour. When he was sent into exile, one of his last poems had been to his beloved plum trees:

When the east wind blows,
Let it seed your fragrance,
Oh, plum blossoms.
Although your master is gone
Do not forget the spring.

It’s said that his favourite plum tree in Kyoto was so distraught when Michizane went into exile that it flew off to be with him. Called the tobiume (flying plum), it is held to be the one that stands today in front of Dazaifu Shrine.

As well as individual plum trees dotted around the grounds, Kitano Tenmangu boasts a grove of some 2000, and it is here every year that the Baikasai (Plum Blossom Festival) is held on Feb. 25. The festival began about 900 years ago, and a huge open-air tea ceremony is held nowadays by the geisha and apprentice maiko of the nearby Kamishichiken district. It was one of the first events I ever saw in Japan when travelling around the world in 1975, and it made a profound impression.

Another striking aspect of the Kitano shrine is the number of reclining cow or oxen statues. This derives from a legend about Michizane’s funeral at Dazaifu. The ox pulling the cart that carried his body was supposed to take him to his resting place but stopped suddenly and lay down. Despite repeated attempts to get it to move, it obstinately refused to budge. Those in attendance realised this was a sign from Michizane’s spirit that he wished to be laid to rest there, and the site became the present-day Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine.

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Information for this and the following posting on Kitano 2: shrine fabric are taken from Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan’s Ancient Religion published by Univ. of Hawaii Press in 2013.
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A bovine water basin for 'purifying' hands and mouth

The custom is to rub the ox to get better or protect yourself. In particular you should rub in the place corresponding to the part of the body where you have an ailment. Those wishing to become cleverer rub the ox's head!

Sumo, a Shinto Sport

March 12, 2015 / John D.

Wikicommons photo of a 2008 fight

With the Osaka tournament currently on day 5 of its two-week span, it’s a timely moment to consider the Shinto origins of the sport (there are six tournaments a year). For anyone familiar with the rituals of sumo, the religious trappings are evident in the etiquette, clothing and the design of the ring. Given the similarities with Mongolian and Korean wrestling, it seems likely that the sport arrived from the continent. Thereafter it developed distinctive features as it was adapted as an entertainment for the kami. In early times these ‘gods’ were deified clan founders whose descendants cultivated their memory. There would have been a strongman element in the contests, with implications for martial and bodyguard duties. This ties in with the sentiments in the first paragraph in the passage below.

For most of sumo history of course, all the wrestlers were Japanese only. It was only in Edo times that it became a spectator sport rather than a purely religious one. It’s said some foreigners tried their luck at the sport in the late nineteenth century, but only after WW2 were serious inroads made. In 1972 the Hawaiian-born Takamiyama Daigoro, whose real name was Jesse Kuhaulua, became the first foreigner to win a tournament.

In 1993 another Hawaiian, Akebono Taro, was the first foreigner to become a grand champion (yokozuna). Six years later another Hawaiian, Musashimaru Koyo, was promoted to yokozuna alongside him. After that, the focus switched to Mongolians as three wrestlers from Ulaanbaatar became yokozuna, including the present record-setting champion, Asashoryu. Now the top ranks include wrestlers from Egypt, Brazil, Georgia, and Bulgaria in addition to Mongolia. Though there was resistance at times and a limit put on the number of foreigners, you could say sumo is one aspect of Shinto that has truly internationalised!

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Shinto origins of sumo (From Wikipedia, slightly modified)

The Shinto origins of sumo can easily be traced back through the centuries and many current sumo rituals are directly handed down from Shinto rituals. The Shinto religion has historically been used as a means to express Japanese nationalism and ethnic identity, especially prior to the end of World War II. In its association with Shinto, sumo has also been seen as a bulwark of Japanese tradition.

The former grand champion, Asahshoryu, was the first person to win all six sumo tournaments in one year. Now retired, he hailed from Mongolia and was criticised for not keeping to traditional standards of modesty, sincerity and propriety.

Sumo can be traced back to ancient Shinto rituals to ensure a bountiful harvest and honor the spirits known as kami. In modern times, the canopy over the sumo ring, called the dohyō is reminiscent of a Shinto shrine, the officiator is dressed in garb very similar to that of a Shinto priest, and the throwing of salt before a bout is believed to purify the ring.

Prior to becoming a professional sport in the Tokugawa period, sumo was originally performed on the grounds of a shrine or temple. The present dohyō, which is still considered sacred, is in honor of the days when matches were held on the sacred grounds of shrines and temples. The roof called yakata originally represented the sky for the purpose of emphasizing the sacred nature of the dohyō, which symbolizes the earth.

Some shrines such as Suwa Taisha have close ties with sumo and honour former champions

On the day before the beginning of each tournament, the dohyō-matsuri, a ring-blessing ceremony, is performed by sumo officials. They are the referees, who judge each sumo match. Their elaborate, colorful costumes are based on ceremonial court robes of the Heian period (AD 794 – 1185). Also their black hats are exact copies of the hats worn by Shinto priests depicted in various Heian art.

Dressed in the white robes of a Shinto priest the officials purify and bless the dohyō in a solemn ceremony during which salt, kelp, dried squid and chestnuts are buried in the center. Observing officials and invited guests drink saké, Japanese rice-wine, as it is offered to each one in turn. The remaining saké is poured over the straw boundary of the dohyō, as an offering to the gods.

Shinto ritual still continues to pervade every aspect of sumo. Before a tournament, two of the sumo officiators functioning as Shinto priests enact a ritual to consecrate the newly constructed dohyō. And each day of the tournament the dohyō-iri, or ring-entering ceremonies performed by the top divisions before the start of their wrestling day, are derived from sumo rituals.

The ceremony involves the wrestlers ascending the dohyō, walking around the edge and facing the audience. They then turn and face inwards, clap their hands, raise one hand, slightly lift the ceremonial aprons, and raise both hands, then continue walking around the dohyō as they leave the same way they came in. This clapping ritual is an important Shinto element and reminiscent of the clapping in Shinto shrines designed to attract the attention of the gods. The yokozuna’s ring-entering ceremony is regarded as a purification ritual in its own right, and is occasionally performed at Shinto shrines for this purpose. Every newly promoted yokozuna performs his first ring-entering ceremony at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.

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For a listing of the tournaments and dates for the coming couple of years, please this page of the Japan Times.
For an article about the rise of foreign wrestlers in Japan, see this page from McKinsey.com. ********************************************************

The Hawaiian wrestler, Konishiki, had to be seen to be believed. Now retired, he's slimmed considerably and appears occasionally on television – a gentle giant who likes entertaining children. (courtesy prowrestlingsource.com)

Shimogamo construction

March 9, 2015 / John D.

My local shrine has been making the headlines because of its plans to build a three-storey apartment block within its precincts overlooking the famed Tadasu no mori woods, which are a remnant of the original woodland that once covered the Kyoto basin.

It’s on a site literally three minutes walk from where I live so I have a vested interest, though I can’t get as upset as some in the media appear to be doing. Why not? First of all, because it’s on the other side of a road from the woods. Secondly, the site where it will stand is already built up and none too attractive. And thirdly, because the shrine obviously needs the money and I’d rather they did this than some of the very, very ugly car parks that disfigure so many Shinto shrines. If the condominium is well-designed, it may even enhance the area.

Here is a report of the matter as carried by Japan Today.

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1,400-yr-old Kyoto shrine leasing part of its grounds for condo development

The Tadasu no mori woods, just over the road from the proposed condominium

One of the things that makes Japan such a compelling place is the country’s long cultural history. The upkeep of centuries-old buildings can be extremely expensive, however, especially since traditional Japanese architecture is mainly wood, reed, and paper, which aren’t exactly the sturdiest building materials.

As we’ve seen before, sometimes even sites of historical significance can struggle to make ends meet, and Kyoto’s famous Shimogamo Shrine is no exception. That’s why in order to raise the funds it needs, the institution, which was founded some 1,400 years ago, is planning to lease a section of its grounds for the construction of a condominium complex.

Although it’s been around in some form since the 6th century, the Shimogamo Shrine has gotten a number of publicity boosts in the modern era. The shrine was designated a UNESCO world Heritage Site in 1994, and much of the surrounding forest is part of the Tadasu no Mori, an old growth nature preserve that’s listed as a national historical site. In even more recent years, the shrine was depicted in in the 2013 Kyoto-set anime “The Eccentric Family,” and the shrine remains one of the most important Shinto sites in Kyoto, beloved for its fall colors and host of the Aoi Matsuri festival, held every year on May 15.

The shrine is known for its pure water flowing through the grounds and celebrated by the Mitarashi Jinja

This year, however, the shrine’s finances are looking bleak. Like many shrines, Shimogamo periodically takes part in a ritual called Shikinen Sengu, wherein new shrine buildings are constructed to replace the old ones as the homes of the gods. Shimogamo Shrine does this once every 21 years, and with Shikinen Sengu scheduled to happen in 2015, expects to incur related expenses of some three billion yen.

Government funding should provide about 800 million yen, and, like many shrines in Japan, Shimogamo is also likely to receive donations from major business entities. However, two months into the year, donations are not projected to be nearly enough to cover the necessary costs. In response, Shimogamo Shrine announced earlier this week that it is planning to lease out a section of its shrine grounds for the construction of a condominium complex.

Head Priest Naoto Araki said that the ordinary monetary offerings the shrine receives over the course of a year are applied to ordinary administration and maintenance costs, but points out that the latter are rising every year. Faced with the additional burden of finding a way to pay for 2015’s Shikinen Sengu, he has come to the conclusion that there is no other choice that will enable him to preserve the shrine for future generations but to build the condos. The 50-year lease is expected to bring in about 80 million yen annually for the shrine.

Following renewal the shrine looks resplendent – but it comes at a price

Conservationists will be partially relieved to know that the proposed construction site, while still on the shrine grounds, lies outside the World Heritage Site and national historic site boundaries. The 9,650-square-meter plot, which borders the Mikage-dori road, was formerly the site of housing for the shrine’s priests. Following World War II, the area was repurposed as a golf driving range because of financial difficulties, and in the early 1980s became a parking lot, which saw less and less use as other lots were built in the area.

In keeping with Kyoto’s reverence for its past, any development will have to comply with a number of regulations meant to preserve the city’s traditional beauty, and the developers are currently in the middle of preliminary talks with Kyoto’s Municipal Beautification Council. The proposed 107-unit complex would be spread among eight buildings, each a modest three-stories tall and no more than 10 meters high so as not to mar the surrounding views, with traditional Japanese tile roofs. Within the complex, the same type of elms as those which grow in the Tadasu no Mori woodlands are scheduled to be planted.

Despite these concessions, many online commenters still weren’t happy about the news. “I was really surprised to hear about this. I don’t mind if they charge admission to the shrine, but I want them to call off the condo construction. It’ll ruin the scenery.”

“At first I thought, ‘That’s just wrong,’ but it looks like there’s no other way for them to get the funds they need, so it can’t be helped.” “Even if they’re a World Heritage Site, is this the only way for them to survive?” “Ah man…are they still going to be able to film samurai TV shows there?”

If approval processes go smoothly, construction is expected to start in November, with completion of the complex estimated in spring of 2017. – Sources: Jin, Mainichi Shimbun

An example of how the need to provide an income can absolutely ruin a shrine and replace the worship of nature with car fumes and engine noise

Spirituality

March 7, 2015 / John D.

Meditation at a shaman's rock in Korea. Candles, alcohol and nature...

Previously Green Shinto carried a posting on agnosticism, which resonated with several readers, and it’s a theme I’d like to develop further as thoughts turn towards the celebration of spring. It’s a time when, in tune with nature, new ideas spring up and blossom.

"Nature is my god." - Mikhail Gorbachev

Spirituality as a concept is increasingly attractive to many in advanced countries, as outmoded belief systems give way to individual development. In a recent poll in the US about a quarter of the population described themselves as spiritual but not religious. Many such people see nature religions as a modern alternative to a God-based religion. The pragmatic proponent of Perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev, put it this way: “I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals. Being at one with nature.”

The modern aversion to traditional religion stems from it being rooted in a non-scientific past with a tendency to create barriers between believers and non-believers. ‘Religions are divisive and quarrelsome,’ said the late, great Alan Watts. ‘They are a form of one-upmanship because they depend upon separating the “saved” from the “damned,” the true believers from the heretics, the in-group from the out-group.’

Sam Harris, one of ‘the Holy Trinity of Atheism’, has written a book on the subject, seen from a modern scientific angle. In Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality without Religion, he explores the subject by integrating scientific and spiritual viewpoints. Harris is a well-known sceptic with no belief in God or gods, yet he sees the possibility for a more fulfilling life than the simple pursuit of materialism:

Rediscovering ties to nature...

“Although the claim seems to annoy believers and atheists equally, separating spirituality from religion is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. It is to assert two important truths simultaneously. Our world is dangerously riven by religious doctrines that all educated people should condemn, and yet there is more to understanding the human condition than science and secular culture generally admit.”

Harris considers the nature of happiness, and how in the modern age it consists of repeated acts of gratification. ‘Is there a form of happiness beyond the mere repetition of pleasure and the avoidance of pain?’ he asks.

His book pursues the possibility of lasting fulfilment at a deeper level, and the solution he comes up with has to do with attaining a state of ‘selfless well-being’. Meditation is one of the practices he advocates.

The gateless gate of torii, open to all who wish to commune with the transcendent, is a potent symbol for those seeking greater spirituality. It neither demands membership, nor imposes a mandatory doctrine. It is a belief system with no belief. It calls us back to nature, back to the contemplation of the mystery of life, back to a state of grace. It calls us home.

The torii – symbolic opening into a sacred world and open to everyone

Kojiki translation (Heldt)

March 2, 2015 / John D.

Green Shinto previously carried a review of last year’s Heldt translation of Kojiki by Quin Arbeitman. He noted that the new translation was “A much needed development, as the Basil Hall Chamberlain translation is generally considered a needlessly difficult read, and the well-regarded Philippi translation sells for hundreds of dollars due to the fact that reprints are prevented by legal squabblings over his estate.”

The Japan Times this weekend carried another review of Gustav Heldt’s translation by Stephen Mansfield, whose writings on Japan are to be commended. Mansfield praises the translation for its ‘beauty of language’, though his main concern lies in the way the mythology lends itself to nationalist feelings.

It’s pertinent to point out here that until the Edo period Kojiki was a little known work, considered more or less to be the family history of the imperial lineage. Only through the exhaustive work of Motoori Norinaga, a chauvinistic figure who hated China and upheld the superior qualities of the Japanese, did the book become more widely known.

In the review below, Mansfield considers the political usage that the Kojiki has been put to in the past. Indeed, since Meiji times the Kojiki has been upheld as Japan’s prime piece of mythology, though by all accounts it is the Nihongi, published eight years later in 720, that presents a more balanced and objective view. It is for that reason that Green Shinto hopes that Gustav Heldt, or someone like him, will do a similar job for Japan’s other great work of mythology.

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The origin myth that beat the drums of war
BY STEPHEN MANSFIELD SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES FEB 28, 2015

Since the 18th-century — the age of English historian Edward Gibbon — Western theories of history have held that the past consists of causes, effects and events; there are no determining laws or theorems, and no divine purpose. This is the opposite of the view held by the classic Chinese historians, who saw history as preordained but manageable by decree; its purpose was to legitimize the current dynasty. The Kojiki is closer to this view of history — a past that can be used to validate the present.

Izanagi and Izanami, primal creators of Japan according to the 'Kojiki'

It is interesting to conjecture whether the earliest readers of the Kojiki, a complex work compiled in the Nara Period (710-794), understood the contents of this work as historical documentation or as a great hanging mirror — a surface of symbols and fictive events. Gustav Heldt, the latest scholar to translate this “account of ancient matters,” hopes it will grant the contemporary reader a broader understanding of the foundations of Japanese history, religion and literature.

Far from being a chronicle obscured by the blur of time, Heldt regards the Kojiki as a “monument to the human imagination, worthy of inclusion in the pantheon of world mythology,” finding in it parallels with sacred books such as Hesiod’s Theogony, the Hebrew Bible and the Popol Vuh. In his elegantly crafted introduction, Heldt establishes his credentials not merely as a translator, but a writer. This enabling gift is significant: It is what makes, for example, Junichiro Tanizaki’s modern rendering of The Tale of Genji so engaging as literature.

If you thought the casts of literary classics such as John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga or Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude were difficult to follow, the Kojiki will be an equally demanding read. Heldt’s decision to name practically all the locations, spirits and human figures in the narrative requires readers to stay on their toes. Many of these names, however, such as Moorland Elder, Flickering Flame and Root Splitter are distinctive enough to stick. And how could anyone forget the name Water Gushing Woman?

Susanoo slays the eight-headed monster, Orochi, part of the Izumo cycle of stories in Kojiki

The well-formed structure of the account helps in its negotiation: the first book focuses on the spirit world, the second on mortals and the third on complex succession issues. The clarity of the narrative improves considerably when figures from the Kojiki are linked to events, such the exploits of heroic warriors, or the journey of the mythological first emperor, Jimmu (who supposedly lived 711-585 B.C.), from Kyushu to the vale of Yamato. Or when the realm of spirits coexisting with legendary figures is superseded by the elemental and human. In a section of song, translated by Heldt as “Withered Moor / was burnt for salt / the charred remains / made into a zither,” we understand implicitly the transformative influence exerted by mortals over nature.

The first translation of the Kojiki into English was made by Basil Hall Chamberlain in 1882. When I asked Heldt if he felt any competitive pressure producing a fresh translation of the work, he expressed satisfaction at having created a more accessible version of the work, one that, unlike its predecessors, is defined by more textually nuanced content.

The co-opting of the Kojiki in the 1930s and ’40s as a text to validate — even sanctify — the political ideologies of the far right, was perhaps inevitable given that the Emperor was regarded as a god until as recently as the end of World War II. It is not surprising to find that in a 1940 film version of the Kojiki, Japan’s mythological Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, is seen benignly casting the light of civilization over Asia, or at least the nations under the heel of Japan’s imperium.

Butoh rendition of Ame no Uzume, whose provocative dance lures Amaterasu out of her cave

My review copy of this book turned up a few days before Kenkoku Kinen no Hi (Foundation Day), a national holiday that suggests the Japanese still take their creation myths seriously; not perhaps literally, but as a component of their national heritage. When asked what he considered to be the relevance of these ancient accounts today, Heldt highlights the ongoing reappropriation of its characters and stories in forms of popular culture that are now spread across the world.

Of particular interest was his remark concerning the relevance of the myths in the Kojiki to a resurgent Japanese nationalism. Heldt cited the name Izumo, which is used for the country’s first helicopter carrier warship constructed for the Maritime Self-Defense Force. According to Heldt, this associates the helicopter carrier with the WWII battleship Yamato — Izumo and Yamato being major rivals in the Kojiki. As Heldt puts it, “Izumo’s mythical, cultural and historical ties with the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula also signal Japan’s growing concern over its maritime border with the continent.”

Ultimately, mythology is what might be termed pure fiction, or original literature. Like faith, it requires an immense suspension of disbelief if the reader is to plunge into the narrative and be buoyed along unimpeded by doubts — the skepticism associated with the rational, inquiring mind. For the reader willing to surrender his or her empirical insistencies — to luxuriate in the beauty of language — the Kojiki is time well spent.

Okuninushi, lord of Izumo, who according to the Kojiki was forced out by the Yamato lineage and became master of the underworld. It's said that Izumo Shrine stands on the site of his palace.