ABSTRACT
The study of religion in archaic Japan—c.14,000 bce to c.700 ce—is predominately based on the archaeological record. It is only toward the end of this period that textual evidence becomes significant, and even then the textual record is sparse and of dubious historical accuracy. Although texts like Kojiki (“Record of Ancient Matters,” 712 ce) and Nihon shoki (“Chronicles of Japan,” 720 ce) purport to narrate Japan’s early history, it might be argued that, given the compilation dates for these two texts, the entire period we are dealing with in this chapter is essentially prehistoric. This is underscored by the fact that many historical details described in these texts have been challenged or outright contradicted by both archaeological and textual research. Japanese mytho-historical narratives that purport to describe earlier times are more trustworthy as evidence for political aspirations couched in sacred terms.
