The Nihon Shoki, the Chronicles of Japan, followed the Kojiki in 720: thirty books in classical Chinese, written for the record and for foreign eyes, covering the same ground from the age of the kami to the reigning empress. Where the Kojiki gives one telling, the Nihon Shoki preserves variants side by side, noting where the accounts differ. Together the two books fixed the myths of the kami in writing, and every later account of the early shrines and the imperial descent works from them.
Tagged: Jinja Shinto Shinto
The Event
- Date
- 720 (exact)
- Also called
- Chronicles of Japan
- Era
- Ancient Kami Worship; Standard periodization of Shinto history
- Location
- Nara, the imperial capital; today Nara, Japan
- Traditions
- Shinto
- Streams
- Jinja Shinto
- Key figures
- Prince Toneri
- Key texts
- Nihon Shoki
Connections
Primary Sources
- The Nihon Shoki (720).
Secondary Sources
- Hardacre, Helen. Shinto: A History. Oxford University Press, 2017.
- Breen, John, and Mark Teeuwen. A New History of Shinto. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Provenance: HIST-0905; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-28.
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Artist
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History Event
Buddhism introduced to Japan
538
History Event
Edo period
1603-1868
History Event
Heian; shinbutsu-shūgō
794-1185
History Event
Kojiki completed
712
History Event
Shinto Directive
1945
History Event
Taihō Code; Jingikan established
701