Released from the prewar ven eration of the Kcjiki and the national myths as sacred text, historians, archeologists, philologists, and students of mythology and literature have been able to look at their subjects anew, evaluate critically the material at hand, and make early Japan more accessible to the student and layman. The postwar years in Japan have witnessed a great revival of interest in the early centuries ofjapanese history. While using the Kojiki as the earliest source book in Japanese hterature and history, the contemporary reader may also consult the wealth of supplementary information which has recently become available. It is the court’s statement about the origins of the imperial clan and the leading families and the beginnings ofjapan as a nation and it is, at the same time, a compilation of myths, historical and pseudo-historical nar ratives and legends, songs, anecdotes, folk etymologies, and genealogies. under the auspices of the imperial court, it is the oldest extant book in Japanese and, as its title (literally, Record of Ancient Things”)suggests, an account of a still earlier era. All students interested in the origins ofJapan must of necessity turn to the Kcjiki.
Even if the external forms of life undergo change-even revolutionary change-many of the early concepts, attitudes, and beliefs maintain a surprising vitahty, influencing the nation throughout its entire history. Very often the beginnings of a nation’s history involve tensions, contradictions, and difficulties which continue to operate, overtly or latently, for many centuries. RomanizedTranscriptions of the Song TextsĪn investigation of a nation’s origins, whether they are comparatively recent or shrouded in ancient myths and traditions, is an interesting guide to the modern nation. Although many people have provided assistance and encouragement throughout this project, the final translation, opinions and interpreta tions are entirely the responsibility of the author.ī.
I would also like to thank the various scholars, Japanese and American, who read this manuscript in whole or in part, and whose useful advice and criticism suggested a number of revisions. Thanks are due to the Rockefeller Foundation, whose supporting grant from August 1959 to July 1961 made research and work on this translation possible. It was largely through his encouragement that this project was begun, and through his initiative that financial support was obtained and the advisory committee organized. I am also greatly in debted to Pro£ Hirai Naofusa, formerly executive director of the Nihon Bunka Kenkyusho. Kurano and Kamei, who gave freely of their time and provided me with numerous helpful suggestions and comments.
This study owes much to an advisory committee organized in co operation with the Nihon Bunka Kenkyusho (Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics), Kokugakuin University, and composed of the following members: Prof Hisamatsu Sen’ichi, chairman of the com mittee and general adviser Pro£ Ono Sokyd, adviser on religious questions Pro£ Kurano Keiyi, president of the Kojiki Gakkai and adviser on textual and exegetical matters and Pro£ Kameirrakashi, adviser on linguistic aspects. © University of Tokyo Press 1968 Printed in Japan All Rights ReservedĬopublished by PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS and UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO PRESS Library of Congress Catalogue: 67-29534 Princeton University Press University of Tokyo Press 1969 Translated with an Introduction and Notes by DONALD し PHILIPPI RomanizedTranscriptions of the Song Texts 426