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Mythology Worlds
JAPAN
Land of the Rising Sun
History of Japan
Prehistoric Japan
Jomon (10,000-300 B.C.E.)
When the mythical first emperor Jimmu-Tenno is supposed to have reigned
Yayoi (300 B.C.E.-300 C.E.)
The ancestors of the Japanese (coming from Korea, Siberia, and Malaysia) slaughter the original Ainu inhabitants and confine them to the northern island of Hokkaido
Kofun (300-538)
Formative Era
Asuka (538-710)
Korea brings Buddhism to Japan
Nara (710-794)
The Kojiki and the Nihon-Shoki are written down
Heian (794-1185)
Japan's "classical era"
Age of Samurai
Kamakura (1185-1333)
The first shogunate
Muromachi (1333-1568)
Azuchi-Momoyama (1568-1603)
Unification of Japan after the Battle of Sekigahara
Edo/Tokugawa (1603-1868)
Japan closes itself off from the outside world
The Meiji Restoration
(1868-1912)
Japan adopts Occidental infrastructure and establishes Shinto as the state religion
New Year's Day 1946
(Four months after World War 2 ended)
Emperor Showa (Hirohito) denies his divine lineage and declares that he is only human
Japan is not like anime.
Hopefully you're not surprised!
Primary Sources on Japanese mythology
The Kojiki
The Nihon-Shoki
Core Stories and Gods of Shinto
Jimmu-Tenno did not actually exist.
The first recorded ruler of Japan was a woman.
(The Shaman Queen Himiko)
Japanese Buddhist Lore
Japanese fairy tales
Japanese spirit creatures
Whoever first told the onna-yokai stories was probably an incel.
There are so many weird and wonderful spirit creatures in Japanese mythology that there is no room for all of them on this webpage.
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