Shinto does not center itself on a single, revealed scripture in the manner of traditions that gather around a definitive holy book. Its heart lies more in lived practice—rituals, festivals, and reverence for the kami—than in a fixed body of dogma. Nevertheless, over time certain classical writings have come to function as foundational sources for its myths, rituals, and vision of the sacred landscape of Japan. These texts are revered and frequently consulted, yet they are not treated as infallible or universally binding in the way that scriptural canons are in some other religions.

Foremost among these writings is the *Kojiki* (“Record of Ancient Matters”), compiled in the early eighth century. It preserves creation myths, stories of the kami, songs, and genealogies that trace the divine origins of Japan and its imperial line. Closely related is the *Nihon Shoki* or *Nihongi* (“Chronicles of Japan”), which offers a more elaborate and historically oriented account while still encompassing mythological narratives. Together, these two works provide the narrative backbone of Shinto cosmology and the sacred history through which the imperial house and the land itself are linked to the kami.

In addition to these mytho-historical chronicles, other texts illuminate the ritual and liturgical dimensions of Shinto. The *Engishiki* (“Procedures of the Engi Era”) includes, in its early volumes, collections of *norito*—ancient prayers and liturgies—as well as regulations concerning shrine rites. Such materials, along with various local shrine records, preserve concrete details of ceremonies, offerings, and forms of address to the kami. Through them, one sees how Shinto’s spiritual vision is woven into specific acts of worship rather than articulated as a systematic theology.

Taken together, these writings show a tradition whose authority is dispersed across story, ritual, and place rather than concentrated in a single book. The *Kojiki* and *Nihon Shoki* articulate a sacred narrative world; the *Engishiki* and its *norito* give voice to the words and gestures by which humans approach the kami. Shinto thus invites engagement not only through reading but through participation, where text, ritual performance, and the living presence of the kami mutually illuminate one another.