The Kojiki, often approached as a wellspring of Japan’s mythic imagination, was compiled in 712 CE, during a formative era for the Shinto tradition. At the heart of this endeavor stands Ō no Yasumaro, a court scholar and nobleman entrusted with giving written form to narratives that had long circulated orally. His work did not arise in a vacuum; it was carried out under the authority of Empress Genmei, whose reign provided the political and ritual context for this codification. In this way, the text emerges as both a literary monument and an instrument of imperial and spiritual self-understanding.

Behind the written characters of the Kojiki lies the living voice of oral tradition. Yasumaro drew upon the recitations of Hieda no Are, a court attendant renowned for exceptional powers of memory, who had been charged with preserving these myths and genealogies. Are’s role suggests that the Kojiki is not merely a compilation of stories, but the crystallization of a long-practiced art of remembrance, carried in the body and speech of a dedicated practitioner. The involvement of Emperor Tenmu, under whom Hieda no Are served, further situates this project within a lineage of imperial concern for safeguarding the sacred narratives of origin.

Seen in this light, the compilation of the Kojiki may be understood as a deliberate act of spiritual and cultural consolidation. The myths, rituals, and lineages it records were not simply archived; they were gathered and arranged so that the cosmos, the land, and the imperial house could be perceived as woven into a single tapestry. The collaboration of ruler, scholar, and reciter reflects a shared recognition that memory, when entrusted to both human minds and written script, can anchor a people’s sense of the divine.