Japan’s earliest chronicle, the Kojiki, unfolds a tapestry of gods and legends that still color modern culture. It kicks off with the divine couple Izanagi and Izanami, whose dance atop the “Floating Bridge of Heaven” spun the very islands of Japan into being. Tragedy struck when Izanami perished birthing the fire god; her grief-stricken spouse’s ill-fated venture into the underworld birthed three of Shinto’s heavyweight deities.

When Izanagi purified himself upon return, Amaterasu Ōmikami—goddess of the sun—burst forth from his left eye, her radiant power outshining everything else. From his right eye sprang Tsukuyomi, the moon god, while a sneeze produced Susanoo, tempestuous deity of seas and storms. Amaterasu’s fallout with Susanoo (complete with a celestial cave tantrum) set the stage for Earth’s humblest miracles: sunlight’s return hinged on a raucous divine party coaxing her from hiding.

Susanoo didn’t stay grounded for long. After banishment, a slithery encounter with the eight-headed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi showcased his heroics—and he uncovered the legendary Kusanagi sword within the monster’s tail. Meanwhile, Ōkuninushi, grandson of Susanoo, wrestled land disputes and won the hearts of earthly kami, earning a starring role in tales of medicine, matchmaking and ancestral spirits (think of him next time a matchmaking app sparks a “kami connection”).

The Kojiki threads these myths into the foundation of imperial lineage: Amaterasu’s grandson, Ninigi-no-Mikoto, descended to rule, paving the way for Emperor Jimmu, said to have ascended in 660 BCE. That divine genealogy still echoes today—in 2019, Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremonies reaffirmed those Shinto roots. From festivals at Ise Shrine’s ever-renewing precincts to Studio Ghibli’s animation landscapes, the Kojiki’s cast of deities remains as alive now as when its ink first dried.