The Kojiki is arranged into three scrolls, or maki, that move from the age of the gods into the realm of human emperors, creating a continuous sacred history. Before these scrolls, there is a Chinese-style preface attributed to Ō no Yasumaro, which explains the imperial commission, the reliance on oral recitation as a source, and the desire to harmonize and fix divergent genealogies and myths. Throughout, the work is written in classical Chinese syntax but crafted to capture Japanese names and sounds, and its prose narrative is punctuated by songs and poems that give voice to ritual emotion, political legitimacy, and intimate feeling. The overarching purpose is to trace an unbroken line from the primordial kami to the imperial house, so that political authority appears as the natural flowering of cosmic order.

The first scroll, the Kamitsumaki or “Upper Scroll,” dwells in the mythic age and the realm of the kami. It opens with cosmogony, the emergence of heaven and earth, and the appearance of the earliest deities, then moves into the cycle of Izanagi and Izanami, the creation of the Japanese islands, and the birth of countless deities. Narratives of Izanami’s death, the descent to Yomi, and Izanagi’s purification lead into the birth of Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo, whose conflicts and reconciliations shape the divine world. The scroll continues with the myths of Susanoo’s descent and exploits, the lineage of Ōkuninushi, and the “transfer of the land,” in which earthly rule is yielded to the descendants of Amaterasu. In this way, the divine realm is not an abstract heaven but the deep background of the land and people of Japan.

The second scroll, the Nakatsumaki or “Middle Scroll,” marks the transition from gods to human rulers while still suffused with mythic color. It recounts the descent of the heavenly grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto, bearing the tokens of imperial authority, and follows the lineage from Ninigi to Emperor Jimmu. Stories of Jimmu’s eastern expedition and the early emperors present a world where conquest, marriage, and ritual all serve to weave together heavenly and terrestrial lineages. Genealogies frame these episodes, but within them appear vivid tales and songs that show how divine mandate is expressed in human character, struggle, and love. The scroll thus stands at the threshold where myth shades into legendary history.

The third scroll, the Shimotsumaki or “Lower Scroll,” extends the imperial line from Emperor Jimmu down to Empress Suiko, drawing nearer to the historical horizon while retaining a mythic sensibility. Much of this scroll consists of genealogical records—emperors, consorts, offspring, and kin lines—yet certain reigns are elaborated with rich narrative episodes, such as heroic campaigns, rebellions subdued, and marriages that consolidate power. Poems and dialogues continue to appear, giving a more intimate texture to what might otherwise be bare lists of names. Across all three scrolls, the organizational principle is both chronological and genealogical: from cosmogony to divine age, from divine descent to early emperors, and finally to semi-historical rulers. The work as a whole embodies a Shinto vision in which the divine and human realms are not separate spheres but successive phases of a single sacred story centered on the imperial line.