Within the Shinto imagination, the Kojiki functions as a kind of sacred charter for imperial rule, weaving myth and genealogy into a single fabric. It traces the imperial family directly back to the sun kami Amaterasu-Omikami, presenting the emperor as a divine descendant whose authority is grounded not merely in human arrangements but in the very order of heaven. Through the myth of Amaterasu’s lineage and the descent of her offspring, the text frames imperial power as an expression of the will of the kami, rather than as a product of conquest or political convenience. In this way, the emperor is portrayed as the cosmic mediator, linking the realm of the gods with the human world.

A central strand in this tapestry is the narrative of divine succession, in which the heavenly mandate to rule is passed down through specific divine figures and their descendants. By presenting an unbroken genealogical line from the kami through the earliest emperors, the Kojiki emphasizes the continuity and eternity of imperial rule. The imperial line is not simply one clan among many, but the culmination of a sacred story that begins with the creation of the land itself. This narrative coherence gives the impression that the imperial house stands at the heart of Japan’s spiritual and historical destiny.

The Kojiki also intertwines the origin of the imperial family with the origin of the Japanese islands and their deities, thereby unifying religious and political authority. The land, its gods, and its ruler are depicted as arising from the same divine process, so that loyalty to the emperor becomes inseparable from reverence for the kami and the land they sanctify. By highlighting the virtues, powers, and divine blessings bestowed upon imperial ancestors, the text implies that the emperor’s status is inherently superior and that opposition to this order would run against the grain of the cosmos itself. In this sense, the Kojiki does not merely recount myths; it sacralizes a particular lineage as the rightful axis around which the community is meant to revolve.