Archaeology does not confirm the divine episodes of the Kojiki as literal history, yet it does reveal a material world that resonates strongly with its vision of early Japan. The emergence of large keyhole-shaped kofun tombs, filled with standardized grave goods, armor, and horse trappings, points to a powerful, stratified elite centered in the Yamato region, much like the ruling lineages and imperial genealogies described in the text. Kofun-period haniwa figures and monumental burial practices suggest an ideology of ancestor veneration and hierarchical order that mirrors the Kojiki’s emphasis on sacred ancestry and the sacralization of political authority. In this way, the earth itself preserves traces of a society in which political power, ritual practice, and claims of divine descent were deeply intertwined.

The ritual and religious landscape uncovered by archaeologists also harmonizes with the spiritual world portrayed in the narratives. Ancient shrine sites such as Ise and Izumo show long continuity of sacred spaces, offering pits, and ritual platforms, echoing the text’s portrayal of these regions as enduring centers of kami worship. Bronze mirrors, swords, jewels, and ritual bronze bells (dōtaku) appear in elite tombs and ceremonial contexts, corresponding to the mirror, sword, and jewel of the imperial regalia and to the broader ritual culture that the Kojiki places at the heart of communal life. These artifacts suggest a religious sensibility in which light, metal, and sound mediated the relationship between human communities and the unseen realm.

The everyday world of fields, villages, and sea routes is likewise reflected in the archaeological record. Evidence of rice paddies, irrigation systems, agricultural tools, and communal granaries aligns with the text’s intense concern for rice cultivation, harvest rituals, and the sacredness of food offerings. Settlement expansion and the remains of elevated structures and pit dwellings fit the image of communities consolidating territory under emerging rulers. At the same time, material traces of maritime trade, continental-style weapons, pottery, and metalwork from Korea and China, along with immigrant communities bearing distinctive crafts, parallel stories of overseas contact and the incorporation of foreign lineages and skills into the Yamato sphere.

Regional power centers further illuminate the political and mythic geography evoked in the narratives. Rich finds in Izumo, including substantial ritual remains, support the idea of a ritually significant polity whose integration into a wider order is remembered in mythic form. Large settlements such as those at Yoshinogari and Makimuku, with fortifications, ritual spaces, and elite residences, match the scale and organization of chiefdoms that could underlie later memories of early rulers and polities. Taken together, these findings do not verify specific deities or miraculous events, but they do show that the world imagined in the Kojiki is deeply rooted in the social structures, sacred landscapes, and ritual practices that archaeology continues to bring to light.