An impressive tapestry of myths, legends and official records lies behind the Nihon Shoki, woven together from a surprising variety of sources:

· Kojiki material. The earlier chronicle of 712 provided a solid foundation of imperial genealogies and creation myths—its narratives were lifted wholesale in many places, then expanded and reorganized.

· Clan archives (kafu) and provincial gazetteers (fudoki). Powerful lineages—Soga, Mononobe and others—kept detailed genealogies, land surveys and ritual calendars. The fudoki compiled from 713 onward added local place-name lore and customs, filling gaps in provincial history.

· Court documents and decrees. Edicts, marriage records, tax registers and military rosters stored in the imperial archives supplied rock-solid dates for reigns and events. These bureaucratic files gave the Nihon Shoki its air of administrative authority.

· Shinto shrine records and priestly oral traditions. Ritual chants, temple chronicles (engi) and ceremonial protocols—often transmitted verbally—provided the cosmological and religious backbone. Beliefs about deities like Amaterasu were curated by shrine custodians long before they were etched in stone.

· Chinese dynastic histories. The Wei Zhi’s “Wajinden” section, plus extracts from the Book of Later Han, Book of Jin and other Tang-era compilations, offered comparisons with continental polities and lent an international flavor. Borrowing from these works helped position Japan on the East Asian stage.

· Poetry anthologies and songs. Early waka and ceremonial songs preserved glimpses of court life and diplomatic exchanges—little time capsules of cultural nuance that complemented the formal prose.

It all comes together like a jigsaw puzzle: each piece—whether a clan scroll hidden in a wardrobe or a Chinese envoy’s report—is essential. Today’s digital humanities projects, recreating the ancient capital in virtual reality or mapping genealogies with GIS, keep spotlighting just how sophisticated those Nara-period scholars really were.