Shinjiki

**The Shinjiki** (神事記, "Records of Divine Matters" or "An Account of the Kami") is an early Shingōan chronicle of myths, legends, and semi-historical accounts concerning the creation of the world, the beginning of mankind, the kami, and the imperial throne. It is said to have been written by Kōshi, the semi-divine son of An'ei and the emperor of the ancient divine kingdom. The exact timeframe of the events described in the text are unknown, and specific dates are hard to ascertain due to the mythological and oral nature of many of the stories. Some religious scholars have posited that the events of the Shinjiki take place from 1000 to 500 B.G.E.

The myths contained in the Shinjiki are central to the Kamitomo religion and Shingōan religious practices more broadly. The text describes the nature of the kami, the spiritual beings of Kamitomo, and tells of the nature of the first kami. Additionally, it has played a major role in legitimizing the rule of the Shingōan imperial family through its story of the ancient emperors An'ei and Kōshi, who are believed to be the oldest human ancestors of the current imperial line.

### Contemporary Perception

While the text had been taken literally by practitioners of Kamitomo for several centuries after its creation, modern scholars and religious practitioners alike have begun to reinterpret the text's stories are largely symbolic. This shift in perception was influenced heavily by advances in the fields of science, history, and archaeology throughout the late 300s G.E., which shed doubt on the Shinjiki's mythological tales of the creation of the world and mankind.

Still, however, there are large sets of hardline Kamitomo practitioners that continue to take a literal approach towards reading the text. This has consequently led to a divide emerging within the religion between those who read the Shinjiki literally and those who read it symbolically.

## Synopsis

### Chapter 1

Before the creation of the world, the cosmos is described as a formless void. This changes when 4 siblings emerge from the void, the twins Uomi and Ishite and the twins Mubashi and Ibi. Uomi and Ishite work together to create the world and the celestial bodies.

### Chapter 2

Ishite and Uomi disagree on what the nature of the universe should be. Ishite favors warmth and light while Uomi favors coldness and darkness. They battle to create parts of the world in their image.

### Chapter 3

The void is displeased with Ishite and Uomi and sends Mubashi and Ibi to inspect the world. After wandering the world, Mubashi becomes lonely and creates animals and testificates out of clay. He instructs the testificates to create settlements and creates the first kami, Tanogi, to bless their crops with fertility and bring rain from the skies. Ishite becomes outraged and prevents the rains of Tanogi from reaching his lands of the world.

### Chapter 4

The forests become angry at the testificates for taking their wood and summon the kami Morigami to protect themselves. Mubashi apologizes and takes saplings to plant trees outside of the forests. Mubashi creates Dōshin, the kami of navigation, to aid his departure from the forest. Mubashi later walks in the dark and creates stars by throwing rocks at the moon in an attempt to make it go away. He then creates the kami Raijin to send lightning down to the world and light his path.

### Chapter 5

Mubashi creates fish and squids out of clay. He takes ink from the squids and makes pictures. He instructs the testificates to make a book filled with drawings to represent all the things of the world (written language), but the testificates were unable to comprehend their own drawings. Mubashi seals his divine essence in a mound of clay and asks Tanogi to bless it with fertility. The mound became a human who was able to understand the written language Mubashi and the testificates had created. A second human is made and the two begin constructing settlements.

### Chapter 6

Uomi curses humans who enter his domain by turning them into rotting corpses. The humans flee towards the lands of Ishite and pray for his aid. They construct large temples filled with treasure in exchange for Ishite burning the cursed creatures created by Uomi with the sun. Ishite creates the kami Isago-shin, who turns out to be a trickster and burns several of the Ishite's deserts red.

### Chapter 7

After a century had passed, Mubashi's sister Ibi emerged from the void and invaded the world. She summons an army and destroys human and testificate settlements. Uomi aides Ibi by sending his cursed beings to aid her conquest. Ishite takes pity upon the humans and uses metal to create Kyūkenshin, the kami of war and battle. Tanogi heals the humans who were injured on the battlefield. As Ibi fled from the advancing human army, she creates creatures of destruction and evil. Ibi is tracked down by Kyūkenshin and the humans and later cast into the sun and destroyed.

### Chapter 8

Mubashi creates Wadatsumi, the kami of the sea, and instructs him to ensure that water has no bounds. Wadatsumi creates Kashin, the kami of the rivers, to watch over the rivers and keep the world's water level balanced. Ishite becomes angry at the introduction of cold water and creates lakes of lava and pits of magma.

### Chapter 9

Human tribes begin fighting among themselves, destroying settlements in the process. Mubashi creates Shimotsuwa, the kami of the underground, to summon the cursed creatures of Uomi and Ibi in hopes of scaring the humans back into peace with each other. Mubashi realizes the humans are unable to change and travels to a peninsula, where he seals his divine essence into two clay mounds that become humans. Mubashi cuts off his head and splits it between the two humans. He then lectures them, telling them to make peace with other humans and not wage war. The two humans raise a son named An'ei and create an enlightened and prosperous nation. Mubashi ascends to the clouds and becomes one with the kami.

### Chapter 10

Humans from other tribes offend Ishite by looting and desecrating his temples, and he consequently banishes them to a realm of fire and morphs their bodies with those of pigs. Once their bodies had rotted to the point of becoming skeletons, Ishite instructed them to guard large fortresses across the realm. Ishite proclaims to the rest of the humans back on earth that he will banish any person who steals or is filled with greed to his realm of fire after their death. Consequently, some human tribes renounce war, but others continue in their ways of violence and suffer the wrath of Ishite. After resting for generations, Uomi creates dark creates to serve as his priests and instructs them to travel across realms.

### Chapter 11

An'ei's parents pass away and ascend into the heavens. He becomes the leader of the divine nation and teaches his people in the ways of peace and enlightenment. Tanogi marveled at the nation and used flowers to create her daughter Hanani, the kami of fruit, prosperity, and beauty. Hanani observes An'ei from the clouds and develops an admiration for him and blesses the trees of his nation. Once An'ei reached adulthood, Tanogi offers him Hanani's hand in marriage. The nation is blessed and prosperous, and the two have a son and a daughter. The son is named Kōshi and is taught how to become the next ruler of the nation. The daughter is named Ai and became the kami of love, jewels, and marriage. Hoping to impress a group of fishermen at a dock, Kōshi tosses a coin into the sea and create Fukukinshin, the kami of gold fortune and success, which leads his father, An'ei, to scold him. Later, Kōshi sneaks away from the palace and travels the world creating countless kami. He creates Kōkami, the kami of the mountains and low skies, and climbs a pillar to the heavens where he sees Mubashi and the other high kami. He asks Mubashi to explain how the world came to be and writes what he hears in the Shinjiki.