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Japanese mythology embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculturally based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon comprises innumerable ''kami'' (Japanese for "god(s)" or "spirits"). This article will discuss only the typical elements present in Asian mythology, such as cosmogony, important deities, and the best known Japanese stories. Japanese myths, as generally recognized in the mainstream today, are based on the ''Kojiki'', the ''Nihon Shoki'', and some complementary books. The ''Kojiki'', or "Record of Ancient Matters", is the oldest surviving account of Japan's myths, legends and history. The ''Shintōshū'' describes the origins of Japanese deities from a Buddhist perspective, while the ''Hotsuma Tsutae'' records a substantially different version of the mythology. One notable feature of Japanese mythology is its explanation of the origin of the Imperial Family, which has been used historically to assign godhood to the imperial line. The title of the Emperor of Japan, ''tennō'' (天皇), means "heavenly sovereign". Note: Japanese is not transliterated consistently across all sources, see: #Spelling of proper nouns ==Creation myth== (詳細はJapanese creation myth, the first deities which came into existence, appearing at the time of the creation of the universe, are collectively called Kotoamatsukami. Later, the seven generations of ''kami'', known as Kamiyonanayo ("Seven Generations of the Age of the Gods"), emerged, following the formation of heaven and earth. The first two generations are individual deities called hitorigami, while the five that followed came into being as male/female pairs of ''kami'': brothers and sisters that were also married couples. In this chronicle, the ''Kamiyonanayo'' comprise 12 deities in total.〔 In contrast, the Nihon Shoki states that the ''Kamiyonanayo'' group was the first to appear after the creation of the universe, as opposed to the ''Kamiyonanayo'' appearing after the formation of heaven and earth. It also states that the first ''three'' generations of deities are ''hitorigami'' (individual deities) and that the later generations of deities are pairs of the opposite gender, as compared to the Kojiki's two generations of ''hitorigami''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Japanese mythology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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