Man'yōshū

The Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves

Man'yōshū is the oldest Japanese anthologies of poetry. The collection of about 4,500 poems display a great variety of form and subject including nature, aging, wealth, and many more.

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Kojiki

Records of Ancient Matters

The Kojiki was presented to the court in 712 A.D. and it is the oldest surviving Japanese book. Similar to Greek myths, the records bring Ancient Japanese thinking to the present. The stories begin with the creation of the world in the Age of the Gods and continue until the reign of the Empress Suiko during the Yamato confederacy.

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Nihon Shoki

The Chronicles of Japan

Together with the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki compromises the oldest official history of Japan from its origins to AD 697. Consisting of 30 chapters, the first part deals with many myths and ancient legends that are important to the Shinto thought. The chapters become more historically accurate from the 5th century on, covering records of politically powerful clans and the introduction of Buddhism and Taika Reforms.

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Kaifūsō

Fond Recollection of Poetry

The Kaifūsō was the first anthology of poetry in Chinese written by Japanese. Compiled in 751, it includes material written over a period of seventy-five years and includes many allusions to Chinese literature and history.