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The Kojiki Myths

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The Kojiki myths serve to legitimize the Yamato rulers by articulating the family relationship between the Yamato rulers and ancient deities and the creation of the primitive Japanese Island. Illustrated in the myth, Japanese imperial family is actually the descendant of gods, Izanami and Izanagi, who create the islands of Japan. Since deities use supernatural power to bring Japanese islands into existence and gods have reigned the area for such a long time, it is natural for Japanese to accept that the Yamato rulers, the offsprings of gods with magical power, have undeniable reasons to reign over Japan. The Man’yoshu poems, on the other hand, are written to praise the supernatural power of Yamato emperors and to express the collective reverence

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