Read, reflect, pray
Nihon Shoki: Heaven and earth divide; the kami appear
Nihon Shoki · Story 1 of 17
天地が分かれ、神々が現れる
A main narrative beginning with Kuninotokotachi, and a heavenly variant.
English translation of this site’s published story summary and reading notes. This is a selected reading guide, not a complete translation of the ancient chronicle.
A variant account (issho, introduced as “one writing says”) is a different tradition preserved beside the main narrative. It is labeled separately below.
Main narrative
Book 1, section 1
Before heaven and earth separate, the world is described as mingled like an egg. The clear and light become heaven; the heavy and turbid become earth. Heaven forms first, then earth becomes established.
Between heaven and earth something like a reed shoot arises and becomes Kuninotokotachi. Kuninosatsuchi and Toyokumunu follow. The main narrative records these three as the first deities.
Variant account (issho)
Book 1, section 1 variant 4
This variant says Kuninotokotachi and Kuninosatsuchi appear first, then adds ‘it is also said’ that Amenominakanushi, Takamimusubi, and Kamimusubi were born in Takamagahara. The names and order of the first deities are not fixed to a single tradition.
Compare with the Kojiki
The Kojiki begins with Amenominakanushi, Takamimusubi, and Kamimusubi, unlike the order beginning with Kuninotokotachi in the Nihon Shoki’s main narrative.
The beginning of heaven and earth →Connected figures
Names and relationships in a chronicle may differ from later traditions. Each figure’s introduction identifies its sources.
Sources and edition (1)
English explanations on this page were prepared by Inori no Mori from the cited text and its Japanese explanations. They are not an official translation or a prescribed liturgy.