The _Kojiki_ and the _Nihonki_ are the two most sacred Shinto books. The one was written 711 A.D., the other 720 A.D. They were composed long before this. It always has been an Oriental practice to commit books to memory. Thus the Hindu and Parsee sacred books were preserved, and thus, too, the ancient Japanese books have been kept. Without being written out, these books were handed down from mouth to mouth. Soon after the invention of the Japanese written characters, these records were reduced to writing. The story of this is thus told: “As to the historical records of Japan, it is first mentioned that, under the twentieth emperor, in 415 A.D., officials were sent into the country to verify and describe the names of all the families. Later, a transcription of these records (originally written, in all probability, in the old Japanese letters, ‘the gods’ letters,’) in Chinese characters took place, and in 644 A.D. an historical account of the emperors, the country, the officials and the people is said to have existed, which was destroyed when Iruka was murdered, and his father’s palace, in which these records were kept, was burned. Only the history of the country was saved. From this work, as well as from what the old men of the whole empire remembered, a new compilation was made under the Emperor Temmu (672–686 A.D.), and in order that it might not be lost again, it was read to a peasant girl, named Aré, who was said never to forget anything she had once heard. From this record, and from what Aré still remembered, the first historical record of Japan known to us, the Kojiki, was compiled about thirty years later.” These works, though histories, strictly speaking, are full of stories of mythology, describing the origin of gods and men. The mythology of Japan is superior to that of Greece. It contains but few or none of the horrible stories of the gods, or the voluptuous amours of gods and goddesses which so abound in Grecian mythology. Some of their myths are really beautiful, others are very extravagant. The origin of gods, of men, of the earth, are here all described. It begins with the time when “Far in the deep infinitudes of space, Upon a throne of silence, Sat Ame-no-mi-naka-nushi-ro-kami.” This strange name signifies The Lord of the Centre of Heaven. The heavens and earth were then joined together. There was nothing but chaos. Pairs of beings were then created, male and female. Last of all Izanagi and Izanami were created. JAPANESE STORY OF THE CREATION.