The Kojiki

By: Basil Hall Chamberlain

Narrated by: Blaise Adams

Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935) was a professor of Japanese at Tokyo Imperial University. This is his translation of the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), which was compiled in AD 712 by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Genmei. One of the two primary sources of the Japanese national religion of Shinto, The Kojiki is a collection of myths, early legends, songs, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts. Starting with a creation story, the narrative shifts from mythology to historical legends and concludes with a chronology of the early Imperial line. It includes supernatural episodes and tales of romance, passion, and murder.

Public Domain (P)2018 Museum Audiobooks

Excessively wordy

I feel like this was written by a highschooler trying to reach a particular word count, reusing the same adjectives over and over. The narrator's performance is pretty solid for what he had to work with.

hard if you dont know the gods names

hard if you dont know the Japanese names of the gods but I did so I understood but they should be better Translations since there's Latin in one part from the translator the voice actor was good

Name Translation

Chamberlain opted to translate the names of the deities as opposed to keeping the original names, and I wish he hadn’t done that. He also referred to the underworld as Hades, which, while technically correct, shouldn’t be used when translating a non-Hellenistic religious text... But all in all, I enjoyed the read!

Good performance but jarring names

The reader did a good job despite the fact that the original translation had the deity names clunkily transliterated in the text.

Strange Translation

The book would be much better if the translation wasn’t so wonky. Japanese mythology is fascinating, but until I’m able to find another translation that is better I won’t be reading the kojiki again. Look for a different book on Japanese mythology.