earliest origins of Shinto are unknown; just as the earliest origins of the Japanese people are fairly unknown. Both are, however, suspected to be rather ancient, with the groundwork of Shinto having been laid well before that of Christianity, in the late Jomon period in Japan. These early belief systems were quite fragmented from region to region and through the centuries until writing was introduced into Japan in the fifth century and Buddhism in the sixth century A.D. As a result of the former, the Kojiki -- the record of ancient things -- and the Nihonshoki -- the chronicles of Japan -- were put to paper shortly after writing took hold in Japan. Fundamentally, these two works were the first formal compilations of ancient belief systems and mythologies. The immediate result of the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki were that they officially legitimized the position of the Imperial Family. Additionally, the...
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