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This region is not difficult to visit. Trains run, signs are clear, the shrines are open. What's missing is the connective tissue — the stories that make these places more than scenic stops. This guide exists to put the myth back in the place.
The guide is structured to be read in order before your trip, then reopened section-by-section while you're there.
The 358 bronze swords. The 39 ritual bells. The archaeological case that the Kojiki's "Country of the Gods" was a real ancient civilization.
Everything you need to know before arrival, in fifteen minutes.
The most cinematic myth in the Kojiki, told in full.
From the white hare of Inaba to the building of the islands.
The political pivot of the entire Kojiki.
The festival, the rituals, the dates through 2030, and the practical strategy.
Hinomisaki at sunset. The boulder of Yomotsu Hirasaka.
Train times. Lunch stops. The exact bus from Inasa to Hinomisaki for sunset.
How to reach Izumo from Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto.
Heldt's translation of the Kojiki. The next region of the trail.
The Kojiki Trail Society is a small editorial group based in Nara — the city where the Kojiki was written, and the original capital of the eight million gods. We work to bring Japan's oldest stories to English readers. We grew up with these myths the way English-speakers grow up with Greek and Norse legend — half-remembered from childhood, then rediscovered through travel and study as adults.
Most English-language books on Japanese mythology are written by Western academics or hobbyists. Many are excellent — Heldt's translation of the Kojiki is a masterpiece, and Cali & Dougill's work on Shinto shrines is indispensable. But they read, often beautifully, like books written from the outside looking in.
We built this guide for a different reader: the curious traveler who wants the stories alive and the places woven through them. Every site in this volume has been visited multiple times by our editors. Every audio narration was recorded on location. Every recommendation is one we would give a friend.
Yes. About a third of buyers read the guide for the stories alone. The Kojiki is one of the great mythological texts of world literature, and most readers find that the structure of "story → place → practical" makes the myths far easier to remember than reading them as straight text. You can read the whole guide on a Sunday afternoon. If you do visit Japan later, you'll still have it.
Those resources are excellent at telling you what to see. They are not designed to tell you why these places matter or what stories happened there. This guide is the opposite: every site is introduced through its myth, and the practical detail follows the story rather than substituting for it. The two work well together.
No. The opening chapter is a fifteen-minute crash course covering everything you need: the key gods, what a shrine is, how Shinto differs from Buddhism, and the basic shape of the Kojiki. By the end of that chapter, every name and concept used later in the guide will feel familiar.
The main file is a PDF, designed for both desktop reading (two-page spread) and phone reading (single column reflows automatically). The audio is delivered as MP3 files, playable on any device. The Google Map opens in the standard Maps app, and you can save it for offline use. No app to download, no DRM, no expiration.
Email us within 30 days and we will refund you in full, no questions, no need to return anything. The risk on this purchase is ours, not yours.
Yes. This is part of a planned five-volume series covering Awaji, Izumo, Takachiho, Ise, and Asuka. Buyers of any volume receive a 30% loyalty discount on every future volume, automatically applied at checkout. See the next section for the full series roadmap.
The Kojiki Trail is a five-volume series, one for each region of the original mythological cycle. Buyers of any volume receive a 30% loyalty discount on all future volumes for life.
The volumes can be read in any sequence. They are released in the order shown above.
One PDF. Audio narrations. A custom map. A multi-day itinerary. Everything you need to make this region the most memorable of your trip — or to read the stories from anywhere in the world.
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Instant download · PDF + audio · 30-day refund · Lifetime updates