The Kojiki: An Account of Ancient Matters Paperback – Illustrated, 9 September 2014

I’ve been taking Japanese lessons for three years now, and I felt like this was a necessary read to understand the minute details of Japanese culture. And I’m not disappointed. This is a must-read for those who want a better understanding of Japanese history/mythology.

I was very disappointed in the poor quality of this book compared to the price. It looked cheaply put together. I ordered this as a gift to a family member, and was very embarrassed to send it.

So i forced my way through the lenghty introduction, wich is fine since it may help clear up later issues, only to find myself helplessly confused by the literal translation of names. I bought this book to interact with shinto myths and learn about the shinto part of japanese religion. But the texts are nearly unbearable because the different spirits are completely unidentifiable due to the literal translations of their names. I dont get why you would translate names in the first place or ,if you still choose to, at least did it without getting rid of the original name. For example instead of just writing "Reckless Rushing Raging Man" they could have just offered a translation in form of a few extra pages in the beginning with a table of names and their translations, and then just called him "Susanoo" in the rest of the book.

Translation appears to be solid and the general structure/phrasing of everything is clear and readable, but it becomes a chore to read as Heldt chose to use the literal English translations of places and names rather than a transliteration of the Japanese.

This is by far the best translation of the Kojiki yet. Modern yet elegant in its style without the awkward 19th century english stylings of Aston's original translation. Of all the Japanese classics, the Kojiki is by far my favorite! The stories of the Shinto mythology and countless kami have always been facinating to me ever since I first came across them in a college textbook twenty years ago. And while this hard cover edition is a bit on the pricy side considering its small size, it worth it. The hard cover design simple yet beautiful, begging to be opened.Perhaps one day Gustav Heldt will get around to doing a modern translation of the Nihon Shoki (Nihongi). If so, I'd be there to preorder it.