The Kojiki Audiobook By Basil Hall Chamberlain cover art

The Kojiki

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The Kojiki

By: Basil Hall Chamberlain
Narrated by: Blaise Adams
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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 Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts Spirituality World Mythology Ancient History

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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.

Excessively wordy

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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!

Name Translation

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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

hard if you dont know the gods names

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

Good performance but jarring names

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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.

Strange Translation

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