ABSTRACT
In this essay, I will focus on the transmission of one of the most treasured sources of Japanese mythology that is, at the same time, one of the oldest extant written texts of Japan, the Nihon shoki 日本書紀 (Chronicles of Japan), also known as Nihongi 日本紀, compiled by Prince Toneri and O no Yasumaru in 720. The text was already translated into German and English in the late nineteenth century, and it has been meticulously studied by both Japanese and Western scholars. However, my attention will not be directed to the text itself, but to its fate in the so-called medieval period. In particular, I shall focus on the textpflege1 of this mytho-historical document, that is the manner in which it was kept alive and meaningful in spite of changing cultural and linguistic conditions. This textpflege of the Nihon shoki shall serve as a paradigmatic case of the relationship between secrecy and knowledge in medieval Japan.
