The Oldest Surviving Kojiki
Three slim booklets, each about 23 centimeters tall and 15 wide, hold the earliest surviving copy of the Kojiki, Japan's oldest narrative history. A monk named Kenyu brushed them between 1371 and 1372 at Shinpukuji, the temple known today as Ōsu Kannon in Nagoya. The work that Kenyu copied had been completed in 712, and the original was lost long ago. These three volumes come closer than anything else that survives to showing what that vanished text actually said.
The set carries the formal designation Kojiki, in the hand of Kenyu, and was named a National Treasure in 1951. Scholars usually call it the Shinpukuji manuscript, after the temple that has kept it for more than six centuries.
What the Kojiki Records
The Kojiki sets down the myths and royal genealogies of early Japan. It opens with the creation of the islands and the age of the gods, then runs forward to the reign of Empress Suiko in the early seventh century. By tradition, Emperor Tenmu ordered a court attendant named Hieda no Are to commit the imperial lineages and old stories to memory. After Tenmu's death, Empress Genmei had the official Ō no Yasumaro set them down in writing, and he presented the finished work in 712.
Much of the text reads as myth rather than verifiable record, yet it remains the foundational account of Japan's gods and earliest rulers. It also matters to linguists. Yasumaro wrote Japanese words using Chinese characters for their sound rather than their meaning, a system known as man'yōgana, and the pronunciations preserved here are older than those in the Nihon Shoki, the court chronicle finished eight years later. Japanese readers learn the two works as a pair, the starting point of the country's written record.
Why This Copy Matters
No manuscript of the Kojiki survives from anywhere near the eighth century. The text came down through the medieval period as copies of copies, and the lines of transmission eventually split into separate families. The Shinpukuji manuscript is the oldest member of the Ise line, and the oldest complete Kojiki of any line.
Its colophon records where Kenyu's source texts came from. The upper and lower volumes were copied from a manuscript held by Ōnakatomi no Sadayo; the middle volume from one belonging to Fujiwara no Michimasa. Three later copies in the same Ise tradition, made in 1381, 1424, and 1426, survive only in part. The Shinpukuji set is the only one that preserves all three volumes from this early stage, which is why editors who prepare modern texts of the Kojiki still work from it as their base.
The Object Itself
The volumes are bound in the detchōsō style, in which folded sheets are pasted along their inner folds rather than stitched along the spine. Buddhist texts of the period were often made this way. Kenyu worked under his teacher Shinyu, the second abbot of Shinpukuji and an heir in the faith to the temple's founder, Nōshin.
He was not making a showpiece. The brushwork is plain and steady, the hand of a scholar who wanted an accurate text rather than a calligrapher chasing effect. That restraint is part of the manuscript's value. Because Kenyu copied faithfully, carrying forward character forms and phonetic notations that a freer scribe might have quietly updated, the pages hold traces of much older readings inside a fourteenth-century book. When the volumes go on view, the dense columns of small characters and the occasional note in the margin are what reward a slow look.
Where to See It
The manuscript belongs to Hōshōin, the temple commonly called Ōsu Kannon, but it is kept for safekeeping at the Tokyo National Museum and goes on view only during occasional special exhibitions. A 2022 loan brought it back to Ōsu for a short homecoming display, and earlier it appeared in shows in Nagoya, Nara, and Fukuoka. Anyone hoping to see the original should check current museum schedules rather than expect it on permanent display.
Ōsu Kannon itself is open every day and free to enter. The temple library, the Ōsu Bunko, holds roughly 15,000 early books and documents, among them four National Treasures and dozens of Important Cultural Properties. It is one of the richest collections of medieval texts in any temple's keeping in Japan. The books themselves are not on open display, but the grounds and the history behind the collection are easy to visit.
The Ōsu District
Ōsu Kannon stands at the western edge of one of Nagoya's busiest neighborhoods. The temple moved here in 1612, when Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered it relocated from the Kiso river plain during the laying out of the town below Nagoya Castle. The shopping arcades that grew up around the gate now run for several blocks, crowded with secondhand electronics shops, vintage clothing, street food, and small restaurants.
On the 18th and 28th of each month, an antiques market fills the courtyard with dealers offering old ceramics, prints, and curios. The present main hall dates from 1970, rebuilt after wartime fire destroyed the earlier building. Seeing the temple and walking the arcades fit easily into a single afternoon.
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Q&A
- Can I see the actual manuscript at Ōsu Kannon?
- No. The original is deposited at the Tokyo National Museum and is shown only during occasional special exhibitions. The temple grounds are open daily, but the manuscript is not on regular display anywhere.
- How does the Kojiki differ from the Nihon Shoki?
- Both date from the early eighth century. The Kojiki was written in a Japanese-flavored style that used characters for their sound, and it leans toward myth and song. The Nihon Shoki was composed in formal Chinese as an official, dated chronicle.
- Why is a 14th-century copy so important when the Kojiki dates from 712?
- Because no earlier copy survives. The original and all early transcriptions are lost, so the 1371 to 1372 Shinpukuji manuscript is the closest surviving witness to the text and the standard base for modern editions.
- Is Ōsu Kannon free to visit?
- Yes. Entry to the grounds and main hall is free, and the hall is open from 6:00 to 19:00. The nearest station is Ōsu Kannon on the Tsurumai subway line, a few minutes' walk from the gate.
- What does "in the hand of Kenyu" mean in the title?
- It names the scribe. Kenyu was the monk who copied the text, and Japanese cultural-property names often credit the copyist this way when the writer is known and significant to the work's history.
Basic Information
| Name | Kojiki, in the hand of Kenyu (Shinpukuji manuscript) |
|---|---|
| Owner | Hōshōin (Ōsu Kannon), Shingon Buddhism, Chisan branch |
| Location | 2-21-47 Ōsu, Naka Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | National Treasure (calligraphy and books) |
| Designated | June 9, 1951 |
| Period | Nanbokuchō period, copied 1371 to 1372 |
| Scribe | The monk Kenyu |
| Count | 3 volumes (upper, middle, lower) |
| Dimensions | Approx. 23.3 cm high, 14.7 cm wide |
| Binding | Detchōsō (pasted-fold binding) |
| Current keeping | Deposited at the Tokyo National Museum; shown only in occasional special exhibitions |
| Temple admission | Free; main hall open 6:00 to 19:00 |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/574
- Ōsu Kannon (Kitanosan Shinpukuji Hōshōin) Official Site
- https://www.osu-kannon.jp/
- Nagoya City Museum: Past Exhibitions (Kojiki 1300th Anniversary, Ōsu Kannon)
- https://www.museum.city.nagoya.jp/exhibition/special/past/tenji121201.html
- Kojiki: National Treasure Shinpukuji Manuscript (National Diet Library Search)
- https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000000698640
Last verified: 2026.06.05