Definitions

The Jomon Period (c. 14,500 - c. 300 BCE) of ancient Japan produced a distinctive pottery which distinguishes it from the earlier Paleolithic Age. Jomon pottery vessels are the oldest in the world and their impressed decoration, which resembles...

The Nihon Shoki ('Chronicle of Japan' and also known as the Nihongi) is an official history of Japan which was written by a committee of court scholars in 720 CE. It is a compilation of myths and legends concerning the Shinto gods and episodes...

Yomi, or Yomi-tsu-kuni, is the underworld of the Shinto religion, even if it forms no part of Shinto theology and appears only in ancient myths as told in the 8th-century CE Kojiki, notably the story of the creator gods Izanami and Izanagi...

King Arthur is among the most famous literary characters of all time. The Arthurian legend of the Knights of the Round Table, Camelot, the Quest for the Holy Grail, the love affair of Lancelot and Guinevere, and the wizard Merlin have informed...

The Kojiki ('Record of Ancient Things') is the oldest book of Japanese history and the oldest text of any kind from Japan. Compiled in 712 CE by the court scholar Ono Yasumaro, the work begins with the gods and the creation of the world...

Publius Ovidius Naso, more commonly known to history as Ovid (43 BCE - 17 CE), was one of the most prolific writers of the early Roman Empire. His works of poetry, mostly written in the form of elegiac couplets, influenced many of the great...

Saichō, also known as Dengyo Daishi (767-822 CE), was a monk and scholar who founded the Buddhist Tendai Sect in Japan. Based on the teachings of the Chinese Tiantai Sect, Saichō's simplified and inclusive version of Buddhism grew in popularity...

Bede (c. 673-735 CE) was an English monk, historian, and scholar who lived in the Kingdom of Northumbria. He is at times referred to as the Venerable Bede or Bede the Venerable. He was a monk at the double monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow...

Emperor Kammu (aka Kanmu) reigned in ancient Japan from 781 to 806 CE and is most noted for relocating the capital to Heiankyo (Kyoto) in 794 CE. Kammu was one of the most powerful emperors Japan had seen or would ever see, and his reign...

Kukai or Kobo Daishi (774-835 CE) was a scholar, poet, and monk who founded Shingon Buddhism in Japan. The monk became the country's most important Buddhist saint and has been credited with all manner of minor miracles. Noted as a gifted...