23 The Kojiki dates back, as a Written work, only to A.D. 722. But
its legends and records are known to have existed in the form of oral
literature from a much more ancient time.
24 In certain provinces of Japan Buddhism practically absorbed Shinto
in other centuries, but in Izumo Shinto absorbed Buddhism; and now
that Shinto is supported by the State there is a visible tendency to
eliminate from its cult certain elements of Buddhist origin.