The mythological-chronicle collection “Annals of Japan” (“Nihon Shoki”, 720) is the main monument of early Japanese literature. It is a kind of encyclopedia of ancient Japan, containing a wealth of data on mythology, history, ethnography and poetry. The second volume of this edition of the monument, published for the first time in Russian, includes legends, traditions and chronicles relating to the reigns of Japanese sovereigns, starting from Keitai (507–531) and ending with Jito (686–697).