Norinaga MOTOORI, one of Mabuchi's disciples, researched the "Kojiki" (Record of Ancient Matters), stressing that the ancient Japanese had been closely connected to the gods, and also completed the "Kojikiden" (Commentary on the Kojiki), in which he advanced the literary theory of "mono no aware" (the pathos of things).
真淵の門人である本居宣長は『古事記』を研究して、古い時代の日本人は神と繋がっていたと主張して「もののあはれ」の文学論を唱える一方で『古事記伝』を完成させた。