The c. 712 "Kojiki" (古事記 "Records of Ancient Matters") is the oldest extant book written in Japan. The "Birth of the Eight Islands" section phonetically transcribes "Yamato" as what would be in Modern Standard Chinese "Yèmádēng" (夜麻登). The "Kojiki" records the Shintoist creation myth that the god "Izanagi" and the goddess "Izanami" gave birth to the "Ōyashima" (大八州 "Eight Great Islands") of Japan, the last of which was Yamato:Next they gave birth to Great-Yamato-the-Luxuriant-Island-of-the-Dragon-Fly, another name for which is Heavenly-August-Sky-Luxuriant-Dragon-Fly-Lord-Youth. The name of "Land-of-the-Eight-Great-Islands" therefore originated in these eight islands having been born first. (tr. Chamberlain 1919:23)