Jimmu
|
---|
|
|
Reign
| legendary
|
---|
Successor
| Suizei
|
---|
Born
| legendary
|
---|
Died
| legendary
|
---|
Burial
| Unebi-yama no ushitora no sumi no misasagi
(Nara)
|
---|
Emperor Jimmu
(
神武天皇
,
Jinmu-tenn?
)
was the 1st
emperor
of
Japan
,
[1]
according to the
traditional order of succession
.
[2]
Jimmu is known as the founder of the
Imperial dynasty
.
There are no
certain
dates for this emperor's life or
reign
.
[3]
The names and
sequence
of the early emperors were not
confirmed
as "traditional" until the reign of
Emperor Kammu
, who was the 50th
monarch
of the
Yamato dynasty
.
[4]
Historians debate whether or not Emperor Jimmu actually existed because there is limited evidence of him. Some stories about him may reflect actual events that happened.
Jimmu is almost certainly a
legend
.
[5]
His name and
genealogy
are recorded in the
Kojiki
and
Nihonshoki
. Jimmu is regarded as a direct descendant of the
Shinto
sun goddess,
Amaterasu
.
During reign of Emperor Jimmu, the
capital of Japan
was at
Kashiwabara, Yamato
at the foot of
Mt. Unebi
.
[6]
The absence of information about Jimmu does not mean that he did or did not exist.
[7]
There is very little data about the rulers of Japan before the reign of
Emperor Bidatsu
[8]
The traditional story is that Jimmu came from
Kyushu
to
Yamato Province
on the island of
Honshu
. The story explains that he followed a three legged crow. He established his reign at Kashihara near Osaka.
[7]
This emperor's official name after his death (his
posthumous name
) was
regularized
many centuries after the lifetime which was
ascribed
to Jimmu.
[9]
The actual
site
of his
grave
is not known. According to the
Imperial Household Agency
, the emperor is
venerated
at a
memorial
Shinto
shrine
(
misasagi
) in Kashihara at
Nara
.
[1]
The mausoleum is located a short distance from
Kashihara Shrine
.
In 1872, the
Meiji
government
declared
that February 11, 660 BC was the exact date on which the reign of Jimmu began. This was
identified
as the start of the Japanese nation. This mythical date was
commemorated
as the holiday
Kigensetsu
("Era Day"). This national holiday was
celebrated
from 1872 to 1948.
[10]
The
Kigensetsu
events in 1940 were special. They celebrated what was believed to be 2,600 years since the start of Emperor Jimmu's reign.
[11]
There has been a similar Japanese national holiday since February 11, 1966. It is called National Foundation Day (
Kenkoku Kinen no hi
).
[10]
‡ not in the
Nihon Shoki
- ↑
1.0
1.1
Imperial Household Agency
(
Kunaich?
),
神武天皇 (1)
; retrieved 2011-10-19.
- ↑
Titsingh, Isaac
. (1834).
des empereurs du Japon,
pp. 1-3
;
Brown, Delmer M.
(1979).
Gukansh?,
p. 249
;
Varley, H. Paul
. (1980).
Jinn? Sh?t?ki,
pp. 84-88.
- ↑
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard
. (1959).
The Imperial House of Japan,
p. 29.
- ↑
Aston, William George
. (1896).
Nihongi,
p. 109 n1
.
- ↑
Kelly, Charles F.
"Kofun Culture,"
Japanese Archaeology.
April 27, 2009; retrieved 2011-10-19.
- ↑
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard
. (1915).
The Imperial Family of Japan
, p. 1.
- ↑
7.0
7.1
Nussbaum, Louis-Frederic
. (2002).
"Jimmu Tenn?,"
Japan encyclopedia,
pp. 420-421; excerpt, "... it is not certain that he actually existed. He was probably a
composite
...."
- ↑
Louis-Frederic,
"Traditional order of Tenn?" at pp. 962-963
; excerpt, "dates ... should be treated with caution up to Emperor Bidatsu Tenn?, the thirtieth on the list."
- ↑
Brinkley, Frank. (1915).
A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the end of the Meiji Era
, p. 21
; excerpt, "Posthumous names for the earthly Mikados were invented in the reign of Emperor Kammu (782?805) ...."
- ↑
10.0
10.1
Nussbaum,
"Kigen" at p. 514
[
permanent dead link
]
.
- ↑
Brownlee, John.
Japanese Historians and the National Myths, 1600-1945: The Age of the Gods,
pp. 136, 180-185.
Media related to
Emperor Jimmu
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