Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 04:07, 19 December 2015

Jimmu
Emperor of Japan
Reign	February 11, 660 BCE – April 9, 585 BCE (mythic)
Successor	Suizei
Born	February 13, 711 BCE (mythic)
Died	April 9, 585 BCE (aged 126) (mythic) Japan
Burial	Unebi-yama no ushitora no sumi no misasagi (畝傍山東北陵) (Kashihara, Nara) (mythic)
Spouse	Ahiratsu-hime Himetataraisuzu-hime
Issue	Tagishimimi-no-mikoto Hikoyai-no-mikoto Kamuyaimimi-no-mikoto Emperor Suizei
Father	Ugayafukiaezu
Mother	Tamayori-bime

Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇, Jinmu-tennō) was the first Emperor of Japan, according to legend. His accession is traditionally dated as 660 BCE. According to Japanese mythology, he is a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, through her grandson Ninigi, as well as a descendant of the storm god Susanoo. He launched a military expedition from Hyuga near the Inland Sea, captured Yamato, and established this as his center of power. In modern Japan, Jimmu's accession is marked as National Foundation Day on February 11.

Name and title

Jimmu is recorded as Japan's first ruler in two early chronicles, Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (721). Nihon Shoki gives the dates of his reign as 660 - 585 BC. In the reign of Emperor Kanmu (737–806), Ōmi no Mifune designated rulers before Ōjin as tennō (天皇, "heavenly sovereign"), a Japanese pendant to the Chinese imperial title Tiān-dì (天帝). Prior to this time, these rulers had been known as sumera no mikoto/ōkimi. This practice had begun under Empress Suiko, and took root after the Taika Reforms with the ascendancy of the Nakatomi clan. Jimmu's name, like those of several other legendary emperors, can also be found among the ruler names of the Korean kingdom of Silla, most likely sharing a common Chinese source name.

According to the legendary account in the Kojiki, Emperor Jimmu was born on February 13, 711 BCE (the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar), and died, again according to legend, on March 11, 585 BCE (both dates according to the lunisolar traditional Japanese calendar).

Both the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki give Jimmu's name as Kamu-yamato Iware-biko no-mikoto (神倭伊波礼琵古命/神日本磐余彦尊). Iware indicates a toponym whose precise purport is unclear.

The Imperial House of Japan traditionally based its claim to the throne on its putative descent from the sun-goddess Amaterasu via Jimmu's great grandfather Ninigi.

Legendary narrative

In Japanese mythology, the Age of the Gods is the period before Jimmu's accession.

The story of Jimmu seems to rework legends associated with the Ōtomo clan, and its function was to establish that clan's links to the ruling family, just as those of Suijin arguably reflect Mononobe tales and the legends in Ōjin's chronicles seem to derive from Soga clan traditions. Jimmu figures as a direct descendant of the sun goddess, Amaterasu via the side of his father, Ugayafukiaezu. Amaterasu had a son called Ame no Oshihomimi no Mikoto and through him a grandson named Ninigi-no-Mikoto. She sent her grandson to the Japanese islands where he eventually married Konohana-Sakuya-hime. Among their three sons was Hikohohodemi no Mikoto, also called Yamasachi-hiko, who married Toyotama-hime. She was the daughter of Ryūjin, the Japanese sea god. They had a single son called Hikonagisa Takeugaya Fukiaezu no Mikoto. The boy was abandoned by his parents at birth and consequently raised by Tamayori-hime, his mother's younger sister. They eventually married and had four sons. The last of these, Kan'yamato Iwarebiko, became Emperor Jimmu.

Migration

According to the chronicles Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Jimmu's brothers were born in Takachiho, the southern part of Kyūshū in modern-day Miyazaki prefecture. They moved eastward to find a location more appropriate for administering the entire country. Jimmu's older brother, Itsuse no Mikoto, originally led the migration, and led the clan eastward through the Seto Inland Sea with the assistance of local chieftain Sao Netsuhiko. As they reached Naniwa (modern day Ōsaka), they encountered another local chieftain, Nagasunehiko (lit. "the long-legged man"), and Itsuse was killed in the ensuing battle. Jimmu realized that they had been defeated because they battled eastward against the sun, so he decided to land on the east side of Kii Peninsula and to battle westward. They reached Kumano, and, with the guidance of a three-legged crow, Yatagarasu (lit. "eight-span crow"), they moved to Yamato. There, they once again battled Nagasunehiko and were victorious.

In Yamato, Nigihayahi no Mikoto, who also claim descent from the Takamagahara gods, was protected by Nagasunehiko. However, when Nigihayahi met Jimmu, he accepted Jimmu's legitimacy. At this point, Jimmu is said to have ascended to the throne of Japan.

According to the Kojiki, Jimmu died when he was 126 years old. This emperor's posthumous name literally means "divine might" or "god-warrior". It is undisputed that this identification is Chinese in form and Buddhist in implication, which suggests that the name must have been regularized centuries after the lifetime ascribed to Jimmu. It is generally thought that Jimmu's name and character evolved into their present shape just before the time in which legends about the origins of the Yamato dynasty were chronicled in the Kojiki.

There are accounts written earlier than either Kojiki and Nihon Shoki that present an alternative version of the story. According to these accounts, Jimmu's dynasty was supplanted by that of Ōjin, whose dynasty was supplanted by that of Keitai. The Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki then combined these three mythical dynasties into one long and continuous genealogy.

The traditional site of Jimmu's grave is near Unebiyama in Kashihara.

Modern veneration

Veneration of Jimmu was a central component of the imperial cult that formed following the Meiji restoration. In 1873, a holiday called Kigensetsu (紀元節, "Era Day") was established on February 11. The holiday commemorated the anniversary of Jimmu's ascension to the throne 2,532 years earlier. Between 1873 and 1945 an imperial envoy sent offerings every year to Mount Unebi, the supposed site of Jimmu's tomb.

In 1890 Kashihara Shrine was established nearby, on the spot where Jimmu was said to have ascended to the throne.

Before and during World War II, expansionist propaganda made frequent use of the phrase hakkō ichiu, a term coined by Tanaka Chigaku based on a passage in the Nihon Shoki discussing Emperor Jimmu. Some media incorrectly attributed the exact phrase to Emperor Jimmu. For the 1940 Kigensetsu celebration, marking the supposed 2,600th anniversary of Jimmu's enthronement, the Peace Tower was constructed in Miyazaki.

The same year numerous stone monuments relating to key events in Jimmu's life were erected around Japan. The sites at which these monuments were erected are known as "Emperor Jimmu Sacred Historical Sites". After World War II, the holiday was criticized as too closely associated with the "emperor system." It was suspended from 1948 to 1966, but later reinstated as National Foundation Day.

See also

• Imperial cult
• Xu Fu
• Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines
• The Age of the Gods
• Emishi people
• Jomon period

Notes

1. Kelly, Charles F. "Kofun Culture," Japanese Archaeology. April 27, 2009.
2. Kitagawa, Joseph. (1987). On Understanding Japanese Religion, p. 145, p. 145, at Google Books; excerpt, "... emphasis on the undisrupted chronological continuity from myths to legends and from legends to history, it is difficult to determine where one ends and the next begins. At any rate, the first ten legendary emperors are clearly not reliable historical records."
   Boleslaw Szczesniak,'The Sumu-Sanu Myth. Notes and Remarks on the Jimmu Tenno Myth,' in Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 10, No. 1/2 (1954), pp. 107-126.
3. ^ "Jimmu", Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (1993), Kodansha, ISBN 978-4069310980.
4. ^ Aston, William. (1896). Nihongi, pp. 109–137.
5. Jacques H. Kamstra Encounter Or Syncretism: The Initial Growth of Japanese Buddhism, Brill 1967 pp.65-67.
6. Jacques H. Kamstra, Encounter Or Syncretism: The Initial Growth of Japanese Buddhism, Brill 1967 p.67.
7. 神倭伊波礼琵古命, OJ pronunciation: Kamu-Yamatö-ipare-biko (nö-mikötö) Donald Philippi, tr.Kojiki, University of Tokyo Press, 1969 p.488
8. Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, University of Hawai'i Press, 1995 pp.106-7.
9. Nussbaum, "Jindai" at p. 421, p. 421, at Google Books.
10. Jacques H. Kamstra, Encounter Or Syncretism: The Initial Growth of Japanese Buddhism, Brill 1967 pp.69-70.
11. Nussbaum, "Chijin-godai" at p. 111, p. 111, at Google Books.
12. Kennedy, Malcolm D. A History of Japan. London. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1963.
13. Ooms, Herman. Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: the Tenmu Dynasty, 650–800. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2009
14. Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 神武天皇 (1); retrieved August 22, 2013.
15. ^ "Kigensetsu Controversy", Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (1993), Kodansha. ISBN 978-4069310980.
16. Britannica Kokusai Dai-Hyakkajiten article on "Kigensetsu".
17. Martin, Peter. (1997). The Chrysanthemum Throne: A History of the Emperors of Japan, p. 18-20.
18. Kashihara City website tourism page on "Kashihara Jingū".
19. Britannica Kokusai Dai-Hyakkajiten article on "Hakkō ichiu".
20. Dower, John W., War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War, faber and faber, 1993 p.223.
21. Peace Tower (平和の塔, Heiwa no Tō, originally called the "Hakkō Ichiu Tower" 八紘一宇の塔 Hakkō Ichiu no Tō or the "Pillar of Heaven and Earth" 八紘之基柱 Ametsuchi no Motohashira)
23. Ruoff, Kenneth. (2010). Imperial Japan at its Zenith: The Wartime Celebration of the Empire's 2,600th Anniversary, p. 186.
24. "Founding Day rekindles annual debate". The Japan Times. February 11, 1998. Retrieved May 24, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

References

• Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, Volume 1. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. OCLC 448337491
• Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
• Brownlee, John S. (1997). Japanese Historians and the National Myths, 1600–1945: The Age of the Gods. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 0-7748-0645-1
• Chamberlain, Basil Hall. (1920). The Kojiki. Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan on April 12 10 May, and June 21, 1882; reprinted, May 1919. OCLC 1882339
• Earhart, David C. (2007). Certain Victory: Images of World War II in the Japanese Media. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-1776-7
• Kitagawa, Joseph Mitsuo. (1987). On Understanding Japanese Religion. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691073132; ISBN 9780691102290; OCLC 15630317
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842

External links

• A more detailed profile of Jimmu
• A detailed summary of Jimmu's descent legend

v t e Found state, Emperors of Japan (list)
Legendary	Jōmon 660 BC–291 BC Jimmu Suizei Annei Itoku Kōshō Kōan Yayoi 290 BC–269 AD Kōrei Kōgen Kaika Sujin Suinin Keikō Seimu Chūai Jingū
Yamato	Kofun 269–539 Ōjin Nintoku Richū Hanzei Ingyō Ankō Yūryaku Seinei Kenzō Ninken Buretsu Keitai Ankan Senka Asuka 539–710 Kinmei Bidatsu Yōmei Sushun Suiko Jomei Kōgyoku Kōtoku Saimei Tenji Kōbun Tenmu Jitō Monmu Genmei
Nara	710–794 Genmei Genshō Shōmu Kōken Junnin Shōtoku Kōnin Kanmu
Heian	794–1185 Kanmu Heizei Saga Junna Ninmyō Montoku Seiwa Yōzei Kōkō Uda Daigo Suzaku Murakami Reizei En'yū Kazan Ichijō Sanjō Go-Ichijō Go-Suzaku Go-Reizei Go-Sanjō Shirakawa Horikawa Toba Sutoku Konoe Go-Shirakawa Nijō Rokujō Takakura Antoku Go-Toba
Kamakura	1185–1333 Go-Toba Tsuchimikado Juntoku Chūkyō Go-Horikawa Shijō Go-Saga Go-Fukakusa Kameyama Go-Uda Fushimi Go-Fushimi Go-Nijō Hanazono Go-Daigo
Northern Court	1333–1392 Kōgon Kōmyō Sukō Go-Kōgon Go-En'yū Go-Komatsu
Muromachi	1333–1573 Go-Murakami Chōkei Go-Kameyama Go-Komatsu Shōkō Go-Hanazono Go-Tsuchimikado Go-Kashiwabara Go-Nara Ōgimachi
Azuchi-Momoyama	1573–1603 Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei
Edo	1603–1868 Go-Yōzei Go-Mizunoo Meishō Go-Kōmyō Go-Sai Reigen Higashiyama Nakamikado Sakuramachi Momozono Go-Sakuramachi Go-Momozono Kōkaku Ninkō Kōmei Meiji
Empire of Japan	1868–1947 Meiji Taishō Shōwa
Japan	1947–present Shōwa Akihito Naruhito
Unless otherwise noted (as BC), years are in CE / AD  Imperial Consort and Regent Empress Jingū is not traditionally listed. Imperial family tree Imperial House Order of succession Imperial tombs Category

v t e Japanese mythology
Mythic texts	Kojiki Nihon Shoki Fudoki Kujiki Kogo Shūi Hotsuma Tsutae Nihon Ryōiki Konjaku Monogatarishū Shintōshū Butsuzōzui
Japanese creation myth	Kotoamatsukami (Hitorigami) Ame-no-Minakanushi Kamiyo (Kamiyonanayo) Kuniumi Kamiumi Izanami Izanagi
Takamagahara mythology	Amaterasu Susanoo Tsukuyomi Ame-no-Uzume
Izumo mythology	Yamata no Orochi Hare of Inaba Ōkuninushi Kuni-yuzuri Takeminakata
Hyūga mythology	Tenson kōrin Ninigi Konohanasakuya-hime Toyotama-hime
Human age	Emperor Jimmu Tagishimimi Kesshi Hachidai
Mythological locations	Ashihara no Nakatsukuni Ama-no-Iwato Onogoro Island Ne-no-kuni Ryūgū-jō Sanzu River Takamagahara Tokoyo no kuni Yomi
Mythological weapons	Amenonuhoko Kusanagi no Tsurugi Totsuka-no-Tsurugi Ame-no-ohabari Futsu-no-mitama [ja]
Major Buddhist figures	Amida Nyorai Daruma Five Tathagatas
Seven Lucky Gods	Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fukurokuju Hotei Jurōjin Kisshōten
Legendary creatures	Dragon Kappa Kitsune Oni Shinshi Tengu Yōkai Yūrei
Other	Shinigami Ryukyuan religion Amamikyu Tenson dynasty Ainu mythology Kamuy Kamuy-huci Hasinaw-uk-kamuy
Shinto deities Japanese deities Sacred objects Japanese religions Glossary of Shinto

• Legendary Emperors of Japan
• Longevity traditions
• People of Jōmon-period Japan
• Founding monarchs