Emperor Jimmu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Emperor Jimmu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emperor Jimmu ( Jinmu-tenn) was the first

Emperor of Japan, according to legend. His accession is
traditionally dated as 660 BCE.[1][2] 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.

Jimmu

Contents
1 Name and title
2 Legendary narrative
2.1 Migration
3 Modern veneration
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links

Name and title

Jimmu is recorded as Japan's first ruler in two early
chronicles, Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (721).[3] Nihon
Shoki gives the dates of his reign as 660 - 585 BC.[3] In
the reign of Emperor Kanmu (737806),[4] the eighthcentury scholar mi no Mifune designated rulers before
jin as tenn (, "heavenly sovereign"), a Japanese
pendant to the Chinese imperial title Tin-d (), and
gave several of them including Jimmu their canonical
names. Prior to this time, these rulers had been known as
sumera no mikoto/kimi. This practice had begun under
Empress Suiko, and took root after the Taika Reforms
with the ascendancy of the Nakatomi clan.[5]

Emperor of Japan
Reign

Successor Suizei
Born

February 13, 711 BCE (mythic)

Died

April 9, 585 BCE (aged 126) (mythic)

Japan

Burial

1 of 5

Unebi-yama no ushitora no sumi no

misasagi () (Kashihara,
Nara) (mythic)

Spouse

Ahiratsu-hime
Himetataraisuzu-hime

Issue

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 (http://www2.gol.com/users/stever
/calendar.htm)).

February 11, 660 BCE April 9, 585

BCE (mythic)

Tagishimimi-no-mikoto
Hikoyai-no-mikoto
Kamuyaimimi-no-mikoto
Emperor Suizei

Father

Ugayafukiaezu

Mother

Tamayori-bime

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Both the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki give Jimmu's name
as Kamu-yamato Iware-biko no mikoto (
/).[6] 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.[7]

Emperor Jimmu
Japanese name
Kanji

Transcriptions
Romanization

Jinmu-tenn

Legendary narrative
In Japanese mythology, the Age of the Gods is the period before Jimmu's accession.[8]
The story of Jimmu seems to rework legends associated with the tomo 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 jin's chronicles seem to derive from Soga clan traditions.[9] 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 Ryjin, 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.[10]

Migration
According to the chronicles Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Jimmu's
brothers were born in Takachiho, the southern part of Kysh 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 saka), 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.

Depiction of a bearded Jimmu with

his emblematic long bow and an
accompanying wild bird. This 19th
century artwork is by Tsukioka
Yoshitoshi.

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

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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[11] the time in which legends about the
origins of the Yamato dynasty were chronicled in the Kojiki.[4]
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 jin, whose
dynasty was supplanted by that of Keitai.[12] 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.[13]

Modern veneration

The inner prayer hall of Kashihara

Shrine in Kashihara, Nara, the
principal shrine devoted to Jimmu

Unebi Gory, the mausoleum of

Jimmu in Kashihara City, Nara
Prefecture.

Veneration of Jimmu was a central component of the imperial cult

that formed following the Meiji restoration. In 1873, a holiday called
Kigensetsu was established on February 11.[14] The holiday
commemorated the anniversary of Jimmu's ascension to the throne
2,532 years earlier.[15] After World War II, the holiday was criticized
as too closely associated with the "emperor system."[14] It was
suspended from 1948 to 1966, but later reinstated as National
Foundation Day.[14][16]

Between 1873 and 1945 an imperial envoy sent offerings every year
to the supposed site of Jimmu's
In 1890 Kashihara Shrine was established nearby, on the spot
where Jimmu was said to have ascended to the throne.[18]
tomb.[17]

Before and during World War II, expansionist propaganda made frequent use of the phrase hakk ichiu, a
term coined by Tanaka Chigaku based on a passage in the Nihon Shoki discussing Emperor Jimmu.[19] Some
media incorrectly attributed the phrase to Emperor Jimmu.[20] For the 1940 Kigensetsu celebration, marking
the supposed 2,600th anniversary of Jimmu's enthronement, the Peace Tower[21] was constructed in
Miyazaki.[22]
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".[23]

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

Notes
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1. Kelly, Charles F. "Kofun Culture," (http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/kofun.html) Japanese Archaeology.

(http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/index.htm) April 27, 2009.
2. Kitagawa, Joseph. (1987). On Understanding Japanese Religion, p. 145 (https://books.google.com
/books?id=h1xcc4cGL5cC&pg=PA145), 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. 109137.
5. Jacques H. Kamstra Encounter Or Syncretism: The Initial Growth of Japanese Buddhism,
(https://books.google.com/books?id=NRsVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA66) Brill 1967 pp.65-67.
6. , OJ pronunciation: Kamu-Yamat-ipare-biko (n-mikt) Donald Philippi, tr.Kojiki,
University of Tokyo Press, 1969 p.488
7. Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, [Japanese Loyalism Reconstrued: Yamagata Daini's Ryshi Shinron of 1759,]
University of Hawai'i Press, 1995 pp.106-7.
8. Nussbaum, "Jindai" at p. 421 (https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA421), p. 421, at
Google Books.
9. Jacques H. Kamstra, Encounter Or Syncretism: The Initial Growth of Japanese Buddhism,
(https://books.google.com/books?id=NRsVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA66) Brill 1967 pp.69-70.
10. Nussbaum, "Chijin-godai" at p. 111 (https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA111), p. 111, at
Google Books.
11. Kennedy, Malcolm D. A History of Japan. London. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1963.
12. Ooms, Herman. Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: the Tenmu Dynasty, 650800. Honolulu:
University of Hawai'i Press, 2009
13. Imperial Household Agency (Kunaich): (1) (http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/ryobo/guide/001/index.html);
retrieved August 22, 2013.
14. "Kigensetsu Controversy", Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (1993), Kodansha. ISBN 978-4069310980.
15. Britannica Kokusai Dai-Hyakkajiten article on "Kigensetsu".
16. "Founding Day rekindles annual debate". The Japan Times. February 11, 1998. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
17. Martin, Peter. (1997). The Chrysanthemum Throne: A History of the Emperors of Japan, p. 18-20.
18. Kashihara City website (http://www.city.kashihara.nara.jp/kankou/own_kankou/kankou
/spot/kashihara_jinguu.html) tourism page on "Kashihara Jing".
19. Britannica Kokusai Dai-Hyakkajiten article on "Hakk ichiu".
20. Dower, John W., War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War, faber and faber, 1993 p.223.
21. Peace Tower ( Heiwa no T, originally called the "Hakk Ichiu Tower" Hakk Ichiu no
T or the "Pillar of Heaven and Earth" Ametsuchi no Motohashira)
22. [1] (http://www.kumaya.jp/heiwa-tou.html)
23. Ruoff, Kenneth. (2010). Imperial Japan at its Zenith: The Wartime Celebration of the Empire's 2,600th
Anniversary, p. 186.

References
Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, Volume 1.
(https://books.google.com/books?id=1IJrNAKBpycC&dq=ashton%20nihongi&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false)
London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. OCLC 448337491 (http://www.worldcat.org/title/nihongi-chroniclesof-japan-from-the-earliest-times-to-ad-697/oclc/448337491&referer=brief_results)
Brown, Delmer M. and Ichir Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukansh: The Future and the Past. (https://books.google.com
/books?id=w4f5FrmIJKIC&dq=Gukansho&source=gbs_navlinks_s) Berkeley: University of California Press.
ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323 (http://www.worldcat.org/title/future-and-the-past-a-transland-study-of-the-gukansho-an-interpretative-history-of-japan-written-in-1219/oclc/251325323)
Brownlee, John S. (1997). Japanese Historians and the National Myths, 16001945: The Age of the Gods.
(https://books.google.com/books?id=eatISvupicUC&dq=brownlee+Japan&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0)
Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 0-7748-0645-1
Chamberlain, Basil Hall. (1920). The Kojiki. (http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/index.htm) Read before the
Asiatic Society of Japan on April 12 10 May, and June 21, 1882; reprinted, May 1919. OCLC 1882339
(http://www.worldcat.org/title/kojiki-records-of-ancient-matters/oclc/1882339?referer=br&ht=edition)
Earhart, David C. (2007). Certain Victory: Images of World War II in the Japanese Media.

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(https://books.google.com/books?id=WffIAAAACAAJ&dq=Certain+Victory+Earhart&client=firefox-a)
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 (http://www.worldcat.org/title
/on-understanding-japanese-religion/oclc/15630317)
Nussbaum, Louis-Frdric and Kthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. (https://books.google.com
/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&client=firefox-a) Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5;
OCLC 58053128 (http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58053128?referer=di&ht=edition)
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. (https://books.google.com
/books?id=SLAeAAAAMAAJ&q=The+Imperial+House+of+Japan&dq=The+Imperial+House+of+Japan&
client=firefox-a&pgis=1) Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887 (http://www.worldcat.org
/wcpa/oclc/194887)
Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. (https://books.google.com
/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran) Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund
of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691 (http://www.worldcat.org/title/nipon-o-dai-itsi-ran-ou-annalesdes-empereurs-du-japon/oclc/5850691)
Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinn Shtki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. (https://books.google.com
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59145842 (http://www.worldcat.org/title/chronicle-of-gods-and-sovereigns-jinno-shotoki-of-kitabatake-chikafusa
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External links
A more detailed profile of Jimmu (https://web.archive.org/web/20110406121753/http:
//www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/JIMMU.HTM) (archived April 2011)
A detailed summary of Jimmu's descent legend (https://web.archive.org/web/20140725071801/http:
//www9.ocn.ne.jp/~aosima/english-yuisyo.html) (archived July 2014)
Emperor Jimmu
Imperial House of Japan
Born: 13 February 711 BCE

Died: 9 April 585 BCE

Regnal titles
New creation

Emperor of Japan
660585 BCE
(traditional dates)

Succeeded by
Emperor Suizei

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emperor_Jimmu&oldid=704394572"

Categories: Legendary Emperors of Japan Longevity myths People of Jmon-period Japan
Founding monarchs
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