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The term ''tennô'', though standard today, was not common traditionally. In the [[Edo period]], terms such as ''dairi'' (a metonym more literally meaning the palace) and ''mikado'' (another metonym, lit. "august gate") were more common.  

The term ''tennô'', though standard today, was not common traditionally. In the [[Edo period]], terms such as ''dairi'' (a metonym more literally meaning the palace) and ''mikado'' (another metonym, lit. "august gate") were more common.  

In accordance with Chinese practice, the term ''tenshi'' (lit. "son of Heaven") was also common. In fact, a famous communication said to have been issued to the Chinese emperor by [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]] in [[607]], in which he wrote "from the Son of Heaven of the land of the rising sun, to the Son of Heaven in the land of the setting sun," this is the term used for both emperors.<ref name=shillony>Ben-Ami Shillony, "Restoration, Emperor, Diet, Prefecture, or: How Japanese Concepts were Mistranslated into Western Languages," ''Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony'', Synapse (2000), 69-71.</ref>

In accordance with Chinese practice, the term ''tenshi'' (lit. "son of Heaven") was also common in the pre-modern period. In fact, a famous communication said to have been issued to the Chinese emperor by [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]] in [[607]], in which he wrote "from the Son of Heaven of the land of the rising sun, to the Son of Heaven in the land of the setting sun," this is the term used for both emperors.<ref name=shillony>Ben-Ami Shillony, "Restoration, Emperor, Diet, Prefecture, or: How Japanese Concepts were Mistranslated into Western Languages," ''Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony'', Synapse (2000), 69-71.</ref>

The term ''tennô'' (C: ''tiān huáng'') is said to have originally had a strong association with the [[Taoist]] worship of the [[North Star]], and was only ever used in China briefly, from around [[675]] to around [[705]]. Of course, it was during this period that the [[Yamato court]] adopted many aspects of Chinese political ideology. More standard terms for "emperor" in China include ''huángdi'' (J: ''kôtei'') and simply ''di'' (J: ''tei''), but in Japanese, these terms are almost exclusively only used to refer to non-Japanese emperors (e.g. including not only Chinese emperors, but also emperors of Rome or of the Holy Roman Empire). The term ''kôtei'' was only used to refer to the Japanese emperor, in Japanese, for a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then only in communication with China, before the title ''tennô'' was formally adopted in 1936.<ref name=shillony/>

The term ''tennô'' (C: ''tiān huáng'') is said to have originally had a strong association with the [[Taoist]] worship of the [[North Star]], and was only ever used in China briefly, from around [[675]] to around [[705]]. Of course, it was during this period that the [[Yamato court]] adopted many aspects of Chinese political ideology. More standard terms for "emperor" in China include ''huángdi'' (J: ''kôtei'') and simply ''di'' (J: ''tei''), but in Japanese, these terms are almost exclusively only used to refer to non-Japanese emperors (e.g. including not only Chinese emperors, but also emperors of Rome or of the Holy Roman Empire). The term ''kôtei'' was only used to refer to the Japanese emperor, in Japanese, for a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then only in communication with China, before the title ''tennô'' was formally adopted in 1936.<ref name=shillony/>