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==Terminology==

==Terminology==

===In Japanese===

===In Japanese===

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. These terms were almost exclusively used in place of any personal or individual name for the Emperor; even today, the term ''tennô heika'' ("His Majesty the Emperor") is the most widely used referent. In [[1864]] as well, a group of Japanese officials in China, when pressured to name the emperor, are said to have been unable to do so, saying simply ''kinri''.<ref>Timon Screech, ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 169.</ref> Reign names (such as [[Meiji Emperor]] or Heisei Emperor) are exclusively posthumous, and thus are not possible referents for the emperor during his life or reign, either.

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>

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>