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Japan has historically had a number of reigning empresses as well, also called ''tennô'' and considered of equivalent position and status. The possibility for a woman to come to power as reigning empress was terminated, however, in the [[1889]] [[Meiji Constitution]], Article II of which stipulates that the succession to the throne is to follow the male line.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', UC Press (1998), 180.</ref> Prior to that time, on a number of occasions in Japanese history, a widow or daughter succeeded to the throne.
Japan has historically had a number of reigning empresses as well, also called ''tennô'' and considered of equivalent position and status. The possibility for a woman to come to power as reigning empress was terminated, however, in the [[1889]] [[Meiji Constitution]], Article II of which stipulates that the succession to the throne is to follow the male line.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', UC Press (1998), 180.</ref> Prior to that time, on a number of occasions in Japanese history, a widow or daughter succeeded to the throne.
==History==
Though the spiritual status of the emperor today is largely the result of the [[Meiji period]] reinvention of the position alongside [[State Shinto]], it fundamentally derives from the ancient origins of rulers in the archipelago as simultaneously secular and spiritual - or even magical - rulers. The legendary ruler [[Himiko]] is described in the ''[[Wei zhi]]'' as a priestess or shamaness, and the legendary [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]] is similarly described in some sources as a great shamaness. These earliest chieftains or monarchs emerged in the [[Yayoi period|Yayoi]] and [[Kofun period]]s, periods when it might be said the Japanese islands and the Korean peninsula shared in the same cultural complex. Indeed, the rulers of Korea's ancient [[Three Kingdoms (Korea)|Three Kingdoms]] held similar status - as simultaneously secular ruler, and chief shaman of the kingdom. In [[Silla]], the royal crown was the mark not only of the secular ruler, but indeed of this leading shamanic status.<ref>Evelyn Rawski, ''Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives'', Cambridge University Press (2015), 123.</ref>
The phenomenon of chieftain/shaman-kings developed, eventually, by the late 6th century, into a single chieftain/royal clan, the [[Yamato clan]], dominating central Japan. It was this clan which later expanded its control to cover - eventually - the entire archipelago, claiming singular authority, legitimacy, and titles that have come to be rendered in English as "emperor." Though it has become quite commonplace to refer to all rulers of Japan, stretching back to the wholly fictional [[Emperor Jimmu]] of the 600s BCE, as "emperor," a number of scholars have argued that there is good reason to not consider any figures prior to the 7th century Japanese "emperors," or even to abandon the term altogether. See below for further details on considerations regarding terminology.
The Yamato clan reinforced its claims to singular authority and legitimacy through the compilations in the early 8th century of the ''[[Kojiki]]'' and ''[[Nihon shoki]]'', which relate Japanese myth and history as the story of the one and only Imperial family, descended from an unbroken line of descent stretching back to the sun goddess, [[Amaterasu]]. Amaterasu had been the patron deity of the Yamato family while other competing clans had their own separate patron deities; now the sun was elevated above all others, as were her descendants, rendering the Imperial family unique and unassailable in their legitimacy. Though the Imperial family would split in the 14th century into competing lineages, in what is known as the [[Nanbokucho period|Nanbokuchô period]], or the Period of Northern and Southern Courts, members of both lineages had legitimate claims to the throne based on their descent; the Yamato lineage would never be overthrown, and remains on the throne today.
Though emperors themselves were quite powerful for a time in the 8th to 10th centuries, by the beginning of the 11th, if not earlier, imperial power had been co-opted to a considerable degree by members of the [[Fujiwara clan]] of court aristocrats, who dominated the [[sessho|regency]], and married their daughters into the imperial clan in order to ensure that future emperors would be loyal to the Fujiwara, through their Fujiwara mothers and grandparents. [[Fujiwara no Michinaga]] (d. [[1027]]) is often said to represent the pinnacle of this phenomenon, wielding very considerable power despite his position as regent, never emperor. By the end of the 11th century, however, a new pattern emerged, as [[Retired Emperor]]s wrested power away from the Fujiwara clan, and claimed it for themselves. In their retirement, Emperors from [[Emperor Shirakawa|Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1087]]) through [[Emperor Go-Shirakawa|Go-Shirakawa]] (ret. [[1158]]), worked to ensure that reigning emperors were relatively young - and therefore relatively lacking in influence or power - so they (the Retired Emperors) could retain considerable power for themselves.
The era of emperors wielding any significant degree of real power came to an end, however, in the 1150s or 1160s, as the [[Taira clan]] inserted themselves as powerful regents, taking over in many respects the position occupied previously by the Fujiwara. The Taira were destroyed in the [[Genpei War]] of the 1180s, after which the [[Minamoto clan]] established the [[Kamakura shogunate]], marking the beginning of nearly 700 years of samurai rule. With some notable exceptions - such as the later Kamakura shoguns being Imperial Princes, and the short-lived [[Kemmu Restoration]] of the 1330s - emperors, and indeed the Imperial Court more broadly, would not be the dominant political force in Japan until after [[1868]]. For much of the [[Edo period]] ([[1603]]-1868), in fact, emperors barely ever even left the Imperial Palace, and were designated by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] to consider their chief duty the maintenance of proper court rituals and elite court culture. Emperors retained a powerful, significant, symbolic role, as the source of all political legitimacy, and the ''[[kokugaku]]'' (National Studies) movement of the 18th-19th centuries revived, or at least renewed emphasis on, notions of the divine origins of the Imperial family. But they would continue to exercise little true political influence until after the fall of the shogunate.
The [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868 nominally restored true power to the emperor. By [[1889]], the position of the emperor had been reinvented, with numerous aspects of ancient spiritual, mythological, ritual, and symbolic elements being revived or invoked as part of a massive effort to recreate the position of the emperor as symbol & embodiment of the Nation, its divine leader, descended from an unbroken lineage stretching back to the Sun Goddess. The [[Meiji Emperor]] was both a modern ruler in numerous ways, wielding true political power like constitutional monarchs elsewhere in the world and serving as a head of state on the world stage, and also a deeply traditional ruler, with spiritual, ritual, and symbolic associations and responsibilities. The Imperial institution and its history was extensively reinvented at this time, with the Meiji government establishing new official lineages (including certain legendary or historical figures and excluding others), designating ancient burial sites as officially being considered the tombs of particular legendary or historical emperors, and claiming that particular rituals, invented or re-invented at that time, had been performed in just such a fashion for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
In 1945, an emperor's voice was heard over the radio for the first time. Shortly afterwards, the Shôwa Emperor (Hirohito) formally declared himself to not be divine, but only human. Under the new Constitution adopted in 1946, the emperor is still today regarded as "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People," but he is denied "powers related to government."<ref>"[http://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html The Constitution of Japan]," official website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. Accessed 10/10/2016.</ref>
==Terminology==
==Terminology==
In accordance with Chinese practice, the term ''tenshi'' (lit. "son of Heaven") was also common in the pre-modern period. In fact, in 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, in 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, and indeed it was during that brief period that the term ''tennô'' came into use in Japan, beginning with either [[Emperor Temmu]] (r. [[673]]-[[686]]) or his successor [[Empress Jito|Empress Jitô]] (r. 686-[[697]]). This marks the end of the period of "Great Kings" (''ôkimi''), and the beginning of rule by "emperors."<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 17.</ref> [[Amino Yoshihiko]], among others, have argued that this also marks the beginning of something we might legitimately call "Japan," suggesting that what came before should be considered "Wa" or "Yamato," and not "Japan," that all rulers prior to Temmu should not be called "emperors,"
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, and indeed it was during that brief period that the term ''tennô'' came into use in Japan, beginning with either [[Emperor Temmu]] (r. [[673]]-[[686]]) or his successor [[Empress Jito|Empress Jitô]] (r. 686-[[697]]). This marks the end of the period of "Great Kings" (''ôkimi''), and the beginning of rule by "emperors."<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 17.</ref> [[Amino Yoshihiko]], among others, have argued that this also marks the beginning of something we might legitimately call "Japan," suggesting that what came before should be considered "Wa" or "Yamato," and not "Japan," that all rulers prior to Temmu should not be called "emperors," and that figures such as [[Empress Suiko]] (r. [[593]]-[[628]]) and Shôtoku Taishi, important as they may be historically, should not be considered "Japanese."<ref>[[Amino Yoshihiko]], [[Alan Christy]] (trans.), ''Rethinking Japanese History'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (2012), 247.</ref>
and that figures such as [[Empress Suiko]] (r. [[593]]-[[628]]) and Shôtoku Taishi, important as they may be historically, should not be considered "Japanese."<ref>[[Amino Yoshihiko]], [[Alan Christy]] (trans.), ''Rethinking Japanese History'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (2012), 247.</ref>
While the term ''tennô'' was adopted in Japan, more standard terms for "emperor" in China include ''huángdi'' (J: ''kôtei'') and simply ''di'' (J: ''tei''). In Japanese, these terms are used almost exclusively to refer only 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 in Japan to refer to the Japanese emperor 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/>
While the term ''tennô'' was adopted in Japan, more standard terms for "emperor" in China include ''huángdi'' (J: ''kôtei'') and simply ''di'' (J: ''tei''). In Japanese, these terms are used almost exclusively to refer only 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 in Japan to refer to the Japanese emperor 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/>
