03 Imperial History [1] The founding of the nation of Japan by Emperor Jinmu was indeed an event of the greatest importance. However, we do not have precise and detailed knowledge of parts of it, because there are no records left from that period. Unfortunately, writing did not exist at that time in Japan. None had been invented, and none had yet to come to Japan from a foreign country. In China, a written language evolved and books have been written since ancient times. According to legend, this was transmitted to Korea, and from Korea is came to Japan during the reign of Emperor Ohjin. In the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Ohjin, Achiki came; in the 16th year, Wani emigrated, and in the 20th year, Achi no Omi became naturalized in Japan. Thus in the latter half of the 4th century AD, together they brought academic learning to Japan. Wani was the descendant of Emperor Gaozu of Han Kingdom of China. He became the ancestor of Kawachi no Fumiuji. Achi no Omi was the descendant of Emperor Ling of the Later Han, and he became the ancestor of Yamato no Fumiuji. These scholars served in the imperial court, so written records must have come into existence at this time. But till then history in Japan was transmitted orally. From the modern viewpoint, oral transmission seems very undependable. But this is because, as record-taking became common, our memory deteriorated by too much dependence on writing. We are sometimes surprised at those who do not resort to writing; their powerful memory can recall the most abstruse facts. In ancient times there was a reciters clan, whose members specialized in the task of memorizing and reciting tales. Therefore, even without writing, the outline of the major events that had happened in Japan must have been transmitted from generation to generation. From the era of Emperor Ohjin, this orally-retained knowledge must have been transcribed into writing, and records must have accumulated. It was Prince Shoutoku (574-622) who sorted and integrated the available histories of Japan in the 28th year of Empress Suiko (620). He compiled Records of Emperors (Tennouki), National Histpry (Kokki) and other histories for the first time. Yet the histories he compiled were burnt by the Soga Clan when the clan was destroyed in 645, during the reign of Empress Kougyoku. Some parts were saved, however,and were returned to the Imperial Court. These were still incomplete histories. Also the individual clan records were disparate and erroneous in parts. That is why the fortieth Emperor Tenmu (r. 673-686) organized them. He sorted the ancient legends, and commanded Hieda no Are to memorize them. When Hieda no Are received this decree, he was 28 years old. he was most bright, and gifted with a memory that retained anything that he experienced once. But Hieda no Are being human, would not live forever. That was why Empress Genmei (r. 661-721), forty-third in succession, ordered Oh no Yasumaro to transcribe what Hieda no Are recited. Oh no Yasumaro had extensive learing in the China classics. The trascription took a few months, and was completed in the first month of the 5th year of Wadou era(712). This is Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), the three-volume history of Japan. Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki) was based on ancient legends of Japan. Apart from this, concurrently there was another history compilation project which was started Prince Shoutoku, and carried on by the historians of the subsequent era. In this project, the points of reference were taken from the state histories of foreign countries. Clan histories were selectively integrated, so as to complement what was missing from the oral transmission. The aim of this project was to produce an authoritative history of Japan. The compilaton was completed in the 5th month of the 4th vear of Youou era(720), during the reign of Empress Genshou. It was presented to the count by Prince Toneri, the chief compiler. This is Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki). The content of Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki) is more detailed than Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), as it is a 30-volume work. As the state history of Japan, this book is of great importance. Succeeding histories were compild in the following years, and were called Chronicles of Japan Continued (Shoku Nihongi), Later Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Kouki), Later Chronicles of Japan Continued (Shoku Nihon Kouki), Veritable Records of Emperor Montoku of Japan (Nihon Montoku Tennou Jitsuroku), and Veritable Records of the Three Reibns of Japan (Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku). Grouped together with Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki), they came to be called the Six Naitional Histories (Rikkokushi). Thus the most ancient history book of Japan is Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), and then comes Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki). However, the former was complered during the reign of Empress Genmei, the forty-third in succession, and the latter, during the reign of Empress Genshou (r. 680-748), the forty-fouth. This means that there is a gap of over forty generation of reign between the founder Emperor Jinmu, and three sovereigns. In terms of times, the span of the book extends for more than one thousand years. Even if we consider that the written records gradually atarted to take form during the reign of Emperor Ohjin using imported Chinese chracters, Emperor Ohjin is the fifteenth Emperor. The gap between him and Emperor Jinmu is more than ten generations. During these earlier generations, history must have been kept solely by oral transmission. This is why the legends about the events of the founding of the nation are varied, depending on the transmitter. Let us take the example of the eastward campaign of Emperor Jinmu. Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki) states that the Emperor remained in the Province of Aki (Hiroshima Prefecture) for seven years, and in the Province of Kibi (Okayama Prefecture), for eight years. Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki), on the other hand, records that the former stay was for seventy days, and the latter, three years. This is a great difference that cannot be discounted. However, even thouth such differences exist in details the main paths of the records of the campaign are identical. We can grasp the essence of the events through these records. Yet there is one point that dismays us. In Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), no time reference is given for the genealogies of the Emperors and the events. We cannot tell when an event occurred, or the interval between one event and the next. In other words, Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki) is most intriguing as a tale, but we cannot sort the events chronologically to produce a timetable. With Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki) this is possible. Dates, months and years are given clearly. The events can be aligned into the stream of time. In particular, the date of the ascension of EmperorJinmu is marked as "kanoto-bird years" (660 BC), the first day of the first month, spring. This date is instituted as the standard reference, so that the subsequent years are counted as the second year since the ascension, third year since, and so on. That is why this year of ascension, 660 BC, is regarded as the beginning of the history of Japan. This chronology is called the "imperial years." According to this, the 45th year of Shouwa era(1970), in which I write this book, is the 263th imperial year. To our dismay, there is a contradiction in the chronology of Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki). In ancient times, many lived to an old age, and lives of eighty and ninety years can be believed. But if they were active at an age of over one hundred, or over two hundred years, such life spans ought to be suspect. Similar contradictions appear also in Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki) which does not pay attention to chronology. Thus confusion must existed before these two books came to be compiled. Some people revere these two history books so much that they blindly accept the entries as truth. But that is a bias, and illogical. For example, the age of Emperor Jinmu is atated to be 137 years in Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), and 127 years in Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki). The tenth Emperor Sujin was 168 years old in the former, and 120 in the latter. The greatest problem is the Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki) entry of the fourteenth Emperor Chouai, who was the son of Yamato Takeru no Mikoto. According to the text, he was born thirty-six years after the death of his father. This could not be, so chronology does not make sense in Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki), which probably influenced Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki). The confusion, or an abitrary placement of events, took place much earlier than the compilation of these two historical books.

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