9781422283547

Exploring Japan

T his is a nineteenth- century colored wood- block print showing the sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami. Her name means “great divinity illuminating heaven.” H aniwa clay figures, like this warrior, were placed around tombs as symbolic guards and servants.

The First Emperor Every ancient people had a creation myth, explaining how the world began. The Japanese believed that it was created by gods who lived in heaven and that the sun goddess, Amaterasu, had given her grandson, Ninigi, a sword, a jewel and a mirror and sent him to rule over Japan. According to Japan’s oldest history books, written in 712 and 720, the first emperor, Jimmu, was Ninigi’s grandson, who began his reign in 660. Japanese emperors are still given a sword, a jewel and a mirror when they come to the throne.

T he key-hole shaped tomb said to have been built for the legendary emperor Nintoku around 400 CE. It is nearly 500 yards long and surrounded by three moats. Building it would have involved as much labor as building one of the Egyptian pyramids.

The Tomb Builders Modern historians think that Japan’s line of emperors can be traced back to about 400 ce , when a powerful family controlled an area of central Honshu called Yamato, which is the family name used by all emperors ever since. Between the fourth and seventh centuries the Japanese buried their rulers and nobles in huge tombs ( kofun ) guarded by clay figures called haniwa (see right).

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