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The Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇, Jimmu Tennō ), mythical founder of the Japan, is regarded as the direct descendant of the deity Shinto Amaterasu. The imperial house current of Japan bases its rights to the Trône of the chrysanthemum on its direct descent of Jimmu.

Tradition

According to the tradition described in the Kojiki ( Account of the old facts , work considered as the very first writing of Japan) and the Nihon Shoki , Jimmu was born on January 1st -711, died the March 11th -585 and founds the empire of Japan the February 11th -660. Like the other first emperors of Japan, his historical existence is not attested and its life concerns the mythology especially. Jimmu, which means “divine power”, is a posthumous Nom, of Chinese form and Buddhist inspiration, allotted to the 8th century with Kamu Yamato Iware Hiko No Mikoto during the compilation of the Yamato legends in the Kojiki .

Ascent

According to the belief Shinto, Jimmu is regarded as back-back-small-wire of the goddess of the sun Amaterasu. This one had a son named Ame No Oshihomimi No Mikoto and through him a grandson Ninigi-No-Mikoto. It sends its grandson in the Japanese archipelago where he marries the Konohana-Sakuya princess. One of their three children is Hikohohodemi No Mikoto, also called Yamasachi-hiko, which marries the princess Toyotama, girl of Owatatsumi, god of the sea and brother of Amaterasu. They have a son named Hikonagisa Takeugaya Fukiaezu No Mikoto. The child, given up by his parents with the birth, is raised by the princess Tamayori, the young sister of his mother. They end up marrying and have four children, whose last becomes the Jimmu emperor.

Migration

Always according to the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki (from which the accounts differ however in many points), the brothers of Jimmu, born in Takachiho (in the south of Kyūshū, in current the Préfecture of Miyazaki), emigrate in the east to find a better place where to be established to reign on the area. Itsuse No Mikoto, older brother of Jimmu, are the leading initial one of the migration, and they cross the Inland sea of Seto with the assistance of the tribal chief local Sao Netsuhiko. Whereas they reach Naniwa (current the Ōsaka), they meet a savage resistance on behalf of an other local leader, Nagasunehiko (“Man with the long legs”) and Itsuse is killed in the battle. Jimmu, considering that they had lost because they had fought towards the east, against the sun, consequently decides to unload in the east of the peninsula of Kii and to fight turned towards the west. They reach Kumano, and guided by the corbel with eight Yatagarasu legs, go to Yamato, where they face Nagasunehiko again and, this time, gain the victory.

In Yamato, Nigihayahi No Mikoto, which clamp also to be downward gods of Takamagahara, is protected from Nagasunehiko. However, when Nigihayahi meets Jimmu, it accepts its legitimacy, and Jimmu is crowned emperor with the palate of Kashihara.

The New Year's Day of the calendar Japanese lunisolaire is traditionally celebrated like the beginning of the reign of the Jimmu emperor. In 1872, the government of Meiji proclaims that the day of the foundation of Japan is the February 11th -660 of the Gregorian Calendrier. This mythical date is commemorated by bank holiday Kigensetsu (“day of the era”) of 1872 with 1948, then under that of Kenkoku Kinen No hi (“day of the national foundation”) since 1966.

Sujin

The tenth emperor, Sujin, are like Jimmu indicated under the name of Hatsu Kuni Shirasu No Mikoto , “first sovereign controlling the country”, and both can thus be identified one with the other, which would place its life at the 3rd century.

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