other, he is described as the fourth son of Ukay Fukiaezu no
Mikoto, who was fifth in direct descent from the beautiful sun-goddess,
Tensho-Daijin. But as no such thing as writing existed in Japan in those
days, or for many centuries afterward, it would not be surprising if a
real monarch should have a mythical origin assigned to him; and as I
have quite lately heard the guns firing at Nagasaki an imperial salute
in honor of his coronation, and have seen the flags waving over the
capital city, Tokio, in honor of the birthday, the Emperor Jimmu is
quite historical enough for my present purpose.

The commencement of his reign shall fix for us, as it does for others,
the Japanese year 1, which was 660 years prior to our year 1, so that
any date of the Christian era can be converted into one of the Japanese
era by the addition of 660 years, and _vice-versa._ Some of the emperors
will be found to have lived very long lives, no doubt; but as I have
said elsewhere, none of them lived nearly so long as our Adam,
Methuselah, and others, in whose longevity so many of us profess to
believe; and besides, it is impossible for me to attempt to correct a
chronology which Japanese scholars, and Englishmen versed in the
Japanese language, have thus far left without specific correction.
Deferring for after consideration the incidents of the successive
imperial reigns, except in so far as they bear directly upon the descent
of the crown, let us, then, first glance at the succession of emperors
and empresses who have ruled in the Morning Land.

After the death of the Emperor Jimmu there appears to have been an
interregnum for three years--although it is seldom taken account of--the
second Emperor Suisei, who was the fifth son of the first emperor,
having ascended the throne B.C. 581 and reigned till 549. The cause of
the interregnum appears to have been the extreme grief which Suisei felt
at the death of his father, in consequence of which he committed the
administration of the empire, for a time, to one of his relatives--an
unworthy fellow, as he proved, named Tagishi Mimi no Mikoto, who tried
to assassinate his master and seize the throne for himself, and who was
put to death by Suisei for his pains. The fifth son of the Emperor Jimmu
was nominated by him as the successor, and it is probable that older
sons were living and passed over, and that the throne was inherited in
part by nomination even in this its first transfer.

Some write