Dutch into Japan.

THE FIRST NINE EMPERORS

In attempting to construct coherent annals out of the somewhat
fragmentary Japanese histories of remote ages, the student is
immediately confronted by chronological difficulties. Apart from the
broad fact that the average age of the first seventeen Emperors from
Jimmu downwards is 109 years, while the average age of the next
seventeen is only sixty-one and a half years, there are
irreconcilable discrepancies in some of the dates themselves. Thus,
according to the Records, the eighth Emperor, Kogen, died at
fifty-seven, but according to the Chronicles he ascended the throne
at fifty-nine and reigned fifty-six years. Again, whereas the ninth
sovereign, Kaikwa, is by the Records given a life of only sixty-three
years, the Chronicles make him assume the sceptre at fifty-one and
wield it for fifty-nine years. Such conflicts of evidence are fatal
to confidence. Nor do they disappear wholly until the beginning of
the fifth century, at which time, moreover, the incidents of Japanese
history receive their first confirmation from the history of China
and Korea.

It is therefore not extravagant to conclude that the first ten and a
half centuries covered by Japanese annals must be regarded as
prehistoric. On the other hand, the incidents attributed to this long
interval are not by any means of such a nature as to suggest
deliberate fabrication. An annalist who was also a courtier, applying
himself to construct the story of his sovereign's ancestors, would
naturally be disposed to embellish his pages with narratives of great
exploits and brilliant achievements. Neither the Records nor the
Chronicles can be said to display such a propensity in any marked
degree. The Chronicles do, indeed, draw upon the resources of Chinese
history to construct ethical codes and scholarly diction for their
Imperial figures, but the Records show no traces of adventitious
colour nor make an attempt to minimize the evil and magnify the good.

Thus, while it is evident that to consolidate Jimmu's conquest and to
establish order among the heterogeneous elements of his empire he
must have been followed by rulers of character and prowess, the
annals show nothing of the kind. On the contrary, the reigns of his
eight immediate successors are barren of all striking incident. The
closing chapter of Jimmu himself is devoted chiefly to his amours,
and the opening page in the life of his immediate successor, Suisei,