he
northern part of Kyushu, to repress tumults which had arisen. The next
emperors were Ankan Tenno and Senkuwa Tenno, whose reigns were uneventful.

The twenty-ninth emperor was Kimmei Tenno, (A.D. 540-571), who was the son
of Keitai Tenno. He reigned thirty-two years and died at the age of
sixty-three. It was during his reign, in A.D. 552, that an ambassador from
Kudara, one of the three provinces of Korea, presented to the emperor an
image of Shaka, and also Buddhist books explaining the doctrine. He
commended highly the new religion, and the emperor was deeply impressed
with its novelties. This seems the more probable because up to this time
Japan looked upon China and Korea as leaders in civilization, and
therefore was disposed to regard what had obtained a footing there as
worthy of acceptance.

The prime-minister Soga-no-Iname favored the new religion, and urged that
the image of Shaka which had been brought over should be duly set up and
worshipped. But the ministers Monobe-no-Okoshi and Kumako opposed the
proposition, saying, "Our country has its own gods; and they perhaps will
be angry with us if we pay our devotions to a foreign god."

But the emperor settled the matter by saying, "Let Iname try it." He gave
the idol to Iname with the directions that he should set it up and pray to
it. Accordingly Iname took the image of Shaka and established it in a
house of his own, which he created a temple, and worshipped it.

But shortly after this an epidemic broke out in the country, and Okoshi
and Kumako declared that it was due to the strange god which had been
received from the western barbarians, and besought the emperor to have it
thrown away. The image therefore by the emperor's command was thrown into
the sea near Naniwa,(85) and the temple in which it had been erected was
destroyed. This was the first movement towards the introduction of
Buddhism.

In the reign of the thirtieth emperor, Bitatsu Tenno, A.D. 572, who was
the son of Kimmei Tenno, Kudara again made a contribution of Buddhist
emblems, viz.: books of Buddhist doctrine; a priest of Ritsu sect; a
priest; a nun; a diviner; an image maker; and a Buddhist temple carpenter.
These were all housed in the temple of Owake-no-O at Naniwa. Seven years
after this two Japanese ambassadors who had been sent to Kudara brought
back with them several Buddhist images of stone, which the Daijin Umako
obtained as his possession. He built several Buddhist temples in w