was
usually made with the concurrence of the officers of the court, and very
often must be credited entirely to the preference of these officers.
Sometimes the emperor died before the appointment of a crown prince had
taken place. In this case the selection lay in the hands of the court
officers, and many cases are recorded in the history of the empire where
serious disturbances arose between the partisans of different aspirants to
the throne. These disturbances usually account for the _interregna_ which
are so often found between the reigns of successive sovereigns.

To the freedom which has prevailed, not only in the imperial house but
also in all the families of the empire, in regard to the rights of
succession, must be attributed the long and unbroken line which the
imperial house of Japan is able to show. That a line of sovereigns should
continue from the time of Jimmu down to the present without break by
reason of the failure of children, is of course impossible. But the
difficulty disappears when it is remembered, that in case of the failure
of a son to succeed, the father provided for the want by adopting as his
son some prince of the imperial family, and appointing him as his heir.
With this principle of adoption must be mentioned the practice of
abdication(96) which produced a marked and constantly recurring influence
in the history of Japan. Especially was this the case in the middle ages
of Japanese history. The practice spread from the imperial house downwards
into all departments of Japanese life. Although the principle of
abdication and adoption was probably brought from China and was adopted by
the Japanese as a mark of superior culture, yet these practices were
carried to a much greater extent in Japan than was ever thought of in
their original home. We shall see in the story of Japanese times the
amazing and ludicrous extent to which the abdication of reigning
sovereigns was carried. We shall witness even the great and sagacious
Ieyasu himself, after holding the office of shogun for only two years,
retiring in favor of his son Hidetada, and yet from his retirement
practically exercising the authority of the office for many years.

In A.D. 668 the Emperor Tenji(97) began a brief reign of three years. As
he had been regent during the two preceding reigns, and chiefly managed
the administration, very little change occurred after his accession to
power. His reign is mainly remarkable for the first appeara