Japanese legends say that the first emperor of Japan was Emperor Jimmu, who began his
reign in 660 BC.
The legends also say that he died at 126 years old, so as you can see, we can’t trust that
date.
The first Emperor we can historically verify was Emperor Kinmei, whose reign started in
539 AD, more than a thousand years after the mythical date.
That means the Japanese Imperial House, the Yamato Family, is about 1500 years old.
Still the longest surviving continuous monarchy in the world.
The longest we can verify, at least.
So the question is: how did it survive so long?
After all, China has a much longer history, and Chinese dynasties collapsed all the time.
What made Japan different?
The most common answer I’ve found is: Oh, the Emperor is just a figurehead, so the powerful
people thought, “We may as well let them sit on the throne, what’s the harm?”
And yes, that’s part of the answer, but it’s not the entire answer.
Sure, for most of Japanese history, the Emperor had little power, and it was the shogun or
regents or clans that ruled.
But that wasn’t always the case.
For example, in the Heian Period, the Emperor had fairly significant power, and the conflict
in the Imperial Court was about who got to enact laws in the Emperor’s stead and who
can put their people on the throne.
Another example, during the Kenmu Restoration, an Emperor ousted the ruling shogun to briefly
restore a civilian government.
Even if the Emperor held NO power at all, you could easily imagine some narcissistic
Caesar-type character overthrowing the Emperor to found a new dynasty, with actual power.
But this didn’t happen.
Many times you had powerful clans placing someone friendly on the throne instead of
their own leader.
So, the Emperor having little power is not the whole story.
The missing part?
Religion.
Japanese emperors all claim to be directly descended from the Sun Goddess Amaterasu,
the most important kami in the Shinto religion.
The legendary Emperor Jimmu was said to be the great-grandson of the Sun Goddess.
This idea took root in the public consciousness, and became the basis for the Emperor’s political
legitimacy up until the 1950s.
You were a legitimate emperor only if you came from the same bloodline as the Sun Goddess.
If not for this idea, the Yamato Imperial House probably would have ended long ago,
replaced by another, more powerful government.
The Japanese found ways to work around their pesky Emperor.
The Heian court had the position of regent, an official who ruled and made decisions on
a young emperor’s behalf, until the emperor came of age.
Makes sense.
But then, when it came time to give power back, regents started saying,
“Uh...no.
Nah nah nah nah.”
This became common practice, those exact words.
Regents and retired emperors realized that religion actually made it hard for the Emperor
to rule.
You see, the position of Emperor was both religious and political.
The Emperor had to participate in all kinds of rituals and ceremonies, they had to travel
to all these different temples.
They barely had any time to make political decisions...to the point where Emperors started
to retire early, so they could finally get some work done from behind the scenes.
In the Sengoku Period, the Imperial Court’s economic and political power were at their
lowest.
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose to power, could he have eliminated the Emperor forever, and
started his own line?
Perhaps.
It’s hard to say whether people would have stood for it.
He might have thought this too and decided against it.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi came from peasant blood, not nobility.
He wanted the Emperor’s blessing, which brought authority and respect.
So he gave the Emperor back some power in return for the Emperor’s support.
You see how the Japanese bent over backwards to keep the Imperial Family?
It was fine, because the elites already set a long precedent for ruling from the outside.
The people needed the Emperor to have legitimate blood, and the respect of the Emperor was
too great to risk messing with.
Hey, you.
So I did something different with today’s video, less art, if you noticed.
I explain why in the description, and let me know if you agree or not.
Thanks for watching!