Editing Emperor of Japan (section)

===Origins===
{{See also|List of emperors of Japan}}

According to the traditional account of the [[Nihon Shoki]], Japan was founded by [[Emperor Jimmu]] {{age|-659|2|11}} years ago. However most modern scholars agree to regard Jimmu and the nine first emperors as mythical.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shillony|first=Ben-Ami|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FwztKKtQ_rAC&q=nine+first+emperors+of+japan&pg=PA15|title=The Emperors of Modern Japan|date=2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-16822-0|pages=15|language=en|author-link=Ben-Ami Shillony}}</ref>  [[Emperor Sujin]], the 10th emperor, may have been a real historical figure. The emperors from [[Emperor Ōjin]] are considered as perhaps factual. As one argument, the reign of [[Emperor Kinmei]] ({{circa|509}}–571 AD), the 29th emperor, is the first for whom contemporary historiography is able to assign verifiable dates.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">Hoye, Timothy. (1999). ''Japanese Politics: Fixed and Floating Worlds,'' p. 78; "According to legend, the first Japanese emperor was Jinmu. Along with the next 13 emperors, [[Emperor Jimmu|Jimmu]] is not considered an actual, historical figure. Historically verifiable Emperors of Japan date from the early sixth century with [[Emperor Kinmei|Kinmei]]."</ref>

Archaeological information about the earliest historical rulers of Japan may be contained in the ancient tombs known as ''[[kofun]]'', constructed between the early 3rd century and the early 7th century AD. However, since the [[Meiji period]], the [[Imperial Household Agency]] has refused to open the ''kofun'' to the public or to archaeologists, citing their desire not to disturb the spirits of the past emperors. ''Kofun'' period artefacts were also increasingly crucial in Japan as the Meiji government used them to reinforce their authority.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Edgington-Brown |first=Luke |date=May 2016 |title=The International Origins of Japanese Archaeology: William Gowland and His Kofun Collection at the British Museum |url=https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/67858/ |type=Ph.D. |location=Norwich, UK |publisher=University of East Anglia |oclc=1079148109 |id=ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global 2164566112 <!-- Also (meaning?): Order No. 13832636 -->}}</ref> In 2016, the Imperial Household Agency reversed its position and decided to allow researchers to enter some of the ''kofun'' with limited time and way.

In the early 7th century, the emperor had begun to be called the {{Nihongo|"[[Son of Heaven]]"|天子|tenshi|or 天子様 ''tenshi-sama''}}.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kO0tUpCViA8C&pg=PA300 |title=Rethinking Japan: Social Sciences, Ideology and Thought |publisher=Japan Library |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-904404-79-1 |editor-last=Boscaro |editor-first=Adriana |volume=II |page=300 |editor2-last=Gatti |editor2-first=Franco |editor3-last=Raveri |editor3-first=Massimo}}</ref> The title of emperor was borrowed from China, being derived from Chinese characters, and was retroactively applied to the legendary Japanese rulers who reigned before the 7th–8th centuries AD.<ref name="Holcombe2001">{{cite book |last=Holcombe |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XT5pvPZ4vroC&pg=PA198 |title=The Genesis of East Asia: 221 B.C. – A.D. 907 |date=January 2001 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-2465-5 |pages=198–}}</ref>