K O J I K I B O O K I I I
Age of Humans II
THE LATER EMPERORS
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K O J I K I B O O K I I I
THE LATER EMPERORS
The emperor who remitted taxes for his people, the ordeal that sorted true lineage from false, a king who met a god — and, after a crisis of succession, Japan’s first empress, where the tale ends.
The long road that began with the parting of heaven and earth closes quietly in the reign of Empress Suiko, as myth dissolves completely into history.
| 1st | Emperor Jimmu | Enthroned at Kashihara after the eastern campaign; the first emperor |
| 2nd–9th | Suizei to Kaika | The “eight undocumented reigns,” recorded only as genealogy |
| 10th | Emperor Sujin | Quelled the plague and sent generals to the four quarters |
| 11th | Emperor Suinin | Origin of the Ise Grand Shrine; Tajimamori’s orange |
| 12th | Emperor Keikō | Father of Yamato Takeru |
| 13th | Emperor Seimu | Fixed provincial borders and local governors |
| 14th | Emperor Chūai | Doubted the oracle and died suddenly; husband of Jingū |
| 15th | Emperor Ōjin | Continental learning arrives; later worshipped as Hachiman |
| 16th | Emperor Nintoku | The sage ruler of the kitchen-smoke story |
| 17th–20th | Richū to Ankō | An age of struggles over the throne |
| 21st | Emperor Yūryaku | Met the god Hitokotonushi; a fierce great king |
| 22nd–25th | Seinei to Buretsu | The royal line thins toward extinction |
| 26th | Emperor Keitai | A new emperor summoned from Echizen |
| 27th–32nd | Ankan to Sushun | Buddhism arrives; the Soga clan rises |
| 33rd | Empress Suiko | Japan’s first empress; the Kojiki ends here |