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According to tradition, Itsuse and Iwarehiko took counsel together one day in their residence in Hyūga, as to the place most suitable for the seat of administration, and resolved to proceed eastward. At the straits between Kiushū and Shikoku they were received by a terrestrial deity, and under his guidance reached Usa in the present Buzen, where the inhabitants built a palace for them and treated them hospitably. Passing next to Chikuzen, they subsequently crossed the sea to Aki on the main island, and thence journeyed to Kibi, ten years being devoted to these travels. From Kibi they passed over by Naniwa to Tadetsu in the present Izumi province. The objective point of the expedition was Yamato, where then ruled a powerful chieftain named Nagasunehiko who, under the authority of Nigihayahi, a scion of a god of Heaven, whom he had received, had extended his sway over the surrounding region. This chieftain, learning of the approach of the deities and their following, marshaled his forces to oppose them. In the battle that ensued Itsuse was wounded by an arrow.

The invading army therefore turned their course over the sea to Kii, where Itsuse died of his wound. His brother, Iwarehiko, then advanced to the east coast of Kii, and, having there killed a local chieftain, pushed on to Yoshino under the guidance of Prince Michiomi (ancestor of the Ōtomo family) and Prince Ōkume (ancestor of the Kume family). The inhabitants, cave-dwellers, learning that a scion of the god of Heaven had arrived, went out to meet him and made submission. Prosecuting his campaign, Iwarehiko struck down several rebel chiefs, and once more planned an expedition against Nagasunehiko. The latter, however, sent him a message, saying: "Prince Nigihayahi, son of the Deity of Heaven, came hither in a strong boat, and married my sister, Kashiya, by whom he has a son, Prince Umashimate. I have made obeisance to Prince Nigihayahi as sovereign of the land. There cannot possibly be two legitimate representatives of the Heavenly Deity. You must have come to deprive us wrongfully of the realm under pretext of celestial origin." To this Iwarehiko replied: "There is more than one son of the Deity of Heaven. If your sovereign be in truth the offspring of the Celestial Deity, he must possess some proofs. Let me see them." Nagasunehiko thereupon produced arrows and an arrow-case which Prince Nigihayahi had brought with him. Iwarehiko, having examined them, declared them to be genuine, and showed his own arrows and arrow-case to Nagasunehiko. But the latter, though fully sensible that Iwarehiko was of celestial origin, maintained an obstinate mien and would not change his view. Prince Nigihayahi, now clearly perceiving his unreasonable disposition, put him to death, and passed over with all his men to serve in the invading army. Well pleased by this act, Iwarehiko treated the prince kindly and rewarded his loyal conduct. Orders were then issued to the captains to exterminate all the insurgents in the land, and the Yamato district having been brought into complete subjection, the conqueror established his capital at Kashiwabara in Yamato, and ordained the deities of the various officials of his court, the imperial power being thus extended and the administration placed on a fixed basis. This was the opening year of Japanese history. Later annalists fixed the year at 660 BC, and styled the victorious prince the Emperor Jimmu, the first sovereign of the Empire of Japan.

After his death his younger son, Prince Takishimimi, sought to usurp the sovereignty. The eldest son, Prince Kamyaimimi, suspecting the plot, revealed it to his younger brother, Kannuna-gawamimi, who shot the usurper. Thereupon the elder prince waived the throne in favor of his valiant brother, who thus became the second emperor, Suisei. After him followed the Emperors Annei, Itoku, Kōshō, Kōan, Kōrei, Kōgen, and Kaikwa, whose reigns are said to have lasted 450 years and are singularly bare of recorded events.

In these primitive ages the life of the people was naturally simple. The population must have been small, and the communication between different parts of the small empire extremely difficult. Boats were propelled by oars, for sails were unknown. The invaders must have attained to a higher stage of culture than the vanquished natives. The dwellings of the aristocracy, for example, were rudely constructed wooden houses, the simple model of which still survives in the Shintō shrines of the present day, while the autochthons mostly dwelt in pits dug underground. On the whole, however, both classes had partially advanced to an agricultural mode of life, and depended for subsistence largely on fishing and hunting. Bows and arrows or snares were the chief implements used in hunting, and hooks, cormorants, and weirs served for purposes of fishing. Methods of preparing food had already been elaborated, and the art of brewing saké was known. Marked progress had also taken place in matters of dress. From skins of animals or textile fabrics woven from hemp and dyed red and green with juices of herbs, were made hats, robes, and pantaloons. Ornaments for the neck, arms, and legs consisted of beads of crystal, agate, glass, serpentine and polished gems, shaped into cylinders or crescents and strung together. The arts of mining and smelting ores, as well as of casting metal, were known, for, besides arrow-heads and other weapons of stone, spears and swords of copper or iron, together with plows and hatchets of hard metals, were in evidence.

JAPANESE FISHING WITH TRAINED CORMORANTS Painting by A Richter

It is interesting to know that at marriage the bridegroom, contrary to the modern custom, went to the house of the bride. A man also was permitted to have several wives, but a woman was never allowed to have more than one husband. Divination was always employed to solve doubtful questions. Music and dancing were already known, the koto and the flute being employed as musical instruments. Emotions of grief or joy, love or disappointment, were expressed in song, the most ancient song now extant being attributed to the deity Susanoö. The Emperor Jimmu also frequently commemorated brave deeds of war in song, thus encouraging and reviving the spirit of his warriors.

A profound awe and respect toward the national deities, as well as a superstitious fear of innumerable spirits, seems to have prevailed everywhere in all classes of society. If the people submitted readily to the sway of the Emperor Jimmu, it was largely because they regarded him as a scion of the gods. The emperor, on his side, firmly convinced that good and evil were controlled by divine will, never neglected to perform sacrificial rites. Out of the custom of extreme reverence toward the deities grew abhorrence for impurity in any form, so that separate huts came to be built for the bodies of the dead or for women at times of parturition, and if any man came in contact with an unclean object, he bathed in a river to purify himself.

Naturally, little distinction existed between religion and government, between shrine and palace. At the completion of his work of conquest, Jimmu erected a building at Kashiwabara, in which he deposited the three insignia, and in which he himself resided and personally governed the empire. Each one of his eight successors followed his example. The tenth emperor, Sujin, however, fearing that the insignia might be polluted, made duplicates of the Mirror and the Sword, and reverently deposited the originals in a shrine at Kasanui in Yamato, where one of the imperial princesses was intrusted with the duty of guarding them and performing due religious rites. Thus, shrine and palace were at last separated. Subsequently, these sacred objects were removed to Ise, and placed in the shrine now existing there. The Sword, however, was afterward carried to Atsuta in Owari, where it now lies in the Atsuta Shrine.

During the reigns of Sujin and his successor, Suinin, the agriculture and communication of the country are recorded to have been greatly encouraged, troubles near the court exterminated, and also the area of the empire largely extended. The extension of the imperial domain, however, brought it in sharp conflict with the still unsubdued tribes of the north and the south. From the reign of Keikō, Suinin's successor, we hear of the story of the conflict. The Kumaso of Tsukushi, Kiushū, rose in arms. How seriously this was regarded is seen from the fact that the emperor in person conducted a campaign for several years in Kiushū. No sooner was peace restored than the southern tribes again rebelled. This time the brave Prince Yamato-dake, who was sent to Tsukushi to subdue the insurgents, had to resort to strategy instead of war. Having disguised himself as a girl, he obtained entry into the house of the Kumaso chief, where he killed the chief and his warriors while they were lying drunk. He also overthrew many other rebellious princes and returned to Yamato in triumph.

In the meantime the emperor, after his return from Kiushū, had heard from a special commissioner whom he had sent that in the northeast of the empire there was a strange region named Hidakami, where the people of both sexes wore their hair tied up, tattooed their bodies, and performed deeds of valor. They were known as the Emishi, and their land, being extensive and fertile, the commissioner represented, ought to be added to the imperial domain. These Emishi rose in rebellion shortly after the return of Prince Yamato-dake from the conquest of the Kumaso. Thereupon the prince boldly offered to undertake the conquest of the new insurgents. After subduing local uprisings on his way, he proceeded by sea to the region of the northern rebellion. As his boats drew near the shore he displayed a large mirror at the prow of his vessel, and when the rebel chieftains and their followers sighted the ships, they were terrified by such evidences of pomp and power, and throwing away their bows and arrows, made submission. The prince accepted their homage, and enlisting their aid, conquered other rebels who still resisted the progress of the imperial forces. It seems probable that on that occasion Prince Yamato-dake advanced as far as the present province of Iwaki. On his return journey, which was again beset with local difficulties, he was seized with a severe illness, which soon proved fatal. The emperor bitterly lamented the death of his beloved son, and the story of the gallant prince is still dear to the heart of every child of Japan.

JAPAN AS KNOWN TO THE EMPERORS BEFORE THE FIFTH CENTURY

The local administration of the empire so materially extended during three successive reigns was now reorganized by the Emperor Shōmu, son of Keikō. The nature of Shōmu's reform is, however, little known. When the Emperor Jimmu established the office of local governor, there were only nine provinces, but the number was increased by more than ten during the reigns of Kaika, Sujin, and Keikō, and became sixty-three in the time of the Emperor Shōmu. The imperial sway then extended northward as far as Shinobu (the present Mutsu), Sado and Noto; eastward to Tsukuba (now Hidachi); westward to Amakusa, and southward to Kii. Throughout the whole of this district, governors were appointed to administer local affairs. Subsequently the process of division continued until, in the reign of the Emperor Suikō, the total number of provinces reached 144, at which figure it remained until 645 A. D., the date of the so-called Taikwa Reformation. These local divisions, though here spoken of as provinces, had in fact different appellations—as kuni, a province, or agata, a district—and were not of uniform area. The term kuni was employed to designate an area bounded by mountains or rivers, whereas the agata had no such geographical limits. In general the former was the more extensive, but in consequence of the natural features of the country the agata was sometimes the larger. The entire subject of the local government of ancient Japan is, however, one of the most obscure subjects in history.

The reigns of the first thirteen emperors, from Jimmu to Shōmu, may be considered the era of the founding of the Japanese Empire. The main work of the sovereigns of this period consisted in the organization, extension, and consolidation of their domain. Foreign relations had hardly begun, and external influence was as yet slightly felt. The following table gives the names of the thirteen emperors, with the officially fixed dates of their reigns:

1. Emperor Jimmu.

660–585 BC

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2. Emperor Suisei.

581–549 BC

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3. Emperor Annei.

548–510 BC

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4. Emperor Itoku.

510–475 BC

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5. Emperor Kōshō.

475–392 BC

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6. Emperor Kōan.

392–290 BC

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7. Emperor Kōrei.

290–214 BC

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8. Emperor Kōgen.

214–157 BC

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9. Emperor Kaikwa.

157–97 BC

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10. Emperor Sujin.

97–29 BC

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11. Emperor Suinin.

29 BC-71 AD

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12. Emperor Keikō.

71–131 AD

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13. Emperor Shōmu.

131–192 AD