Emperor of Japan

The Emperor of Japan (天皇 tennō) is a constitutionally-recognized symbol of the Japanese nation and the unity of its people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family, the royal family of Japan.

Naming

Due to linguistic and cultural differences between Japan and the Western world, naming the emperors of Japan is often troublesome. While scholastic texts in Japan use "{name} tennō" consistently, in texts by English-speaking academics several variants have been used, such as "Emperor {name}", "the {name} Emperor", and "{name} Tenno", although "Emperor {name}" appears to be the most common among these, particularly for the emperors prior to Emperor Meiji. What is often not understood, however, is that emperors are posthumously named "{name} tenn?", and thus the word "tenn?, or "emperor", actually forms a part of their proper name. This is particularly misunderstood with respect to the emperors from Emperor Meiji onward, since the convention now is to posthumously name the emperors the same name as the era over which they preside. This leads to references such as "the Meiji emperor", meaning the emperor of the Meiji era. Such constructs are never used in Japanese, however.

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In English, the term Mikado (御門 or 帝 or みかど), which literally means "exalted gate", used to be used to refer to the emperor of Japan; this usage is now outdated, as it is in Japanese. In Japanese, the emperors of Japan, but not of other countries, are known as tennō (天皇), which literally means "heavenly emperor" or "god-king". Sumeramikoto (lit. "heavenly ruler above the clouds") was also used in Old Japanese.

Related Topics:
English - Japanese - 皇 - Old Japanese

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There are three Japanese words that describe the concept of "emperor": tennō (天皇) is used specifically to describe the emperor of Japan, kōtei (皇帝, lit. "emperor of emperors") is used primarily to describe a Chinese emperor or a foreign emperor, and teiō (帝王, lit. "emperor of kings") is used to describe foreign emperors as well but never a Chinese emperor. Some scholars point out that the use of ten (天, "heaven") was, in relation to the Chinese concept of tentei (天帝, "heaven's emperor" or "the god in the sky"), meant to show that the emperor's duty was not limited to political or military duties but included spiritual and religious duties as well.

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Traditionally, East Asians consider it discourteous to call a person of noble rank by their given name. This convention is almost dead, but still observed for the Imperial family. In fact, the emperor is never to be referred to by name (imina) unless he is dead. Instead, past emperors are called by posthumous names such as Emperor Jimmu, Emperor Kammu and Meiji. Since the Meiji era, era names are also used as posthumous names. The current emperor on the throne is almost always referred to as Tennō Heika (天皇陛下, lit. "His Majesty the Emperor") or solemnly as Kinjō Tennō (今上天皇). On the other hand, in ordinary conversations he is referred to simply as Heika, Okami or To-gin san ('To-gin' is a frank expression of Kinjō). The current emperor is not called by the current era name: the era will become his posthumous name.

Related Topics:
Posthumous name - Emperor Jimmu - Meiji era - Era names

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But today this custom tends to be followed more loosely, as described below. In English, the recent emperors are called by their personal names according to Western convention. As explained above, in Japanese this sounds offensive and, in some contexts, blasphemous.

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For example, the previous emperor is usually called Hirohito in English, but after his death he was renamed Sh?wa Tenn? and is now referred to exclusively by this name in Japanese. However, during his reign, he was never referred as Hirohito or Sh?wa Tenn? in Japanese. Rather, he was simply referred to as Tenn? Heika (meaning "His Majesty the Emperor").

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See also List of Japanese Emperors.

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