I have spoken on another occasion about the Japanese imperial family, the oldest hereditary monarchy in the world. Titles Tenno (emperor) and Sumera-Mikoto (heavenly sovereign) was adopted by the rulers in the sixth century AD There were very few women empresses, 8 only, so you can say here to be an emperor is a man’s.
Unlike his fellow Europeans, always immersed in the politics of their states, the Japanese emperor during much of the country’s history has not had much involvement in the unfolding of its domains, it has always been in the midst of a struggle power between feudal lords. Therefore, its role has generally been purely ritual.
But like all royal houses are the Imperial Jewels. Contrary to Europe, one can see in museums or on the same sovereign in certain festivals or ceremonies, imperial jewelry here can not be observed. Three and have great symbolic significance.
Why? Because they are the symbols of the legitimacy of the Japanese Emperor and the most sacred objects of Shinto religion. They are a mirror, a jewel and a sword. According to Japanese mythology the sacred mirror was used to lure the goddess Amaterasu Omikami outside the cave where he sought refuge after his brother offended. This mirror is kept today in the Inner Sanctum, in Ise.
The holy sword is the sword he found the brother of Amaterasu, Susanoo, the tail of a dragon with eight heads after killing him. This sword kept in the Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya. And finally, is the jewel that God gave to his grandson Nigi no Mikoto, along with the mirror and the sword, when you send it to the ground. The turn gave these “imperial jewels” to his own grandson, Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan.
Remains the jewel in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
Tags: Amaterasu, Japanese emperor, Japanese imperial family, Susanoo, The Imperial Jewels