Imperial Japan

     The monarch and head of the Japanese Royal Family is known as the Emperor. According to the Japanese Constitution, he is the representation of the nation's unity and the state, and his position derives from "the will of the people with whom sovereign power resides." The imperial succession is governed by Imperial Household Law. The Japanese Supreme Court has no authority to bring charges against the emperor. He serves as the supreme leader of the Shinto faith [4]. The name Tenn (pronounced [tenno]), which means "Emperor of heaven" or "Heavenly Sovereign," is used to refer to the emperor in Japanese. 

         The Yamato Dynasty, also known as the Imperial House of Japan, has its historical roots in the late Kofun period, which lasted from the third to the sixth centuries AD. It is one of the oldest dynasties in the world. The mythical narratives of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki claim that Emperor Jimmu created Japan in 660 BC. 

        In the past, the role of the Japanese emperor has alternated between being primarily ceremonial and symbolic and being an actual imperial ruler. In contrast to many Western monarchs, the emperors of Japan have rarely served as the chief battlefield commander since the founding of the first shogunate in 1192. Japanese emperors have, to varied degrees, almost always been subject to political influence from outside Japan. For instance, despite being formally chosen by the emperor, the shguns, or their shikken regents in Kamakura (1203-1333), were the de facto rulers of Japan from 1192 and 1867. According to the Meiji Constitution of 1889, the emperor represented all sovereign power in the realm following the Meiji Restoration in 1867.

           The position of emperor has been reduced to that of a ceremonial head of state with no even minimal political authority since the adoption of the 1947 constitution.

The Imperial Palace, which is situated on the former site of Edo Castle in the centre of Tokyo, has been known by the names Kyj () and later Kkyo () since the middle of the nineteenth century (the current capital of Japan). In the past, the emperors spent almost eleven centuries living in Kyoto, the historic capital. A national holiday is celebrated on February 23, which is the Emperor's Birthday.

         There are two words in the Japanese language that are equal to the English word "emperor": tenn (, "heavenly sovereign"), which only refers to the emperor of Japan, and ktei (), which primarily refers to emperors who are not Japanese. Tenn solely refers to the emperor of Japan, whereas ktei includes all emperors. In Old Japanese, the phrase sumeramikoto ("the imperial person") was also used. Up to the Middle Ages, tenn was a term employed by emperors; it was then used once more starting in the 19th century.

          From 1200 to 1840, the title tenn was not used; instead, living emperors were referred to as shuj () and deceased ones as in (), due to the diminished influence of the emperors. Other names that were reportedly in use included tenshi (), which means "child of heaven," k (), tei (), and (), all of which imply "prince" or "emperor." 

          Formerly used (as in the 19th-century operetta The Mikado), the term mikado ( or ), literally meaning "the honourable gate" (i.e. the gate of the imperial palace, which indicates the person who lives in and possesses the palace; confer Sublime Porte, an old term for the Ottoman government), is now no longer in use.

          Calling someone by their given name, especially if they are a person of noble rank, was historically frowned upon by the Japanese. Even in this day and age, where using the family name is the more common form of address, it is still not advisable to address friends by their given names. It is thought to be utterly unacceptable to use the given name while referring to the imperial dynasty. It has been common since Emperor Meiji to have one era for each emperor and to rename each emperor using the name of the era he reigned over after his death. Before Emperor Meiji, the era names changed more frequently, and the emperors' posthumous names were chosen.