Hello, the episode you're about to listen to is part of a multi-part series introducing an overview

of Japanese history.

This is a repeat of one of the original projects the History of Japan podcast was built on,

and is intended to serve as an update and supplement to these original works.

After 10 years, my hope is to return to this approach and to do it a little bit better,

given the skills that I have improved in the intervening years.

If you haven't been doing so already, you should listen to these episodes sequentially,

starting with episode 501.

Without any further ado, enjoy the episode.

Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, Episode 502, The Age of Myth and Legend.

Today, the imperial family of Japan is one of the most visible symbols of the nation.

Indeed, that is written into the modern constitution of Japan itself, article one of which states that, quote, the emperor shall be the

symbol of the state and of the unity of the people. In the preceding imperial era, spanning the time

from the downfall of feudalism to the end of the Second World War,

the emperor played an even more prominent role politically as the legitimating symbol of the

entire social and political order, in whose name Japan's empire was being both built at home

and one on the battlefield.

Even in previous periods of samurai dominance when the emperor was little more than a figurehead,

the throne maintained something of an aura of antiquated mystery.

Indeed, this was partially why, growing numbers of Japanese nationalists at the time,

began to speculate the imperial throne represented the most important part of Japan's cultural

inheritance, a divine link between this world and the realm of the gods.

...