one of Japan's religious traditions. Traditionally, emperors were seen as descended from Shinto gods. The first emperor was Emperor Jimmu, who is said to have begun his reign and built an empire ...

Unwrap the mystery of Japan ... s history), Jimmu, the descendent of sun goddess Amaterasu, descended from the heavens to launch a war to become the nation’s first emperor.

He had his first chance to show what he meant when a volcano erupted in southwestern Japan in 1991. The imperial couple visited an evacuation center and knelt next to the victims. Emperor Akihito ...