stories of the gods,—that is to say the Japanese traditions down to Jim-mu exclusive,—are either passed over in silence or dismissed in a few sentences, while the annals of the human sovereigns,—that is to say the Japanese traditions from Jim-mu inclusive,—are treated precisely as if the events therein related had happened yesterday, and were as incontrovertibly historical as latter statements, for which there is contemporary evidence. The same plan is pursued elsewhere in official publications. Thus, to take but one example among many, the Imperial Commissioners to the Vienna Exhibition, in their “Notice sur l'Empire du Japon,” tell us that “L’histoire de la dynastie impériale remonte très-haut. L’obscurité entoure ses débuts, vu l’absence de documents réguliers ou d’un calendrier parfait. Le premier Empereur de la dynastie présente, dont il reste des annales dignes de confiance, est Jin-mou-ten-nô[1] qui organisa un soulèvement dans la province de Hiuga, marcha à l’Est avec ses compagnons, fonda sa capitale dans la vallée de Kashi-hara dans le Yamato, et monta sur le trône comme Empereur. C’est de cet Empereur que descend, par une succession régulière, la présente famille régnante du Japon. C’est de l’année de l’avènement de Jin-mou-ten-nô que date l’ère japonaise (Année 1-660 avant Jésus-Christ.”)
As for the ère Japonaise mentioned by the commissioners, it maybe pertinent to observe that it was only introduced by an edict dated 15th Dec., 1872,[2] that is to say just a fortnight before the publication of their report. And this era, this accession, is confidently placed thirteen or fourteen centuries before the first history which records it was written, nine centuries before (at the earliest computation) the art of writing was introduced into the country, and on the sole authority of books teeming with miraculous legends!! Does such a proceeding need any comment after once being formulated in precise terms, and can any unprejudiced person continue to accept the early Japanese chronology and the first thousand years of the so-called history of Japan? ************
Leaving this discusion, let us now see whether any information
