It was morning in the land of the gods. ¡°The mountains and the waters serve our sovereign,¡± wrote a seventh-century poet. ¡°And she (Empress Jito), a goddess, is out on her pleasure-barge upon the foaming rapids.¡±
Lovely times those must have been. If only they could have lasted. But morning dew evaporates, children grow up, nations shed their divinity and ¡°our sovereign¡± commands ¡°the mountains and the waters,¡± if at all, in vain.
Japan¡¯s monarchy claims the oldest royal lineage in the world. The reigning Emperor is, theoretically and maybe even historically, Empress Jito¡¯s descendant. So tangible a link to so remote a past is no doubt a factor in a deeply conservative strain in the national character.
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