Emperor Kōrei

was the 7th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō), 孝霊天皇 (7); retrieved 2011-10-19. according to the traditional order of succession.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 5-6; Brown, Delmer. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 252; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 90-92; Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002).  "Traditional order of Tennō" in Japan encyclopedia, pp. 962-963. Historians consider Emperor Kōrei to be a legendary person;Kelly, Charles F.  "Kofun Culture,"  Japanese Archaeology. April 27, 2009; retrieved 2011-10-19. and the name Kōrei-tennō was created for him posthumously by later generations. 

No certain dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 30.  The conventionally accepted names and sequence of the early emperors were not to be confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of Emperor Kammu, who was the 50th monarch of the Yamato dynasty.Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi, pp. 109. 

The Gukanshō records that Kōrei ruled from the palace of Ihoto-no-miya at Kuroda in what will come to be known as Yamato province.Brown, p. 252; Varley, p. 90. 

Traditional history
Kōrei is almost certainly a legend. The Kojiki records only his name and genealogy. The  Nihonshoki includes Kōrei as the sixth of .Aston, pp. 146-147.

Kōrei was the eldest son of Emperor Kōan.  Jinnō Shōtōki records that his mother was Oshihime, who was the daughter of Ametarashihiko-Kunio-shihito-no-mikoto.Varley, p. 90.

Some scholars question the existence of the first nine emperors. These critics consider Kōrei's great-grandson (Emperor Sujin) to be the earliest to have actually existed."Life in the Cloudy Imperial Fishbowl," Japan Times. March 27, 2007; retrieved 2011-10-19.

Events of Kōrei's life
The absence of information about Kōrei does not imply that no such person ever existed. Very little information is available for study prior to the reign of the 29th monarch, Emperor Kimmei.Titsingh, pp. 34-36; Brown, pp. 261-262; Varley, pp. 123-124. 

The Kojiki notes that it was during Kōrei's reign that Kibi Province was conquered.Chamberlain, Basil Hall. (1919). The Kojiki, p. 196.

 After his death 
This emperor's official name after his death (his posthumous name) was regularized many centuries after the lifetime which was ascribed to Kōrei.Aston, pp. 146-147. 

The actual site of his grave is not known.  According to the Imperial Household Agency, this emperor is venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara.

Related pages
 Emperor of Japan
 List of emperors of Japan
 Japanese imperial family tree

 References 

Category:Emperors of Japan