Emperor Kōan

was the 6th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō), 孝安天皇 (6); retrieved 2011-10-19. according to the traditional order of succession.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).  Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 5; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p.252; Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 90; Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric et al. (2002).  "Traditional order of Tennō" in Japan encyclopedia, pp. 962-963.  Historians consider Emperor Kōan to be a legendary person;Kelly, Charles F.  "Kofun Culture,"  Japanese Archaeology. April 27, 2009; retrieved 2011-10-19. and the name Kōan-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 ruled from the palace of Akitsushima-no-miya at Muro in what will come to be known as Yamato province.Brown, p. 251; Varley, p. 90. 

Traditional history
Kōan is almost certainly a legend. The Kojiki records only his name and genealogy. The  Nihonshoki includes Kōan as the fifth of .Aston, pp. 145-146.

Emperor Kōan was the second son of Emperor Kōshō.  Jinnō Shōtōki records that his mother was Yosotarashi-no-hime, who was the daughter of Okitsuyoso, and ancestress of the Owari.Varley, p. 90.

Events of Kōan's life
The absence of information about Kōan 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. 

 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 Kōan.Aston, pp. 145-146. 

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