Emperor Suinin

was the 11th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō), 孝安天皇 (11); retrieved 2011-10-19. according to the traditional order of succession.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 9-10; Brown, Delmer M. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 253-254 ; Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 95-96; Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002).  "Traditional order of Tennō" in Japan encyclopedia, pp. 962-963.  Historians consider Emperor Suinin to be a legendary person;Kelly, Charles F.  "Kofun Culture,"  Japanese Archaeology. April 27, 2009; retrieved 2011-10-19. and the name Suinin-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 Suinin he ruled from the palace of Tamaki-no-miya at Makimuku in what will come to be known as Yamato province.Brown, p. 253.

Traditional history
Suinin is almost certainly a legend; but the Kojiki and Nihonshoki record his name and genealogy. He was the third son of Emperor Sujin.

Events of Suinin's life
The limited information about Suinin 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. 

One of Suinin's daughters was Yamatohime-no-mikoto. She established a site for  ceremonies honouring the Shinto sun goddess (Amaterasu Omikami).Ponsonby-Fane, Imperial House, p. 32. In the region of Ise, she founded the Ise Shrine.Brown, p. 253. She became the first Saiō at Ise.

The records of Asama Shrine at the base of Mount Fuji describe events in this time frame. The earliest Shinto ceremonies in honour of Konohanasakuya-hime were in the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Suinin (垂仁天皇3年).Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962).  Studies in Shinto and Shrines, p.458.

Nihonshoki describes a wrestling match during his era. This was the origin of Sumo wrestling.Aston, William. (1998). Nihongi, Vol. 1, pp. 167-187.

 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 Suinin.Aston, pp. 147-148. 

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 

 Other websites

Ise Shrine - Naiku, official website 

Category:Emperors of Japan