According to legend, Japan's first emperor, Jimmu Tenno (jimmu means "divine warrior" and tenno means "heavenly") ascended the throne in 660 B.C. Traditionally the emperor was considered a divine entity and it is also loosely believed that the reigning emperor is a direct descendant of Jimmu Tenno. The word tenno itself is the Japanese word for emperor.

Despite the fact that the emperor was treated as a living god, for the most part throughout Japan's long history, the rulers of the land were the nobility and military dictators. Each of these governments based its authority to rule the land on the commendation of the emperor at the time. Prior to 1945 it was not permitted to gaze directly upon the emperor and anyone in his presence was required to prostrate themselves on the ground. After a democratic government was established in 1946, the emperor was no longer regarded as a deity however the people of Japan continue to respect and honor him and his royal family.

Under the constitution, the emperor is the symbol of the nation and although he has no governmental powers, he participates by appointing the prime minister and the chief justice of the Supreme Court as designated by the Diet, by convoking the Diet, and by performing on behalf of the people such duties as promulgating laws and treaties and awarding honors all on the advice of the Diet.

Today, the reigning emperor is Emperor Akihito who acceded to the throne on January 7, 1989 upon the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito. In April of 1959, then Crown Prince Akihito married a commoner, Michiko Shoda, the eldest daughter of the president of a large flour manufacturing company. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko have three children: Crown Prince Naruhito, Prince Fumihito and Princess Sayako. Crown Prince Naruhito studied at Oxford University and in June of 1993 married Masako Owada, the eldest daughter of an administrative vice-minister for foreign affairs and herself a member of the diplomatic corps from which she retired upon her engagement to the Crown Prince. On December 1st, Crown Princess Masako, gave birth to a baby girl who was named Aiko one week later in an official ceremony called, Meimei-no-Gi.

While Japanese today use the Gregorian calendar as we do in the west, they also continue to identify years based on the reign of each of Japan's emperors. This calendar is called nengo. In other words, every time a new emperor begins his reign, that reign is given a name and the years are counted beginning with the number one. The current reign of Emperor Akihito is called Heisei and since he acceded to the throne in 1989, the year 1990 is also called, Heisei 1.