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THE CHRYSANTHEMUM THRONE: A History of the Emperors of Japan. By Peter Martin. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 1997. xi, 175 pp. (B&W photos, maps, illus.) US$24.95, cloth. ISBN 0-8248-2029-0.
THIS is not a work for scholars, and if you are a professor, you cannot use it in your courses. The author knows that, and as such, will not mind if it is pointed out. In fact it is hard to tell for whom this book is meant. We used to speak of the general reader, but publishers now target their audiences more closely. Let us leave it to them.
The Chrysanthemum Throne is a brisk, accurate, mildly interesting survey of all the emperors of Japan. The author has no truck with Japanese myth, clearly labelling the first twelve emperors as Legendary, and listing the next thirteen as Prehistorical Emperors (All Dates Unreliable) (p. 159). He must necessarily discuss the mythical provenance of the imperial...