Talk:List of Emperors of Japan
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I renamed the title to List of Emperors of Japan. I mean why was the title changed in the first place? -- Taku
What does it mean to say "(in Japan only the wife of an Emperor is called an Empress)", as per User:Sheridan's edit? "Emperor" and "Empress" are, after all, English words. Is there some commonly accepted English-language standard specific to Japan? - Nat Krause 10:36, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- I think what it is trying to express is this: the ruler of Japan, whether male or female, is called tenno. The word that is rendered as "empress" in English (kogo), means the wife of an emperor, not a female ruler, or at least it has since 1889. The people on this list were all tenno — emperor — and we should not refer to the women among them as "empress". (That's my interpretation, not my opinion.)
- So someone, perhaps wishing to be correct by avoiding the word "empress", has written "female Emperors" instead, and someone else has come along and tried to clarify the point. Me, I'd rather dodge the point and say "Women are in italics," or "Names in italics are women who ruled in their own right." While technically correct, I'm afraid the phrase "female emperors", if kept in the article, will attract corrections until doomsday. SRH 05:05, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- I had forgotten about it for a while, but I went ahead an changed it in a neutral manner. Personally, I feel that the expression "female emperor" is an abuse of the English language. "Empress" has two distinct meanings: one is "the Emperor's wife", but the other is "the female ruler of an empire". Not everyone agrees with me on this point, though. - Nat Krause 00:33, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- Empress regnant / Empress consort Joestynes 09:32, 27 May 2005 (UTC)
I understand that some of the first emperors are considered mythical/legendary, and that no firm years of reign could be assigned. Shouldn't this be noted in this list?