No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 480 to 484.[10]
Protohistoric narrative
The Japanese have traditionally accepted this sovereign's historical existence, and a mausoleum (misasagi) for Seinei is currently maintained. The following information available is taken from the pseudo-historicalKojiki and Nihon Shoki, which are collectively known as Kiki (記紀) or Japanese chronicles. These chronicles include legends and myths, as well as potential historical facts that have since been exaggerated and/or distorted over time. It is recorded in the Kiki that Seinei was born to Katsuragi no Karahime (葛城韓媛) sometime in 444 AD, and was given the name Shiraka (白髪皇子).[3]
According to Kojiki and Nihonshoki, he was a son of Emperor Yūryaku and his consort Katsuragi no Karahime. Seinei's full sister was Princess Takuhatahime. His name in birth was Shiraka (白髪皇子). It is said that the color of his hair was white since birth.[12] After the death of his father, Seinei won the fight against Prince Hoshikawa, his brother, for the throne and so succeeded his father.
Seinei fathered no children; however, two grandsons of the 17th Emperor, Emperor Richū, were found—later to ascend as Prince Woke and Prince Oke. Seinei adopted them as his heirs.[13]
Historical assessment
Seinei was a 5th-century monarch.[14] The reign of Emperor Kinmei (c. 509 – 571 AD), the 29th emperor,[15] is the first for which contemporary historiography is able to assign verifiable dates;[16] however, the conventionally accepted names and dates of the early emperors were not to be confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of Emperor Kanmu (737–806), the 50th sovereign of the imperial dynasty.[17]
Seinei's contemporary title would not have been tennō, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. Rather, it was presumably Sumeramikoto or Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi (治天下大王), meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven". Alternatively, Seinei might have been referred to as ヤマト大王/大君 or the "Great King of Yamato".
The actual site of Seinei's grave is not known.[8] The emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorialShintoshrine (misasagi) at Osaka.
^Hoye, Timothy. (1999). Japanese Politics: Fixed and Floating Worlds, p. 78; excerpt, "According to legend, the first Japanese Emperor was Jinmu. Along with the next 13 Emperors, Jinmu is not considered an actual, historical figure. Historically verifiable Emperors of Japan date from the early sixth century with Kinmei.
Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai (1969). The Manyōshū: The Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai Translation of One Thousand Poems. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN0-231-08620-2
