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The Japanese Emperor
There have been 125 emperors in Japan, including those who apparently belonged to a myth rather than real history. The incumbent Emperor is the 125th emperor.
But, the title of the Japanese emperor, "Ten-no" in Japanese, had not been used till the 40th emperor Ten-mu.
Emperor Tenmu (631 – 686) was the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Tenmu's reign lasted from 672 until his death in 686.Before Ten-mu, the title great king (”oh-kimi" or literally "dai-oh") had been used. The background against this drastic change is a little complicated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Tenmu
First of all, Japanese elites knew at the time that China used the title emperor ("ko-tei" in Japanese). And under the Chinese emperor there were some kings in China. Monarchs of tributaries to China were also called kings. But Japanese rulers before the era of Ten-mu had avoided simply using the title king but had called themselves great king each, since Japan was not under direct authority of the Chinese emperor. And then, when Ten-mu changed this title, he did not interestingly adopt the title ko-tei for himself, though he introduced the new expression ten-no for the same meaning as ko-tei.
Today, Japan uses the English word emperor for ten-no, while they use the same word emperor to express the Chinese emperors of the past as well as other imperial monarchs in other countries of the past, including Roman emperors. And, they call all the other emperors, except Japanese ones, ko-tei in Japanese.
For Japan: Emperor = Ten-no
For other empires: Emperor = Ko-tei
The point at issue is that when Ten-mu abolished the title of the ruler of Japan, oh-kimi (great king), he didn't dare to adopt the same expression as the Chinese emperor. But he used the kanji expression "ten-no" (ten means heaven) though giving the same meaning as ko-tei (emperor). He carefully made a distinction between the Japanese imperial ruler and the Chinese one.
In the seventh century, China was a super power in Asia, though it did not occupy any part of Japan. There were no other countries in Asia that could put themselves at the same position as imperial China. The Chinese imperial court called monarchs of those countries using the title kings or the likes. For the Chinese imperial court, China was the most advanced country; China was the center of civilization; and no kingdoms could be allowed to stand on a par with China. Under the heaven, there was only one emperor, who was the Chinese emperor. This was the Chinese idea and philosophy.
(China knew the existence of the Roman Empire. Chinese at the time must have known that there was emperor in the Roman Empire. But Rome was too far. Their military would never face the Chinese imperial military. Accordingly, Chinese didn't care about the Roman emperor. However, they probably called it the Roman king.)
Nonetheless, the Japanese ruler Ten-mu adopted the new title ten-no. And, it was accepted by the Chinese imperial court, since Japan was not included in countries which brought tribute to the Chinese emperor. Japan had and has never been officially subject to China. The Chinese emperor was not in a position to tell a Japanese ruler what title he had to adopt.
However, it is true that Japan imported many cultural products from China, including kanji letters, Confucianism, Buddhism, etc. The Japanese imperial court sent official envoys to China from 600 to 894 to learn the advanced Chinese culture, paying full respect to the Chinese emperor, though it was different from paying tribute. Though there might have been various communications between private sectors of the two countries even in those years, voyages from Japan to China over the East China Sea could not be easy due to typhoons and rough winter weather. It seems that only the Japanese imperial court could build and send ships that could safely sail across the sea. (Traveling through the Korean Peninsula to the Chinese capital must have been more dangerous due to some complicated relationships between Japan and Korea at the time. Korea was a tributary to China in most periods of history.)
Since the beginning of history, Chinese troops never occupied any part of Japan. And, Japan has never been a country that brought tribute to China. But, the imperial court of Japan or the ruler Ten-mu carefully avoided using the same kanji expression as that used to indicate the Chinese emperor. So, Ten-mu called himself ten-no while calling the Chinese emperor ko-tei, with an implication of an emperor for both.
But why did it take 40 monarchs for Japan to adopt the title ten-no (emperor)? Why did the 40th Great King of Japan Ten-mu suddenly change his official title to emperor?
There are various theories about it. But, there were no records about this drastic change. Ten-mu himself, in addition to any scholars, bureaucrats, and noblemen of the Japanese imperial court, wrote the background. This is one of mysteries in the Japanese history.
I will later discuss this issue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Tenmu
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Gen 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
Gen 5:4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.