Editing Nihon Shoki (section)

==Exaggeration of reign lengths==
Most scholars agree that the purported founding date of Japan (660 BCE) and the earliest emperors of Japan are mythical.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wrc6rzKkbgcC&dq=Kigensetsu&pg=PA555 Rimmer, Thomas ''et al.'' (2005). ''The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature''], p. 555 n1.</ref>{{failed verification|sate=February 2015|date=February 2015}}<!-- The exact wording of Note 1 is "Empire Founding Day (Kigensetsu), February 11, was established in 1872 as the anniversary of the legendary Emperor Jinmu's accession to the throne in 660 B.C., which is said to have marked the beginning of the Japanese nation. After the Pacific War, it was abolished and then, in 1966, reinstated as Nation Founding Day (Kenkoku kinen no hi)." -- How anyone could read this as supporting the material in this sentence I don't know. --> This does not necessarily imply that the persons referred to did not exist, merely that there is insufficient material available for further verification and study.<ref name="kelly">Kelly, Charles F. [http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/kofun.html  "Kofun Culture,"] [http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/index.htm  Japanese Archaeology.] April 27, 2009.</ref> Dates in the {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} before the late 7th century were likely recorded using the [[Genka calendar]] system.<ref>Barnes, Gina Lee. (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=GLAo-bLJw4EC&dq=genka+reki&pg=PA226  ''State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite,'' p. 226 n.5].</ref>

For those monarchs, and also for the Emperors [[Emperor Ōjin|Ōjin]] and [[Emperor Nintoku|Nintoku]], the lengths of reign are likely to have been exaggerated in order to make the origins of the imperial family sufficiently ancient to satisfy numerological expectations. It is widely believed that the [[Epoch (reference date)|epoch]] of 660 BCE was chosen because it is a "xīn-yǒu" year in the [[sexagenary cycle]], which according to [[Taoist]] beliefs was an appropriate year for a revolution to take place. As Taoist theory also groups together 21 sexagenary cycles into one unit of time, it is assumed that the compilers of {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} assigned the year 601 (a "xīn-yǒu" year in which Prince Shotoku's reformation took place) as a "modern revolution" year, and consequently recorded 660 BCE, 1260 years prior to that year, as the founding epoch.

===''Kesshi Hachidai''===
For the eight emperors of Chapter 4, only the years of birth and reign, year of naming as Crown Prince, names of consorts, and locations of tomb are recorded. They are called the ''Kesshi Hachidai'' ("{{lang|ja-Hani|欠史八代}}, "eight generations lacking history") because no legends (or a few, as quoted in ''[[Nihon Ōdai Ichiran]]''{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}) are associated with them. Some{{which|date=February 2015}} studies support the view that these emperors were invented to push Jimmu's reign further back to the year 660 BCE. {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} itself somewhat elevates the "tenth" [[emperor Sujin]], recording that he was called the ''Hatsu-Kuni-Shirasu'' ("{{lang|ja-Hani|御肇国}}: first nation-ruling) emperor.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oEfAAAAYAAJ |title=Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |date=1896 |publisher=Society |isbn=978-0-524-05347-8 |language=en}}</ref>