Emperor Kinmei

Emperor Kinmei ruled at the Yamato court in the middle of the sixth century and died in 571. The Nihon shoki, a royal chronicle completed in 720, identifies him as a son of Emperor Keitai and places his court at Shikishima in present-day Nara. Senior ministers included Soga no Iname and Mononobe no Okoshi. Through several consorts, Kinmei became the father of subsequent rulers, including Bidatsu, Yōmei, Suiko and Sushun. [S01]

His reign brought continuing exchanges with Baekje and other Korean kingdoms. The chronicle records requests for military assistance and the movement of people learned in medicine, calendars and divination. It also describes Kinmei receiving a Buddhist image and scriptures from King Seong of Baekje. After consulting his ministers, he permitted Iname to undertake the worship. When an epidemic followed, opponents attributed it to offended native deities; Kinmei authorized the destruction of the temple and disposal of the image. These explanations are the chronicle's account of religious conflict. [S01]

The royal transmission is traditionally dated either 538 or 552. Neither date makes the reception a single completed conversion of court and country. Kinmei's government continued to negotiate both Korean affairs and the place of Buddhist worship among powerful households. After his death, Bidatsu took the throne, while the ministerial rivalry and religious disputes continued into the next generation. [S01, S02, S03]