It was morning in the land of the gods. "The mountains and the waters serve our sovereign," wrote a seventh-century poet. "And she (Empress Jito), a goddess, is out on her pleasure-barge upon the foaming rapids."

Lovely times those must have been. If only they could have lasted. But morning dew evaporates, children grow up, nations shed their divinity and "our sovereign" commands "the mountains and the waters," if at all, in vain.

Japan's monarchy claims the oldest royal lineage in the world. The reigning Emperor is, theoretically and maybe even historically, Empress Jito's descendant. So tangible a link to so remote a past is no doubt a factor in a deeply conservative strain in the national character.