I have a question. I know that most imperial dynasties have a name. Tudor, Qing, Ming, Song, Bourbon, etc. Does the Japanese family have a name? I've heard Yamato, Mikado, Tenno, etc. But what is the official one?
Also - has the Japanese imperial line, historically, ever been broken in Japanese history? If not, what's the oldest emperor we know of that was not mythological?
They don't have a family name, because Japanese believe their emperor is the living god and descedant of Amaterasu omikami 窶弖ﾂ湘??佚･ﾅ津､ﾂ神. The god wouldn't have a human surname.
Japanese history was divided into "eras", rather than dynasties. Yamato 窶佚･ﾋ彗 was a period or era in Japanese history. It's characterized by two suberas, Kofun ﾅ津??｢ﾂｭ and Asuka 窶敕ｲ窶卍ｹ. You can look up related history on your own. Mikado ﾅ津､窶禿･ was a former title of Japanese emperor given by the Chinese Imperial Court, because Chinese didn't allow other countries to have emperors. Even though Mikado served as the emperor of Japan anyway. Tenno 窶弖ﾂ皇 is the current name of Japanese Emperor.
If not, what's the oldest emperor we know of that was not mythological?
According to Japanese accounts, they believe Jimmu ﾂ神窶｢ﾂ絶?弖ﾂ皇 was the first emperor. However, before 600 A.D., Japanese did not have a writing system, therefore most of their stories were based on mythology. However, in China, the first "leader" of Japan appeared on Chinese records between 178 A.D. to 248 A.D. (approximately), whose name was Himiko 窶敕塲貼ﾅ津? an empress rather. Her country, Yamatai ﾅｽﾃ冷?拵ﾃ､i was officially recognized by the Wei Chinese ﾃｩﾂｰ窶卍ｩ government as the sole authority in Japan. Himko was bestowed the title of "Pro-Wei Lord of Japan" ﾂ親ﾃｩﾂｰﾋ彖窶ｰﾂ､, and she regularly sent ambassadors ﾅ陳ｭﾃｩﾂｰﾅｽgto China.
Japanese scholars suspected she was actually Empress Jingu ﾂ神ﾅ津ｷﾂ皇ﾂ后, the regent of the 15th Emperor Ojin ﾅ禿､ﾂ神窶弖ﾂ皇. As I said before, all 14 emperors prior to them remain legendary. However, after Himiko died, Japan fell into disrupt and lost contact with China. Therefore the Chinese court was not able to record Japan's history afterward, until they resumed their relationship in Yamato period.
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