 He succeeded his half-brother, Emperor Yōmei in 587, and lived in the Kurahashi Palace (Kurahashi no Miya) in Yamato.Sushun's contemporary title would not have been "tennō", as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō.Rather, it was presumably , meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven".