Why did European explorers translate the titles of the rulers of China and Japan as "emperor" but translate titles of the rulers of other East Asian countries as "King"?

by gav1230

Also, I remember reading that European explorers compared the relationship between the shogun and the emperor of Japan as analogous to the pope and the holy roman emperor, with the pop being similar to the Japanese emperor and the shogun being similar to the HRE. If that's true, then why not translate shogun as emperor?

Searocksandtrees