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Japanese Imperial Transition 2019

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Japan Watch Project Analyst

 

Japan is preparing for a rare event this year as Emperor Akihito will relinquish the throne to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito. The Crown Prince will become the 126th occupant of the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1, a day after the resignation of the Emperor Akihito. This imperial transition will mark the end of Heisei era, introduced in 1989, and it is considered as a special case for Japan because, first, Japan is the only country in the world where there is an Emperor (although the nation is now under a democracy system), and second, it would be the first case of Japan’s Emperor, after 200 years during the reign of Emperor Kokaku in 1817, to relinquish his throne while alive.

The Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous monarchy in the world. According to mythology, Japan’s first Emperor Jimmu (about 650 BC) is believed to be a descendant of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. The Japan’s Emperors have all descended from the same family and have reigned over Japan for more than 1500 years. For the Japanese people, Emperor is sacred as an element of divinity attached to it. Back to the past, under the Meiji Constitution, Emperor also hold sovereign power to control politics and military, theoretically close to absolute and made the position of Emperor life-time tenure. However, in the Post-War Constitution of 1946, it is stated that the Emperor has only a symbolic function with no political power. In Japan’s present day, as mentioned also in the Japanese Constitution, the Emperor is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people, while sovereign power rests with the people who elect their representatives to run the government and rule the country.

According to the Japanese Constitution, the passing throne of the Imperial House must be dynastic and succeeded in accordance with the Imperial House Law. Currently, the 1947 Imperial House Law governs the line of imperial succession, the membership, and other administration of the Japanese Imperial Family. Under this law, death is the only means to dynastic succession for the Imperial Family because it lacks a provision for abdication. If the Japanese Emperor wished to abdicate, a change in law would be necessary before abdication could happen. This situation has presented an immediate concern from the government to seek consensus over legislation for the Emperor’s abdication, followed by the preparation for the naming of the New Era for the new Emperor.

The succession scenario has been in news as Emperor Akihito announced his will to abdicate from his throne since he had lost confidence in his capacity to serve as a symbol of national unity and carry the national duties due to his concerns over his health. Although the message is respected, his decision has created domestic debate to rethink about the tradition. The Emperor’s abdication will be the first time in modern Japan’s history and the controversy lays in the heart of questions on whether to create a special measures law to enable abdication only for the current Emperor Akihito or to institutionalize abdication by amending the Imperial House Law. Also, in what circumstances would the abdication be enabled, and what his post-abdication position should be? 

In March 2017, the Diet, Japan’s Parliament, decided on a bill allowing the Emperor to pass the throne to the Crown Prince upon the concern of the Emperor’s message to step down due to his advanced age that may interfere his public duties. The law then approved by almost all major parties of the Cabinet in May, and enacted in June. By December, the experts had agreed in principal on a one-time, single-used law allowing for the Emperor Akihito’s abdication. Upon this special abdication law, the former Emperor shall assume the name of “joko” and his wife will be “jokogo”, while he will be addressed as Emperor Emeritus, his wife, Empress Michiko, will be addressed Empress Emerita respectively. However, the former Emperor will still retain his Imperial status and still be referred to as “heika”, or His Majesty. It is also signaled that the former Emperor will hand over all duties to the new Emperor, including the attention of the succession ceremony.

The abdication of Emperor Akihito will put an end to the current Heisei era, introduced in 1989, following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito that brought the Showa era (1926-1989) to Japan. To identify a year, Japan has a unique practice of “gengo”, the Japanese term for an era name. “Gengo” has no year zero, so for example, when Emperor Akihito’s reign began in 1989, it was called Heisei 1 (平成元年 / Heisei gannen) by the Japanese. Therefore, today is Heisei 31, following the counting years of Emperor Akihito’s reign, and this “gengo” is featured on newspaper, government documents, commercial calendars, and important records, such as ID and driving license cards, bank books, and so on. The government might already prepare for the name of the New Era to mark the succession of the new Emperor. This practice will remarkably affect all sectors in the society widely, however, the announcement is yet to come.

As the succession ceremony of the new Emperor will be the most important event for the Japanese in 2019, the government has approved the basic plan for staging 3 elements to the process of Imperial succession rites with a ministerial-level preparation committee to be headed by Prime Minister Abe. The series of the ceremonies, stipulates the examples of the rituals for Emperor Akihito in 1989, is planned to be held on April 30 to May 1 with the prime minister  delivering an address as the representative of the people of Japan on the abdication day. Preceding the event, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will report the abdication in Nara Prefecture Mausoleum of Emperor Jimmu, Japan’s legendary first Emperor on March 26. The first event will be started on April 30 with the Emperor Akihito abdicating his Chrysanthemum Throne by handing over the power, including the sword “Kusanagi” and the jewel
“Yasakani-no-Magatami”, and offering report at sanctuaries within the Tokyo Palace. By this time, his relinquishment will be ended by delivering a speech of his abdication at the Imperial Palace. Then, in the following day, his elder son will be acceding the throne, and after being announced as the new Emperor, he will meet representatives of the people.

 The first ceremony for the new Emperor will be “Kenji-to-Shokei-no-Gi” ceremony, a ritual to prove the accession to the throne as mentioned in the Imperial House Economy Law, Article 7. This ceremony is rooted in ancient Japanese mythology, during which an Imperial Household Agency chamberlain places the ceremonial sword and “Magatama” (comma-shaped beads) before the new Emperor as proof of accession to the throne at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. This ceremony will be only attended by adult males of the Imperial Family as is the custom. At the final ceremony, “Sokui-go-Choken-no-Gi”, the new Emperor will have his first audience after the accession with the Heads of the Legislative Houses, Executive, and Judiciary and other Representatives of the people. Following the ascendance to the throne, the new Emperor will have public greeting from commoners on May 4, earlier than its plan which future Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita will not attend.

Aside from the state occasions for both the abdication and enthronement ceremonies, the Imperial Household Agency will also hold the “Daijosai” ceremony (Grand Thanksgiving for followers of Shinto religion) as part of the imperial event. However, the government has approved to allocate a budget of 1.87 billion Yen, drafted in its fiscal year 2019, to fund this ritual. Under the Tokyokurei decree issued during the Meiji era, the enthronement ceremony and the “Daijosai” is supposed to be conducted once in succession during the fall-winter period. Since the reign of Emperor Taisho (1912 – 1926), the ceremony has been conducted in November. According to the Imperial Household Agency, the content for “Daijosai” in 2019 will remain unchanged, in which the new Emperor will offer new rice to the Imperial Ancestor and to the Tenjin Chigi (the deities of Heaven and Earth) for the first time with a prayer hoping for an abundant harvest.

Although this ritual is one of the most important for the new Emperor and in the Shinto religion, some critics spark from the viewpoint of Constitution. First, it is argued that the spending funds from public purse on “Daijosai”, which is highly religious in content, will violate the principle of the separation of religion and government as mandated by the Constitution. Second, the rite is considered to bestow a heavenly status to the Emperor as a living god, anticipated the Emperor for being used again for military or political purposes. Another debate also raises for the “Daijokyu”, a palace built just for “Daijosai”, as it will be demolished after the ceremony, disposing many of the materials for the structure.

Similar critics have actually devoted to the “Daijosai” ceremony performed by Emperor Akihito in 1989. During that period, the chief Cabinet secretary defended the rituals by saying that it was legitimate to utilize public funds for the rites as the public was very interested in the ceremony. Moreover, as nationalists defended, it was argued that for an Emperor to establish his authority, He must go through “Daijosai”. Learning from the past criticism, Abe administration has the time to consider all the angles of the criticism. Apparently, Prime Minister Abe, known to pay excessive attention to more conservative elements, is sticking to past precedent as the baseline for its planning

 

References:

Journal Articles:

Koichi, M. (1979). The Emperor of Japan: A Historical Study in Religious Symbolism. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 6(4), 552-565.

Tanaka, N. (2006). The Imperial Succession and Japanese Democracy: Citizens Court Challenge Denied. The Asia-Pacific Journal, 4(2), 2-5.

Tierney, E.O. (1991). The Emperor of Japan as Deity (Kami). University of Pittsburgh- Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, 30(3), 199-215.

 

 

Newspapers:

Akihito performs his solitary rite (1990, November 23), The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/23/world/akihito-performs-his-solitary-rite.html.

At palace in Tokyo, Emperor Akihito starts series of succession rites ahead of abdication (2019, March 21), The Japan Times. Retrieved from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/12/national/palace-tokyo-emperor-akihito-starts-series-succession-rites-ahead-april-30-abdication/#.XJukpj4xWyU.

Costs for key Daijosai Imperial ceremony to total ¥2.7 billion (2018, December 21), The Japan Times. Retrieved from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/12/21/national/costs-key-daijosai-imperial-ceremony-total-%C2%A52-7-billion/#.XJzpeJgzbIU.

Female Imperial family members to be barred from key succession rite in line with Japanese law (2019, January 17). Retrieved from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/01/17/national/female-imperial-family-members-barred-key-succession-rite-line-japanese-law/#.XJuTmpgzbIU.

Imperial Household Agency to Scale down ritual for Crown Prince’s enthronement (2018, December 20), The Mainichi. Retrieved from: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20181220/p2a/00m/0na/013000c.

Imperial Succession plan lined up by Japanese government (2019, January 19), Royal Central. Retrieved from: http://royalcentral.co.uk/international/japan/imperial-succession-plan-lined-up-by-japanese-government-114450.

Inside the Niinamesai: The Emperor’s most difficult ritual (2017, November 25), Japan Forward. Retrieved from: https://japan-forward.com/inside-the-niinamesai-the-emperors-most-difficult-ritual/.

It’s not an issue: National Treasury should pay for Japan’s Imperial ‘Daijosai’ rirual (2018, December 5), Japan Forward. Retrieved from: http://japan-forward.com/editorial-its-not-an-issue-national-treasury-should-pay-for-japans-imperial-daijosai-rituals/.

Japanese group sues over emperor’s enthronement funding (2018, December 10), The Jakarta Post. Retrieved from: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/12/10/japanese-group-sues-over-emperors-enthronement-funding.html.

Japanese Wary of debate over Imperial Rite (1990, June 28), The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from: https://www.csmonitor.com/1990/0628/oking.html.

Public will be invited to greet Japan’s new Imperial Couple on May, earlier than planned (2019, March 4), The Japan Times. Retrieved from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/04/national/public-will-invited-greet-japans-new-imperial-couple-may-4-earlier-planned/#.XJuk3D4xWyU.

 

Website:

http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/seido/sokui-01.html

 

          

Photo: EUGENE HOSHIKO/ASSOCIATED PRESS https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-new-emperor-ascends-in-a-changing-japan-11556208771

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