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 The Japanese Imperial
family is the oldest hereditary monarchy
in the world. The family's lineage dates back to the sixth century
BC, though the title of Tenno (emperor) or Sumera-Mikoto (heavenly
sovereign) was assumed by rulers in the sixth or seventh
century and has been used since. The family crest (above) is the
kiku, or chrysanthemum.
The role of the Emperor (and occasionally the Empress - there
have been 8 to date) has varied in importance. Considered a divine
being until the end of World War II, the postwar Constitution
made him the "Symbol of the state". He plays a largely ceremonial
part in the life of the nation.
Origins and early history
According to the historical chronicles of ancient Japan, the Kojiki
(Record of Ancient Matters, AD712) and the Nihon Shoki (Chronicle
of Japan, AD720), the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami presented the
sanshu no jingi or Imperial Regalia to her grandson, Ninigi no
Mikoto. He in turn passed them on to his descendants, the emperors,
the first of whom was Emperor Jimmu. The regalia, a mirror, a sword and a curved jewel are symbols
of the legitimacy and authority of the emperor. These creation
myths also form the foundations of the indigenous Shinto faith.
The emperor was thought to possess magical powers and to converse
with the gods. It was therefore considered beneath him to become
involved in the day-to-day running of the country. This was left
to ministers and advisors. An exception was the period between
the 7th and 8th centuries during which several emperors tried
to bring the regional clans under central Imperial control. The
first emperor to establish such direct imperial rule, modelled
after the Chinese Tang dynasty, was Emperor Tenji who ruled
between 661 and 672. Later during the Nara Period
(710~794) Prince Shotoku, son of the Empress Suiko,
created Japan's first constitution and established Buddhism
as the country's dominant religion.
At the beginning of the Heian Period
(794~1185), Emperor Kammu established a new capital in Kyoto,
a city designed based on the Chinese capital. A combination
of efforts to free the emperor from the web of entrenched bureaucracy
and the court's increasing preoccupation with the pursuit of the
arts and literature led to a situation where the real power was
held by those occupying the posts of regent, for emperors not
yet of age, and chief advisor. These posts were dominated by the
Fujiwara and later the Taira families. While making no claim to the emperor's title or ritual
role, the clans basically ruled in his name for several centuries.
Except for a period during the 14th century when the Emperor Godaigo
briefly restored imperial rule, for almost the next 700 years,
Japan was ruled by a succession of Shoguns, or military leaders.
It wasn't until Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun of the
recently reunited Japan at the beginning of the Edo
Period (1600~1868) that the imperial institution regained some of its
former glory, if not its power. While the Tokugawa's ruled from
Edo (now Tokyo), the imperial court was in Kyoto and performed duties
that, while important to the shogunate, were mostly religious
rituals.
Early modern period
During the Edo Period, a time of great cultural advancement but
also of almost total isolation, a school of intellectuals known
as kinno-ha, or imperial loyalists, developed their concept of
Japanese identity with the emperor at its symbolic center. Faced
with foreign pressure to 'open up' the country to foreign trade
and diplomacy following the arrival of US Commodore Matthew C.
Perry's 'Black Ships' in 1853, this concept was adopted as a rallying
cry to defenders from the foreign threat. By 1868, they had succeeded
in toppling the Tokugawa shogunate and establishing a new national
government under direct imperial rule - the Meiji
Restoration (analogies to this period of revolutionary change are often made by today's radical politicians).
The Meiji leaders spent the next twenty years experimenting with
the imperial system before creating the Constitution of the Empire
of Japan in 1889. The emperor was 'sacred and inviolable' and
sovereignty rested with him as the Head of the Empire. He commanded
the armed forces, declared war and concluded treaties. All laws
required the his sanction and enforcement. And yet he had no real
political power; his main role was to ratify and give the imperial
stamp of approval to decisions made by his ministers.
Post World War II
Following Japan's defeat in World War II, the occupation forces
carried out radical reforms of the country's government and imperial
systems. While there were calls for the emperor to stand trial
at the 1946 Tokyo Tribunal and for the imperial system to be completely
abolished, a more moderate approach was taken. The emperor had
no political powers and under Article 1 of the new 'Showa' constitution
he became 'the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people,
deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides
sovereign power'. His role was purely symbolic and his functions
subject to cabinet approval. The emperor himself declared in a
New Year's Day radio broadcast that he was 'not divine'.
During the postwar period, efforts were made to bring the imperial
family closer to the people, no longer his 'subjects' but citizens.
Certainly there is great affection among Japanese people for their
'royals' as could be seen at the funeral of Emperor Hirohito
in 1989 or the marriage of Crown Prince Naruhito to Princess
Masako in 1993. The eagerly anticipated birth of a male heir to the
Crown Prince was even thought of in terms of an event that could
spark Japan's economic revival. The fact that his and Masako's first child
was a girl (Aiko) and Masako was reaching an age where another
child was increasingly unlikely, there were renewed moves to
revise the Imperial House Law to allow female members of the family
to ascend to the throne. This was proposed on the grounds
of sexual equality and the fact that there have been 8 women on
the throne in the past. The birth of a son to Prince Akishino and
Princess Kiko in September 2006 may have put this issue on the shelf
for another generation.
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