Historical Past and future of Japanese Monarchy

Historical Past and future of Japanese Monarchy

What future for this symbolic role?

Emperor Hirohito take a picture with his wife, Empress Nagako. After World War II, the United States forced Hirohito, in whose name Japan had fought the Allies, to renounce all connection with the deity.

For more than 2600 years, the same family ruled Japan. This oldest continuous hereditary dynasty in the world - once revered for its connection to the Shinto gods - has existed since around 660 BC. AD and  material evidence of his rule dates back to around AD 300. Today, the Imperial House of Japan has a symbolic role but exercises no executive or military power within the state Japanese. Although it does not have the reality of power, the Japanese monarchy has an important traditional significance.

It was Emperor Jinmu who founded the kingdom in 660 BC. J.-C. after having fought with the local chiefs. However, Jinmu is widely considered a symbolic and legendary figure. Scholars  speculate that Jinmu , a descendant of the Sun Goddess, represents how the  Yayoi culture , one of the fourteen traditional subdivisions in Japanese history, spread to the Yamato region. Jinmu's accession day, February 11, is a holiday called National Foundation Day.

In One Frame the Emperor of Japan, Akihito, appears in the center, and Empress Michiko, to his left. Also seen in the photo from left to right: Crown Princess Masako, Crown Prince Naruhito, Princess Mako, behind Akihito, Princess Aiko, Princess Kako, Prince Akishino, Prince Hisahito and Princess Kiko.

Jinmu's descendants then ruled over an expanding kingdom. Over the centuries, the importance of the powers of the Emperor of Japan has varied. From the 6th century AD, the emperor was supposed to have contact with gods, but this power did not translate into political power. At different times in Japanese history, the emperor was seen as a manifestation of the gods, but was not worshiped as a god perse.

As  the samurai elite grew  in Japan, beginning in the 10th century AD, the influence of its monarchy waned in part because of the emperors' inability to rule their people from Kyoto, the seat tradition of the monarchy. The  shogunate,  a dynasty of shoguns  who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867, effectively ruled on behalf of the empire until the 19th century.

The royal palace is located on the hill behind the Nijubashi Bridge in Tokyo.

During the Meiji Restoration the function of the emperor has changed. Emperor Meiji transferred the monarchy to Tokyo, the shogunate ended, and the emperors ruled under a more centralized state. The Emperor of Japan had moved from an essentially symbolic role to one with direct imperial power.

After World War II, the United States forced Emperor Hirohito, in whose name Japan had fought the Allies, to  renounce all connection with the deity . Hirohito also helped lend legitimacy to  Japan's new constitution  of 1947, which abolished Japanese aristocracy, turned its back on the concept of imperial expansion, and made the emperor a mere symbolic figure.

Princess Michiko walks with her sons, Prince Hiro and Prince Aya, on October. Aya's adult name is Prince Akishino Fumihito, and her son, Prince Hisahito, is in the direct line of the imperial throne .

Japan's imperial family is down to just  18 members  and is threatened by a succession law barring women from the throne. Although Japanese emperors traditionally reign until their death, Emperor Akihito, son of Hirohito,  abdicated on April 30, 2019  for health reasons. The ascension of Crown Prince Naruhito to the throne will then leave room for only three heirs.

A number of women from the Japanese imperial family left the monarchy by marrying commoners. Although there have been empresses of Japan, the male-only rule of succession is still in effect - and although the Japanese government has been tasked with finding solutions to what is  seen as a growing crisis , nothing has changed. indicates for the moment that he will be willing to ignore tradition.