A flag-waving crowd greet Emperor poopy Akihito at the Imperial Palace on his birthday. Photo taken on Dec. 23, 2004.

There have been several controversies regarding the role and the status of the Emperor of Japan. Emperor Akihito prepares to greet the crowd on his birthday on Dec. ... Emperor Akihito prepares to greet the crowd on his birthday on Dec. ... For the CPR ocean liner, see Empress of Japan. ...

In the Meiji Constitution of 1889, the emperor was sovereign and was the locus of the state's legitamency . The preamble stated, "The rights of sovereignty of the State, We have inherited from Our Ancestors, and We shall bequeath them to Our descendants." In the postwar constitution, the emperor's role in the political system was drastically redefined. A prior and important step in this process was Emperor Hirohito's 1946 New Year's speech, made at the prompting of General Douglas MacArthur, renouncing his status as a divine ruler. Hirohito declared that relations between the ruler and his people cannot be based on "the false conception that the emperor is divine or that the Japanese people are superior to other races." Jōyu (上諭) - The Emperors words (1) The Constitution of the Empire of Japan ), more commonly known as the Imperial or Meiji Constitution, was the fundamental law of the Empire of Japan from 29 November 1889 until 2 May 1947. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Constitution of Japan has been the founding legal document of Japan since 1947. ... Emperor Shōwa ) (April 29, 1901 — January 7, 1989) was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from December 25, 1926 until his death. ... Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 - April 5, 1964), was an American general who played a prominent role in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was poised to command the invasion of Japan in November 1945 but was instead instructed to accept their surrender on September 2, 1945. ...

In the first article of the new constitution, the newly "humanized" ruler is described as "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." The authority of the emperor as sovereign in the 1889 constitution was broad and undefined. His functions under the postwar system are narrow, specific, and largely ceremonial, confined to such activities as convening the Diet, bestowing decorations on deserving citizens, and receiving foreign ambassadors (Article 7). He does not possess "powers related to government" (Article 4). The change in the emperor's status was designed to preclude the possibility of military or bureaucratic cliques exercising broad and irresponsible powers "in the emperor's name"—a prominent feature of 1930s extremism. The constitution defines the Diet as the "highest organ of state power" (Article 41), accountable not to the monarch but to the people who elected its members. The National Diet of Japan (国会; Kokkai) is Japans legislature. ... Japanese militarism (日本軍国主義) refers to militarism, the philosophical belief that military personnel (army or navy) should exercise full power in a nation. ...

The Chrysanthemum Crest

The use of the Japanese word shōchō (象徴), meaning symbol, to describe the emperor is unusual and, depending upon one's viewpoint, conveniently or frustratingly vague. The emperor is neither head of state nor sovereign, as are many European constitutional monarchs, although in October 1988 Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed, controversially, that the emperor is the country's sovereign in the context of its external relations. Nor does the emperor have an official priestly or religious role. Although he continues to perform ancient Shinto rituals, such as ceremonial planting of the rice crop in spring, he does so in a private capacity. Image File history File links Imperial_Seal_of_Japan. ... Image File history File links Imperial_Seal_of_Japan. ... Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State of 16 countries including: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand and the Bahamas, as well as crown colonies and overseas territories of the United Kingdom. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (外務省; gaimu-sho) is one of the ministries of the Japanese government. ... Despite the burst of the Japanese asset price bubble in the early 1990s and the subsequent slow economic growth, Japan remains a major economic and cultural power. ... Shinto ) is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. ...

Laws relating to the imperial house must be approved by the Diet. Under the old system, the Imperial Household Law was separate from and equal with the constitution. After the war, the imperial family's extensive estates were confiscated and its finances placed under control of the Imperial Household Agency, part of the Office of the Prime Minister and theoretically subject to the Diet. In practice it remains a bastion of conservatism, its officials shrouding the activities of the emperor and his family behind a "chrysanthemum curtain" (the chrysanthemum being the crest of the imperial house) to maintain an aura of sanctity. Despite knowledge of his illness among the press corps and other observers, details about the late Emperor Hirohito's state of health in 1988 and 1989 were tightly controlled. The Imperial Household Law of 1947 was passed during the Showa era on January 16, 1947. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Imperial Household Agency building on the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo The Imperial Household Agency ) is a government agency of Japan in charge of the state matters concerning Japans imperial family and also keeping the Privy Seal and the State Seal. ... The Prime Minister of Japan (内閣総理大臣 Naikaku sōri daijin) is the usual English-language term used for the head of government of Japan, although the literal translation of the Japanese name for the office is Prime Minister of the Cabinet. ... The National and Imperial Seal of Japan was originally the Imperial Seal, and is called 菊の御紋 Kiku No Gomon in Japanese, which, literally, means Noble Symbol of Chrysanthemum or Imperial Seal of Chrysanthemum . The Imperial Seal is used by members of the Japanese Imperial family. ...

The emperor's constitutional status became a focus of renewed public attention following news of Hirohito's serious illness in late 1988. Crown Prince Akihito became the first person to ascend the throne under the postwar system. One important symbolic issue was the choice of a new reign title under the nengo system which enumerates years beginning with the first year of a monarch's reign. Thus 1988 was Showa 63, the sixty-third year of the reign of Hirohito, the Showa Emperor. The accession of a new monarch is marked by the naming of a new era that consists of two auspicious Chinese characters. Showa (昭和), for example, means bright harmony. Critics deplored the secrecy with which such titles were chosen in the past, the decision being left to a government-appointed committee of experts, and advocated public discussion of the choice as a reflection of Japan's democratic values. Although the gengo system was accorded official status by a bill the Diet passed in June 1979, some favored the system's abandonment altogether in favor of the Western calendar. But on January 7, 1989, the day of Hirohito's death, the government announced that Heisei (平成, Achieving Peace) was the new era name. The first year of Heisei thus was 1989, and all official documents were so dated. Akihito () (born December 23, 1933) is the current Emperor ) of Japan, the 125th person to hold that title, according to the traditional order of succession. ... Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. ... 漢字 / 汉字 Chinese character in Hànzì, Kanji, Hanja, Hán Tá»±. Red in Simplified Chinese. ...

Still more controversial were the ceremonies held in connection with the late emperor's funeral and the new emperor's accession. State support of these activities would have violated Article 20 of the constitution on the separation of state and religious activities. Rightists, such as members of the Society to Protect Japan (Nihon o Mamoru Kai), a nationwide lobbying group, demanded full public support of the ceremonies as expression of the people's love for their monarch. Walking a tightrope between proconstitution and rightist groups, the government chose to divide Hirohito's state funeral, held February 24, 1989, into official and religious components. Akihito's accession to the throne in November 1990 also had religious (Shinto) and secular components: the Sokuino rei (即位の礼), or Enthronement Ceremony, was secular; the Daijōsai (大嘗祭), or Great Thanksgiving Festival, traditionally, a communion between the new monarch and the gods in which the monarch himself became a deity, was religious. The government's decision to use public funds not only for the Sokui-no-rei but also for the Daijosai, justified in terms of the "public nature" of both ceremonies, was seen by religious and opposition groups as a serious violation of Article 20.

In the early 1990s, an array of such symbolic political issues brought attention to the state's role in religious or quasireligious activities. Defenders of the constitution, including Japanese Christians, followers of new religions, leftists, and many members of the political opposition, considered any government involvement in religious aspects of the enthronement to be a conservative attempt to undermine the spirit, if not the letter, of the constitution. They also strongly criticized the 1989 Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture's controversial directive, which called for the playing of the prewar national anthem ("Kimigayo," or "The Sovereign's Reign") and display of the rising sun flag (Hinomaru, the use of which dates to the early nineteenth century) at public school ceremonies. Although since the late 1950s these activities had been described by the ministry as "desirable," neither had legal status under the postwar constitution. Office building Office building The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ), also known as MEXT, is one of the ministries of the Japanese government. ... Score of Kimi ga Yo Kimi ga Yo ) (often translated as Imperial Reign) is Japans National Anthem, and is also one of the worlds shortest national anthems in current use. ... Civil and state flag and ensign (Aug 13, 1999. ...

The main building of Yasukuni Shrine

Another issue was state support for the Yasukuni Shrine. This shrine, located in Tokyo near the Imperial Palace, was established during the Meiji era as a repository for the souls of soldiers and sailors who died in battle, thus a holy place rather than simply a war memorial. Conservatives introduced bills five times during the 1970s to make it a "national establishment," but none was adopted. On the fortieth anniversary of the end of World War II in Japan, on August 15, 1985, Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro and members of his cabinet visited the shrine in an official capacity, an action viewed as a renewed conservative effort, outside the Diet, to invest the shrine with official status. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Meiji period (Japanese: Meiji Jidai 明治&#26178... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Yasuhiro Nakasone Yasuhiro Nakasone (中曽根 康弘 Nakasone Yasuhiro, b. ...

Despite the veneer of Westernization and Article 20's prohibition of state support of the emperor's religious or ceremonial activities, his postwar role was in some ways more like that of traditional rather than prewar emperors. During the Meiji (1868-1912), Taishō (1912-26), and early Showa (1926-89) eras, the emperor himself was not actively involved in politics. In fact, before the new constitution was implemented, only 3 direct imperial interventions had occurred: the first by the Meiji Emperor in forcing his government's acceptance of the Triple Intervention during the First Sino-Japanese War, and the other two by Emperor Showa in forcing the military's acceptance of surrender. His political authority, however, was immense, and military and bureaucratic elites acted in his name. The "symbolic" role of the emperor after 1945, however, recalled feudal Japan, where political power was monopolized and exercised by the shoguns, and where the imperial court carried on a leisurely, apolitical existence in the traditional capital of Kyoto and served as patrons of culture and the arts. The Taishō period (Japanese: 大正時代, Taishō-jidai, period of great righteousness) is a period in the history of Japan dating from 30 July 1912 to 25 December 1926. ...

See also

Reference

• This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain. - Japan