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Arahitogami

Arahitogami

Arahitogami (現人神) is a Japanese word, meaning a god who is a human being. This word appears first in Kojiki, but is assumed to have been used before this book. The most well-known usage of this word would be in Japan before 1945, until the end of the Second World War. In those days State Shinto (Kokka Shintō) applied this word to the Emperor Hirohito and required the Japanese people to obey absolutely and have loyalty to the Emperor as a god. Later, Hirohito himself renounced this conception and claimed his relation to the people did not rely on such a mythological idea but on a historically developed family-like reliance.

Kojiki

Kojiki or Furukotofumi (古事記) is the oldest known historical book about the ancient history of Japan. Literally, it means "record of ancient things". According to the preface, the book was presented by O no Yasumaro based on the story memorized by Hieda no Are in 712 under the order of the Imperial Court. Nihonshoki followed the book. Kojiki does not recount official history like the Nihonshoki. Except for the Kojiki, no other book has claimed that it had been organized following an official order. This had led some people to claim that Kojiki was forged much later from the Nihonshoki but this claim has little support. The name Kojiki is likely to be just a name pointing to old books. Kojiki begins with the very beginning of the world as it was constructed by the kami (deities) Izanagi and Izanami and ends with the era of Empress Suiko. It contains various myths and legends of Japan. It also contains various songs. While historical records and myths are written in unique Chinese, songs are written with Chinese characters used only to convey sounds of songs. This special use of Chinese characters is called Manyogana and knowledge of this is critical to understanding these songs. These songs are in the dialect of the Yamato area from about 7th century to 8th century CE and is called Joudai Nihongo (lit. "the upper age's Japanese"). Kojiki is divided into three parts, Kamitsumaki (lit. upper roll), Nakatsumaki (lit. middle roll), and Shimotsumaki (lit. lower roll). The Kamitsumaki includes the preface and is focused on the deities that made Japan and the births of various deities. The Nakatsumaki begins with the story of Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor, and his conquest of Japan, and ends with the 15th Emperor, Emperor Ōjin. Many of the stories it includes are mythological, and the allegedly historical information in them is highly suspect. For unknown reasons, the 2nd to 9th Emperors are listed but their achievements are largely missing. The Shimotsumaki includes reference to the 16th to 33rd Emperors, and, unlike previous volumes, has very limited interaction with deities that had been so prominent in the first and second volumes. The 24th to 33rd Emperors are largely missing as well. In the Edo period, Motoori Norinaga studied Kojiki and published a book, Kojiki-den (Kojiki Commentary). Also, it was first claimed in the same era that Kojiki may have been forged later than it was supposed to have been written. A well-regarded English translation of Kojiki was written by Donald L. Philippi from Columbia University Press, October 1982 (ISBN 0-86008-320-9

Shinto

]] Shinto (神道 Shintō) (sometimes called Shintoism) is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It involves the worship of kami, which can be translated to mean gods, spirits of nature, or just spiritual presences. Some kami are local and can be regarded as the spirit or genius of a particular place, but others represent major natural objects and processes, for example, Amaterasu, the Sun goddess. The word Shinto was created by combining two kanji: "神" shin meaning god (the character can also be read as "kami" in Japanese) and "道" tō meaning Tao ("way" or "path" in a philosophical sense). Thus, Shinto means "the way of the gods." After World War II, Shinto lost its status of state religion; some Shinto practices and teachings, once given a great deal of prominence during the war, are no longer taught nor practiced today, and some remain largely as everyday activities without religious connotations like omikuji (a form of drawing lots).

History

Early History

The earliest origins of Shinto are lost to history, but it seems to have been established by the late Jomon period. A number of theories about the ancestors of today's Japanese people exist. These theories range from hypotheses of migration from central Asia or Indonesia that are accepted by most scholars to fringe speculation that even links the Japanese to the lost tribes of Israel [http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/%7emagi9/isracame.htm]. Most likely, after the arrival of the earliest ancestors of today's Japanese, each tribe and area had its own collection of gods and rituals with no formal relationship between each of the areas. Following the ascendency of the ancestors of today's Imperial family to a position of power among the other groups, their ancestral deities were given prominence over the deities of other groups, though different systems continued to coexist.

Shinto and Buddhism

The introductions of writing in the 5th century and Buddhism in the 6th century had a profound impact on the development of a unified system of Shinto beliefs. Within a brief period of time, in the early Nara period, the Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Things, 712) and the Nihonshoki (The Chronicles of Japan, 720) were written by compiling existing myths and legends into a unified account (see: Japanese mythology). These accounts were written with two purposes in mind. First, the introduction of Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist themes into Japanese religion. Second, to shore up support for the legitimacy of the Imperial house, based on its lineage from the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. Much of the area of modern Japan was under only fragmentary control by the Imperial family, and rival ethnic groups (including, perhaps, the ancestors of the Ainu) continued to war against the encroachment of the Japanese. The mythological anthologies, along with other poetry anthologies like the Manyoshu and others, were all meant to impress others with the worthiness of the Imperial family and their divine mandate to rule. With the introduction of Buddhism and its rapid adoption by the court, it was necessary to explain the apparent differences between native Japanese beliefs and Buddhist teachings. Indeed, Shinto did not have a name until it became necessary to distinguish it from Buddhism. One explanation saw the Japanese kami as supernatural beings still caught in the cycle of birth and rebirth. The kami are born, live, die, and are reborn like all other beings in the karmic cycle. However, the kami played a special role in protecting Buddhism and allowing its compassionate teachings to flourish. This explanation was later challenged by Kukai, who saw the kami as different embodiments of the Buddhas themselves. For example, he famously linked Amaterasu, Sun Goddess and ancestor of the Imperial family, with Dainichi Nyorai, a central manifestation of the Buddha, whose name is literally "Great Sun Buddha". In his view, the kami were just Buddhas by another name. Buddhism and Shinto coexisted and were amalgamated in the Shinbutsu Shugo and Kukai's syncretic view held wide sway up until the end of the Edo period. At that time, there was a renewed interest in "Japanese studies" (kokugaku), perhaps as a result of the closed country policy. In the 18th century, various Japanese scholars, in particular Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801), tried to tease apart the "real" Shinto from various foreign influences. The attempt was largely unsuccessful; since as early as the Nihonshoki, parts of the mythology were explicitly borrowed from Chinese doctrines. (For example, the co-creator deities Izanami and Izanagi are explicitly compared to yin and yang.) However, the attempt did set the stage for the arrival of state Shinto, following the Meiji Restoration, when Shinto and Buddhism were separated (Shinbutsu bunri).

State Shinto

Following the Meiji Restoration, Shinto was made the official religion of Japan, and in 1868 its combination with Buddhism was outlawed. During this period, it was felt by numerous scholars of kokugaku that Shinto was needed in order to unify the country around the Emperor as the process of modernization was undertaken with all possible speed. The psychological shock of the Western "Black Ships" and the subsequent collapse of the shogunate convinced many that the nation needed to band together if it was going to resist being colonized by outside forces. As a result, Shinto was used as a tool for promoting Emperor (and Empire) worship, and Shinto was exported into conquered territories like Hokkaido and Korea. In 1871, a Ministry of Divinities was formed and Shinto shrines were divided into twelve levels with Ise Shrine (dedicated to Amaterasu, and thus symbolic of the legitimacy of the Imperial family) at the peak and small sanctuaries of humble towns at the base. The following year, the ministry was replaced with a new Ministry of Religion, charged with leading instruction in "shushin" (moral courses). This was a major reverse from the Edo period, in which families were registered with Buddhist temples, rather than Shinto shrines. Priests were officially nominated and organized by the state, and they instructed the youth in a form of Shinto theology based on the official history of divinity of Japan's national origins and its Emperor. As time went on, Shinto was increasingly used in the advertising of nationalists popular sentiments. In 1890, the "Imperial Rescript on Education" was passed, and students were required to ritually recite its oath to "offer yourselves courageously to the State" as well as protect the Imperial family. The practice of Emperor worship was also further spread by distributing imperial portraits for esoteric veneration. All of these practices were used to fortify national solidarity through patriotic centralized observance at shrines. This use of Shinto gave to Japanese patriotism a special tint of mysticism and cultural introversion, which became more pronounced as time went on. Such processes continued deepening until the Showa Period, before coming to an abrupt halt in August 1945. Somewhat ironically, the invasion by the West so feared at the start of the Meiji era had come at last, due at least in part, to the radicalization of Japan permitted by its religious solidarity.

Post-War

The era of State Shinto came to an abrupt close with the end of World War II. It appeared that the kami had failed to provide a Divine Wind (kamikaze) to turn back the foreign invaders. Soon after the war, the Emperor issued a statement renouncing his claims to the status of "living god." In the aftermath of the war, most Japanese came to believe that the hubris of Empire had led to their downfall. Lust for foreign territory blinded their leaders to the importance of their homeland. In the post-war period, numerous "New Religions" cropped up, many of them ostensibly based on Shinto, but on the whole, Japanese religiosity may have decreased. However, the concept of religion in Japan is a complex one. A survey conducted in the mid-70's indicated that of those participants who claimed not to believe in religion, one-third had a Buddhist or Shinto altar in their home, and about one quarter carried an o-mamori (an amulet to gain protection by kami) on their person. Following the war, Shinto has, for the most part, persisted with less importance placed on mythology or the divine mandate of the Imperial family. Instead, shrines tend to focus on helping ordinary people gain better fortunes for themselves through maintaining good relations with their ancestors and other kami. Post-war, the number of Japanese citizens identifying their religious beliefs as Shinto has declined a good deal, yet the general practice of Shinto rituals has not decreased accordingly, and many practices have persisted as general cultural beliefs (such as ancestor worship, which is still very popular), superstitions, and community matsuri (festivals) - focusing more on religious practices and items then principles. The explanation generally given for this anomaly is that, following the demise of State Shinto, Shinto has reverted to its more traditional position as a folk religion which is culturally ingrained, rather than enforced. In any case, Shinto and its values continue to be an important component of the Japanese cultural mindset.

Definition of Shinto

Shinto is a difficult religion to classify. On the one hand, it can be seen as merely a highly sophisticated form of animism and may be regarded as a primal shamanist religion. On the other hand, Shinto beliefs and ways of thinking are deeply embedded in the subconscious fabric of modern Japanese society. The afterlife is not a primary concern in Shinto, and much more emphasis is placed on fitting into this world, instead of preparing for the next. Shinto has no binding set of dogma, no holiest place for worshippers, no person or kami deemed holiest, and no defined set of prayers. Instead, Shinto is a collection of rituals and methods meant to mediate the relations of living humans to kami. These practices have originated organically in Japan over a span of many centuries and have been influenced by Japan's contact with the religions of other nations, especially China. Notice, for example, that the word Shinto is itself of Chinese origin and that much of the codification of Shinto mythology was done with the explicit aim of answering Chinese cultural influence. Conversely, Shinto had and continues to have an impact on the practice of other religions within Japan. In particular, one could even make a case for discussing it under the heading of Japanese Buddhism, since these two religions have exercised a profound influence on each other throughout Japanese history. Further, the Japanese "New religions" that have emerged since the end of the Second World War have also shown a clear Shinto influence. Some feel Shinto was used as a legitimising ideology during the militaristic phase of Japanese history following the Meiji Restoration. Because Shinto has no absolute source of authority, some feel what was a natural expression of the beliefs of the people was hijacked by radical Nationalists, who desired to unify the Japanese people against the "inferior" people in other nations. Others wonder if the emphasis Shinto places on Japanese exceptionalism made such developments inevitable. Even today, some far right factions within Japanese society want to see a greater emphasis placed on Shinto and increased reverence shown to the Emperor as part of a project to restore Japan to its "rightful place" as the leading nation of the world. However, for most Japanese, Shinto is not about expressing disdain for other nations but expressing one's own love of the natural landscape of Japan and the people and spirits that reside within it.

Types of Shinto

In order to distinguish between these different focuses of emphasis within Shinto, many feel it is important to separate Shinto into four related types of Shinto expression.
- Shrine Shinto is the oldest and most prevalent of the Shinto types. It has always been a part of Japan's history and constitutes the main current of Shinto tradition.
- Sect Shinto is comprised of thirteen groups formed during the 19th century. They do not have shrines, but conduct religious activities in meeting halls. Shinto sects include the mountain-worship sects, who focus on worshipping mountains like Mt. Fuji, faith-healing sects, purification sects, Confucian sects, and Revival Shinto sects.
- Folk Shinto includes the numerous but fragmented folk beliefs in deities and spirits. Practices include divination, spirit possession, and shamanic healing. Some of their practices come from Taoism, Buddhism, or Confucianism, but some come from ancient local traditions.
- State Shinto was the result of the Meiji dynasty's restoration and the downfall of the shogunate. The Meiji attempted to purify Shinto by abolishing many Buddhist and Confucian ideals; also, the emperor was once again considered divine. After Japan's defeat in World War II, State Shinto was abolished and the emperor was forced to renounce his divine right.

Characteristics of Shinto

Confucianism The most immediately striking theme in the Shinto religion is a great love and reverence for nature. Thus, a waterfall, the moon, or just an oddly shaped rock might come to be regarded as a kami; so might charismatic persons or more abstract entities like growth and fertility. As time went by, the original nature-worshipping roots of the religion, while never lost entirely, became attenuated and the kami took on more reified and anthropomorphic forms, with a formidable corpus of myth attached to them. (See also: Japanese mythology.) The kami, though, are not transcendent deities in the usual Western and Indian sense of the word - although divine, they are close to us; they inhabit the same world as we do, make the same mistakes as we do, and feel and think the same way as we do. Those who died would automatically be added to the rank of kami regardless of their human doings. (Though it is thought that one can become a ghost under certain circumstances involving unsettled disputes in life.) Belief is not a central aspect in Shinto, and proper observation of ritual is more important than whether one "truly believes" in the ritual. Thus, even those believing other religions may be venerated as kami after death, if there are Shinto believers who wish them to be.

Practice and teaching of Shinto

Japanese mythology]]

Afterlife

Unlike many religions, one does not need to publicly profess belief in Shinto to be a Shintoist. Whenever a child is born in Japan, a local Shinto shrine adds the child's name to a list kept at the shrine and declares him or her "Ujiko", lit. named child. After death an "Ujiko" becomes an "Ujigami"; literally, named kami. One may choose to have one's name added to another list when moving and then be listed at both places. Names can be added to the list without consent and regardless of the beliefs of the person added to the list. However, this is not considered an imposition of belief, but a sign of the welcome of the area kami, with the promise of addition to the pantheon of kami after death. Those children who die before addition to the list are called "Mizuko", lit. water child, and believed to cause troubles and plagues. "Mizuko" are often worshipped in a Shinto shrine dedicated to stilling their anger and sadness. These shrines have become more popular with the growth of abortion in modern Japan. Because Shinto has co-existed with Buddhism for well over a millennium, it is very difficult to disentangle Shinto and Buddhist beliefs about the world. One might say that where Buddhism emphasizes the afterlife and ending the cycle of rebirths, Shinto emphasizes this life and finding happiness within it. Though Buddhism and Shinto have very different perspectives on the world, most Japanese do not see any need to reconcile these two very different religions, and practice both. Thus it is common for people to practice Shinto in life yet have a Buddhist funeral. Their different perspectives on the afterlife are seen as complementing each other, and frequently the ritual practice of one will have an origin in the other.

Four affirmations

Though Shinto has no absolute commandments for its adherents outside of living "a simple and harmonious life with nature and people", there are said to be "Four Affirmations" of the Shinto spirit:
- Tradition and the family: The family is seen as the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved. Their main celebrations relate to birth and marriage.
- Love of nature: Nature is sacred; to be in contact with nature is to be close to the kami. Natural objects are worshipped as containing sacred spirits.
- Physical cleanliness: Followers of Shinto take baths, wash their hands, and rinse out their mouth often.
- "Matsuri": Any festival dedicated to the Kami, of which there are many each year.

Impurity

Shinto teaches that certain deeds create a kind of ritual impurity that one should want cleansed for one's own peace of mind and good fortune, not because impurity is wrong in and of itself. Wrong deeds are called kegare (literally, "dirtiness"), opposed to kiyome (purity). Normal days are called ke (day), and festive days are called hare (sunny, or simply good). Killing living beings should be done with reverence for taking a life to continue one's own, and should be kept to a minimum. Modern Japanese continue to place great emphasis on the importance of aisatsu, or ritual phrases and greetings. Before eating, many (though not all) Japanese say "itadakimasu" ("I will humbly receive [this food]") in order to show proper thankfulness to the preparer of the meal in particular and more generally to all those living things that lost their lives to make the meal. Failure to show proper respect can be seen as a lack of concern for others, looked down on because it is believed to create problems for all. Those who fail to take into account the feelings of other people and kami will only bring ruin on themselves. The worst expression of such an attitude is the taking of another's life for personal advancement or enjoyment. Those killed without being shown gratitude for their sacrifice will hold urami (a grudge) and become aragami, a powerful and evil kami that seeks revenge. This same emphasis on the need for cooperation and collaboration can be seen throughout Japanese culture today. Thus no action is taken in modern Japanese companies before consensus is reached (even if only superficially) among all parties.

Purification

Purification rites are a vital part of Shinto. These may serve to placate any restive kami, for instance when their shrine had to be relocated. Such ceremonies have also been adapted to modern life. For example, a ceremony was held in 1969 to hallow the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, new buildings made in Japan are frequently blessed by a Shinto priest during the groundbreaking ceremony, and many cars made in Japan have been blessed as part of the assembly process. A more personal purification rite is the purification by water. This may involve standing beneath a waterfall or performing ritual ablutions in a river-mouth or in the sea. These two forms of purification are often referred to as harae (祓). A third form of purification is avoidance, that is, the taboo placed on certain persons or acts. For example, women were not allowed to climb Mount Fuji until 1868, in the era of the Meiji Restoration. Although this aspect has decreased in recent years, religious Japanese will not use an inauspicious word like "cut" at a wedding, nor will they attend a wedding if they have recently been bereaved. Meiji Restoration

Shrines

The principal worship of kami is done at public shrines, although home worship at small private shrines (sometimes only a high shelf with a few ritual objects) is also common. It is also possible to worship objects or people while they exist. While a few of the public shrines are elaborate structures, most are small buildings in the characteristic Japanese architectural style. Shrines are commonly fronted by a distinctive Japanese gate (torii) made of two uprights and two crossbars. These gates are there as a part of the barrier to separate our living world and the world the kami live in. There are often two guardian animals placed at each side of the gate and they serve to protect the entrance. There are well over 100,000 of these shrines in operation today, each with its retinue of Shinto priests. Shinto priests often wear a ceremonial robe called a [http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/wayou/10.htm jo-e]. Kami are invoked at such important ceremonies as weddings and entry into university. The kami are commonly petitioned for quite earthly benefits; a child, a promotion, a happier life. While one may wish for ill bidding on others, this is believed to be possible only if the target has committed wrongs first, or if one is willing to offer one's life. Though Shinto is popular for these occasions, when it comes to funerals most Japanese turn to Buddhist ceremonies, since the emphasis in Shinto is on this life and not the next. Almost all festivals (matsuri) in Japan are hosted by local Shinto shrines and these festivals are open to all those that wish to attend. While these could be said to be religious events, Japanese do not regard these events as religious since everyone can attend, regardless of personal beliefs.

Gods

Shinto's kami are collectively called Yaoyorozu no Kami (八百万の神), lit. eight million kami. The arcane name of eight million, Yaoyorozu is not the exact number, but the expression of infinite number from the time when the concept of infinity did not exist. While such usage has largely disappeared from the common use, until recently there were small shops often in suburbs that offered everything from perishable items like foods to magazines and newspapers, even occasionally a bicycle or a car, that were each called Yorozu-ya (万屋), lit. 10,000 shop, indicating the wide variety of items it offered. The most widely worshipped of all kami is the sun-goddess Amaterasu. However, Japanese do not specifically worship her or invoke her name to ask for help. Her main shrine is at Ise, but many lesser shrines are dedicated to her. Within the shrine, she is often symbolised by a mirror. Alternatively, the inner sanctum may be empty. This emptiness does not mean non-existence; rather, it symbolizes that everything that one sees through the mirror is the embodiment of Amaterasu and every other kami. Until the end of World War II, the Tenno (Emperor) was believed to have been descended from Amaterasu and father of all Japanese, and was therefore a kami on earth (an ikigami or "living kami"); this divine status was popularized during the Meiji Restoration. This did not prevent military governors (Shogun) from usurping power, but the emperor was always seen as the true ruler of Japan, even when his rule was only nominal. Although Emperor Hirohito renounced his divine status in 1946 under American pressure (Ningen-sengen), the imperial family remains deeply involved in the Shinto ritual that unifies the Japanese nation symbolically. Because Shinto doesn't require a declaration or an enforcement to be worshipped, which is actually "unharmonious" and is something to be avoided, this declaration, while serving political reasons, is religiously meaningless and merely means that the state enforcement has ended.

Ema

Ningen-sengen In medieval times, wealthy people would donate horses to shrines, especially when making a request of the god of the shrine (for example, when praying for victory in battle). For smaller favors, giving a picture of a horse became customary, and these ema (絵馬) are popular today. The visitor to a shrine purchases a wooden tablet with a likeness of a horse, or nowadays, something else (a snake, an arrow, even a portrait of Thomas Edison), writes a wish or prayer on the tablet, and hangs it at the shrine. In some cases, if the wish comes true, the person hangs another ema at the shrine in gratitude.

Cultural effects of Shinto

Shinto has been called "the religion of Japaneseness", and the customs and values of Shinto are inseparable from those of Japanese culture prior to the influx of Chinese religious ideas that occurred in the mid 6th century. Many famously Japanese practices have origins either directly or indirectly rooted in Shinto. For example, it is clear that the Shinto ideal of harmony with nature underlies such typically Japanese arts as flower-arranging (ikebana) and traditional Japanese architecture and garden design. A more explicit link to Shinto is seen in sumo wrestling, where, even in the modern version of the sport, many Shinto-inspired ceremonies must be performed before a bout, such as purifying the wrestling arena by sprinkling it with salt. It is still very common for Japanese to say, "Itadakimasu" (I humbly partake) before eating, and the Japanese emphasis on proper greetings can be seen as a continuation of the ancient Shinto belief in kotodama (words with a magical effect on the world). Many Japanese cultural customs, like using wooden chopsticks and removing shoes before entering a building, have their origin in Shinto beliefs and practices. Also, a number of other Japanese religions, including Tenrikyo, have originated from or been influenced by Shinto.

Important shrines

- Atsuta Shrine, Nagoya, Aichi, shrine to the Imperial sword Kusanagi
- Heian Jingu (Kyoto), dedicated to Emperor Kammu and Emperor Kōmei
- Ise Shrine (Ise), dedicated to Amaterasu
- Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima prefecture
- Iwashimizu Shrine, Yawata, Kyoto
- Izumo Shrine (Izumo)
- Kasuga Shrine, Nara
- Katori Shrine, Chiba Prefecture
- Kumano Shrines, Wakayama Prefecture
- Meiji Shrine (Tokyo), the shrine of Emperor Meiji
- Nikko Toshogu, Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture
- Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine, Kamakura, Kanagawa
- Usa Hachiman Shrine, Oita Prefecture
- Yasukuni Shrine (Tokyo), controversial shrine dedicated to the 'peace of the nation' and seen by some as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past

References

- Littleton, C. Scott (2002). Shinto: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places. Oxford University Press, Inc. ISBN 0195218868.
- Ueda, Kenji (1999). "The Concept of Kami". In John Ross Carter (Ed.), The Religious Heritage of Japan: Foundations for Cross-Cultural Understanding in a Religiously Plural World, pp. 65-72. Book East. ISBN ???.

External links

- Ema at Wikimedia Commons
- [http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/ Kokugakuin University Encylopedia of Shinto]
- [http://www.nihonbunka.com/shinto/ Shinto - a Philosophical Introduction] by [http://www.nihonbunka.com/ Timothy Takemoto]
- [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20041116f2.htm Shinto struggles to find a place in postwar society] - a basic introduction to Shinto by Eric Talmadge for the Japan Times
- [http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=17&ItemID=8081 Emperor, Shinto, Democracy]: Japan's Unresolved Questions of Historical Consciousness (ZMag) Category:Japanese terms
- ms:Shinto ja:神道 ko:신토 simple:Shinto

Emperor of Japan

The Emperor of Japan (天皇 tennō) is a constitutionally-recognized symbol of the Japanese nation and the unity of its people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family, the imperial family of Japan. Historically, the role of the Emperor of Japan has alternated between that of a supreme-rank cleric with largely symbolic powers and that of an actual imperial ruler from the dawn of history until the mid-twentieth century. An underlying imperial cult (Arahitogami) has played a role, as monarch's high-priestly (mediator between people and divine) position has regarded to have come from his close (hereditary) ties with Japanese gods. Whereas violence and military operations have been regarded inconsistent with Tennō's role for at least 14 centuries - thus Japanese monarchs have not been military commanders at least since, contrary to the role of monarchs usually and in the West. However, the main function of the Emperor for most of the last millennium has usually been merely to authorize and legitimize those in power. Under Japan's present constitution, the emperor is largely a ceremonial figurehead in its constitutional monarchy (see Politics of Japan). The current Emperor is Emperor Akihito (referred to in Japan simply as Tennō Heika), who has been on the Chrysanthemum Throne since his father Emperor Hirohito died in 1989. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the Imperial Palace has been called Kōkyo (皇居), and located on the site of Edo Castle in the heart of Tokyo. Earlier emperors resided in Kyoto for nearly eleven centuries. Certain dates and details may be in dispute among Japanese historians. Many Emperors cited in the formal list of Emperors of Japan died at a very young age and can hardly be said to have "ruled" in any serious sense of the word. Others were overshadowed by their predecessors, who had ostensibly retired to a monastery but continued to exert influence in a process called "cloistered rule." It is nevertheless important to maintain the entire list, because, even today, dating by the reigns of emperors is the standard way of referencing Japanese history. Cloistered Emperors have been known to come into conflict with their official counterparts from time to time; a notable example is the Hogen Rebellion of 1156, in which former Emperor Sutoku attempted to seize power from the then current Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Other instances, such as Emperor Go-Toba's 1221 rebellion against the Kamakura shogunate and the 1336 Kenmu Restoration under Emperor Go-Daigo, clearly show the power struggle that has taken place between the Imperial House and the military governments of Japan.

Roles

Emperor Go-Daigo The emperor's role is defined in Chapter I of the 1947 Constitution of Japan. Article 1 defines the emperor as the symbol of state and the unity of the people, Article 3 requires the approval of the cabinet for all acts of the emperor in matters of state, Article 4 specifically states that the emperor shall not have powers related to government, Article 6 gives the emperor the power to appoint the Prime Minister and the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court, each as designated by the diet and cabinet, respectively, and Article 7 gives the emperor power to perform various ministerial functions typical of a head of state, subject to the advice and approval of the cabinet. In contrast with other constitutional monarchs, the Emperor of Japan has no reserve powers. Although the emperor performs many of the roles of a head of state, there has been a persistent controversy within Japan as to whether the emperor is in fact a true monarch in a political sense or merely a hereditary pretender, as a political servant of a constitutional parliamentary republic. In a traditional monarchy, political power devolves from the sovereign that is the monarch, with power being exercised by elected legislators on behalf of the so-called Royal prerogative and by practice of long established custom or constitutional convention. However, if there is no royal prerogative then the people who made it so by the right to make and amend the constitution are the sovereign, and the system is reversed, with the monarch actually being subordinate to them. According to this theory the emperor is best understood as a political actor whose embodiment is a mock up of a role required under Westminster system of government, but not the "head of the state" as such because he is not the sovereign. Efforts in the 1950s by conservative powers to amend the constitution to explicitly name the emperor as head of state were rejected. Regardless, the emperor does perform all the diplomatic functions normally associated with a head of state and as a result is recognized as such by foreign powers.

History

1950s, Princess Aiko (title: Toshi-no-miya), HIM The Emperor, HM Empress Michiko, HIH Crown Prince Naruhito (Hiro-no-miya) back left to right: HIH Princess Sayako (Nori-no-miya), HIH Princess Mako, HIH Prince Akishino (Akishino-no-miya), HIH Princess Kako, HIH Princess Kiko (Princess Akishino)]] Although the emperor has been a symbol of continuity with the past, the degree of power exercised by the emperor of Japan has varied considerably throughout Japanese history. The earliest emperors recorded in Kojiki and Nihonshoki, such as Emperor Jimmu, are considered today to have no historical credibility. Historians think the first emperor who existed historically was Emperor Ōjin, but the time of his reign is uncertain. These two books state that the imperial house kept a continuous lineage, though today some historians believe that many ancient emperors who were stated as descendants of Emperor Ōjin had no actual genealogic tie to their predecessor. The members of the imperial house of Japan rarely marry members of royal families of other countries. However, according to the Chronicles of Japan II (續日本紀), Emperor Kanmu's mother (Takano no Niigasa) was a descendant of 200-years-earlier King Muryeong of Baekje, Korea. Takano's clan was low-class nobility in Japan, so Kanmu was not a prospective candidate for emperor. Kanmu and his father became emperor through a power game between clans. From the 1100s to 1868, the real power was in the hands of the shōguns, who were in theory always given their authority through the emperor. When Spanish and Portuguese explorers first contacted Japan (see Nanban period), they likened the relationship between emperor and shōgun to that of the Catholic Pope (godly, but with little political power) and king (earthly, but with a relatively large amount of political power). The title "Emperor of Japan" is in some sense an expedient Western construct of a hereditary officer who has historically had a deeply ingrained position in Japanese society, without any necessary role in government. Japanese administrations have usually been in a position where the emperor was something that had to be accepted as a necessary inconvenience - as the Italian government has had to live with the Pope residing within the borders of Italy. We conventionally regard such a figurehead as a monarch, in the same sense as the Caliph and the Pope and, in its time, the Stadtholder of the Netherlands, a republic, have been regarded as monarchs. In most (if not all) periods, that monarch has had at least some official role in the government of Japan - we should perhaps say that governments have utilized the influence of the emperor to their own advantage. Up to rather recent centuries, Japan did not include several remoter regions of what is now regarded as its territory. The name Nippon came into use only many many centuries after the start of the current imperial line. Centralized government really only began to appear shortly before and during the time of Prince Shotoku. The emperor was more like a revered embodiment of divinity rather than the head of an actual governing administration. In Japan it has always been easy for ambitious lords to hold actual power, as such positions have not been inherently contradictory to the emperor's position. Parliamentary government today continues a similar coexistence with the emperor as have various shoguns, regents, warlords, guardians, etc. It is perhaps technically a distortion to refer to such a monarch as an emperor. In Europe, people holding similar offices have retained the titles used in their own native language, which is perhaps more accurate than trying to translate such a unique office into a preexisting English term. Historically the titles of Tenno in Japanese have never included territorial designations as is the case with many European monarchs. The position of emperor is a territory-independent phenomenon - the emperor is the emperor, even if he has followers only in one province (as was the case sometimes with the Southern and Northern courts). By the constitution of 1889, the emperor of Japan transferred a large part of his former powers as absolute monarch to the representatives of the people, but remained as head of the empire. Though inspired by the constitutions of Europe, the new Meiji Constitution was not as democratic as some had initially hoped. The emperor was given broad and vague "reserve powers" which in turn were exploited by the prime minister and various cliques around the emperor. By the 1930s the Japanese cabinet was largely composed of pseudo-fascist military leaders who used the emperor and his supposed divinity as an ultra-nationalistic rallying point for expansion of the Empire. When World War II erupted, the emperor was the symbol soldiers were indoctrinated to fight and die for. The emperor himself was hidden from sight however, and his actual role during this period is disputed. It is commonly believed he was largely sidelined by the military. Controversy still remains as to the role Hirohito played in commanding Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War.

Post World War II

Pacific War After Japan's surrender to Allied forces ending WWII, 'emperor' became a ceremonial title only, with real power residing in a legislative body; in essence, its de jure status is similar to the de facto status of the British monarchy. US General Douglas MacArthur insisted that Hirohito remain emperor to keep him as a symbol of continuity and cohesion within Japanese society. Despite Truman's desire to have Hirohito tried for war crimes, Truman consented, and Hirohito kept his status, though he was forced to disavow the emperor's previous claims of being an arahitogami, living god. Since the war, the emperor has become a strictly ceremonial figure within Japanese society. Though he presides over certain government events, he is now simply a figurehead who is explicitly banned from participating in politics in any way. Succession is now regulated by laws passed by the Japanese Diet. The current law excludes females from the succession despite the historical existence of female occupants of the throne. A change to this law is being considered, since, as of 2005, the only child of The Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Naruhito is female. (In the list of emperors of Japan, the empresses regnant are those with an asterisk after their reigning periods.) This creates a logistical challenge as well as political, any change in the law would most likely mean a revision to allow the succession of the first born rather than the first born son, however, the current emperor is not the first born, he has elder sisters.

Marriage traditions

Japanese monarchs have been, as much as others elsewhere, dependent on making alliances with powerful chiefs and other monarchs. Many such alliances were sealed by marriages. The specific feature in Japan has been the fact that these marriages have been soon incorporated as elements of tradition which controlled the marriages of later generations, though the original practical alliance had lost its real meaning. Beginning from the 7th and 8th centuries, emperors primarily took women of the Fujiwara clan as their highest wives - the most probable mothers of future monarchs. This was cloaked as a tradition of marriage between heirs of two kamis, Shinto gods: descendants of Amaterasu with descendants of the family kami of the Fujiwara. (Originally, the Fujiwara were descended from relatively minor nobility, thus their kami is an unremarkable one in the Japanese myth world.) The reality behind such marriages was an alliance between an imperial prince and a Fujiwara lord, his father-in-law or grandfather, the latter with his resources supporting the prince to the throne and most often controlling the government. These arrangements created the tradition of regents (sessho and kampaku), with these positions allowed to be held only by a Fujiwara sekke lord. Earlier, the emperors had married females from families of the government-holding Soga lords, and females of the imperial clan itself, i.e various-degree cousins and often even their own sisters (half-sisters). Several imperials of the 5th and 6th centuries were children of a couple of half-siblings. These marriages often were alliance or succession devices: the Soga lord ensured the domination of a prince, to be put as puppet to the throne; or a prince ensured the combination of two imperial descents, to strengthen his own and his children's claim to the throne. Marriages were also a means to seal a reconciliation between two imperial branches. After a couple of centuries, emperors could no longer make anyone from outside such families a primary wife, whatever would have been the expediency of such a marriage and power or wealth brought by such. Only very rarely was a prince without a mother of said traditional descents allowed to ascend. The earlier necessity and expediency had mutated into a strict tradition that did not allow for current expediency or necessity, but only dictated that daughters of a restricted circle of families were eligible brides, because they had produced eligible brides for centuries. Tradition is sometimes more forceful than a law. The five Fujiwara families Ichijo, Kujo, Nijo, Konoe and Takatsukasa were the primary source of imperial brides from the 8th century to the 19th century, even more often than daughters of the imperial clan itself. Fujiwara daughters were thus the usual empresses and mothers of emperors. The result has been a relative inbreeding in the imperial family. The five Sekkan families and the branches of the imperial clan (Yamato) form a genetic "village". The acceptable imperial wives, brides for an emperor and for a crown prince, were even legislated into the Meiji-era imperial house laws, which stipulated that daughters of Sekke (the five main branches of the higher Fujiwara) and daughters of the imperial clan itself were primarily acceptable brides. Since that law was repealed in the aftermath of WWII, the present emperor Akihito became the first crown prince for over a thousand years to have an empress outside the previously eligible circle.

Naming

Due to linguistic and cultural differences between Japan and the Western world, naming the emperors of Japan is often troublesome. While scholastic texts in Japan use " tennō" consistently, in texts by English-speaking academics several variants have been used, such as "Emperor ", "the Emperor", and " Tenno", although "Emperor " appears to be the most common among these, particularly for the emperors prior to Emperor Meiji. What is often not understood, however, is that emperors are posthumously named " tennō", and thus the word "tennō, or "emperor", actually forms a part of their proper name. This is particularly misunderstood with respect to the emperors from Emperor Meiji onward, since the convention now is to posthumously name the emperors the same name as the era over which they preside. This leads to references such as "the Meiji emperor", meaning the emperor of the Meiji era. Such constructs are never used in Japanese, however. In English, the term Mikado (御門 or 帝 or みかど), which literally means "exalted gate", used to be used to refer to the emperor of Japan; this usage is now outdated, as it is in Japanese. In Japanese, the emperors of Japan, but not of other countries, are known as tennō (天皇), which literally means "heavenly emperor" or "god-king". Sumeramikoto (lit. "heavenly ruler above the clouds") was also used in Old Japanese. There are three Japanese words that describe the concept of "emperor": tennō (天皇) is used specifically to describe the emperor of Japan, kōtei (皇帝, lit. "emperor of emperors") is used primarily to describe a Chinese emperor or a foreign emperor, and teiō (帝王, lit. "emperor of kings") is used to describe foreign emperors as well but never a Chinese emperor. Some scholars point out that the use of ten (天, "heaven") was, in relation to the Chinese concept of tentei (天帝, "heaven's emperor" or "the god in the sky"), meant to show that the emperor's duty was not limited to political or military duties but included spiritual and religious duties as well. Traditionally, East Asians consider it discourteous to call a person of noble rank by their given name. This convention is almost dead, but still observed for the Imperial family. In fact, the emperor is never to be referred to by name (imina) unless he is dead. Instead, past emperors are called by posthumous names such as Emperor Jimmu, Emperor Kammu and Meiji. Since the Meiji era, era names are also used as posthumous names. The current emperor on the throne is almost always referred to as Tennō Heika (天皇陛下, lit. "His Majesty the Emperor") or solemnly as Kinjō Tennō (今上天皇). On the other hand, in ordinary conversations he is referred to simply as Heika, Okami or To-gin san ('To-gin' is a frank expression of Kinjō). The current emperor is not called by the current era name: the era will become his posthumous name. But today this custom tends to be followed more loosely, as described below. In English, the recent emperors are called by their personal names according to Western convention. As explained above, in Japanese this sounds offensive and, in some contexts, blasphemous. For example, the previous emperor is usually called Hirohito in English, but after his death he was renamed Shōwa Tennō and is now referred to exclusively by this name in Japanese. However, during his reign, he was never referred as Hirohito or Shōwa Tennō in Japanese. Rather, he was simply referred to as Tennō Heika (meaning "His Majesty the Emperor"). See also List of Japanese Emperors.

Succession

Millennia ago, the Japanese Imperial Family developed its own peculiar system of hereditary succession. It has been non-primogenitural, more or less agnatic, based mostly on rotation. Today, Japan uses strict agnatic primogeniture - in other words, pure Salic law. It was adopted from Prussia, from which Japan took much influence in the 1870s. Strict agnatic primogeniture is, however, directly contradictory to several old Japanese traditions of Imperial succession. The controlling principles and their interaction were apparently very complex and sophisticated, leading to even idiosyncratic outcomes. Some chief principles apparent in the succession have been:
- Females were allowed to succeed (but not allowed to be inherited by their own children, unless the father of the child also happened to be an agnate of the imperial house). However, female accession was clearly much rarer than male.
- Adoption was possible and a much used way to increase the number of succession-entitled heirs (however, the adopted child had to be a child of another member of the Imperial House).
- Abdication was used very often, and occurred more often than a death on the throne. In those days, the tenno's chief task was priestly (or godly), containing so many repetitive rituals that it was deemed that the incumbent deserved pampered retirement as an honored former emperor.
- Primogeniture was not used - rather, in the early days, the imperial house practised something resembling a system of rotation. Very often a brother (or sister) followed the elder sibling even in the case of the predecessor leaving children. The "turn" of the next generation came more often after several individuals of the senior generation. Rotation went often between two or more of the branches of the imperial house, thus more or less distant cousins succeeded each other. Emperor Go-Saga even decreed an official alternation between heirs of his two sons, which system continued for a couple of centuries (leading finally to shōgun-induced (or -utilized) strife between these two branches, "Southern" and "Northern" Emperors). Towards the end, the alternates were very distant cousins counted in degrees of male descent (but all that time, intermarriages occurred within the imperial house). After a while, however, probably due to Confucian influence, inheritence by sons - but not always, or even most often, the eldest son - became the norm. Historically, the succession to Japan's Chrysanthemum Throne has always passed to descendants in male line from the imperial lineage. Generally they have been males, though of the over one hundred monarchs there have been eight women as tenno. In part, the Japanese imperial dynasty owes its longevity in the male line to the use of concubines, a practice that only ended in the Taishō period (1912-1926). The Japanese monarchy also relied on the specially designated collateral lines or shinnōke (shinnō houses). It seems that for the recent thousand years, sons of an imperial male and a Fujiwara woman had preferential position in the succession. Also, sons of the empress had preferential position to sons of concubines - but quite often, Fujiwara women were empresses and concubines came from some less exalted nobility. Some emperors even had two empresses simultaneously (kogo, chugu) after a decree from the reign of Emperor Ichijō. There are indications that between a son of a Fujiwara woman and son of an imperial princess, the Fujiwara descent was given precedence. This may have been caused by the higher influence of the said Fujiwara's relatives, but may also have been a part of tradition, perhaps due to the preference to have an emperor with two-side descent from the two kamis. The two influential patterns of maternal descent were:
- a powerful maternal grandfather ensured a puppet on the throne in the person of an underage grandson, himself becoming their guardian. This pattern was usual in the Soga and Fujiwara eras, and even some later shoguns used their daughters in that way. This sometimes also occurred with a father-in-law and an imperial son-in-law (but regent lords preferred underage grandsons to adult son-in-laws).
- a prince having descent from two rival branches of the imperial dynasty, one from the paternal side and the other from the maternal side, was elevated to the throne as a symbol of reconciliation. Besides the empress, the emperor could take concubines, and the son he had by a concubine would be recognized as heir to the throne if the empress did not give birth to an heir. Concubines were allowed also to other dynasts (shinno, o). With the help of polygamy, the imperial clan thus was capable of producing more male offspring, increasing the probability that the dynasty survived in the male line. If the immediate imperial family failed to produce an heir, one of the shinnōke could provide the future emperor. There were four such collateral lines in the Edo period: Fushimi, Katsura, Arisugawa, and Kan'in. Emperor Kōkaku (reigned 1780-1817), the lineal ancestor of all subsequent emperors, was a scion of the Kan'in house. A shinnoke could be inherited by a prince of another branch by permission of the emperor, and alternatively could be revived (the princedoms, shinnoke, seem more or less the common property of the imperial clan). The Edo-period Katsura and Arisugawa houses died out in 1881 and 1913, respectively (though they were revived later, the Arisugawa as Takamatsu, its older name, and the Katsura in the person of the second son of Prince Mikasa). The Fushimi branch, originating from the 15th century, produced a vast number of children in two generations in the 19th century. A scion of the Fushimi house succeeded to the Kan'in house in 1884. The Fushimi house was the progenitor of nine other cadet branches (ōke) of the imperial family during the Meiji period. This house and its offshoots were reduced to commoner status in 1947. Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan had eight female tennō or reigning empresses, all of them daughters of the male line of the imperial clan. None ascended purely as a wife or as a widow of an emperor. Imperial daughters and granddaughters, however, usually ascended the throne as a sort of a "stop gap" measure - if a suitable male was not available or some imperial branches were in rivalry so that a compromise was needed. Almost all Japanese empresses and dozens of emperors abdicated - many empresses once a suitable male descendant in the male line of imperial descendants became old enough. (Suitable male means after his toddler years - Japanese emperors have often ascended as children, as young as 6 or 8 years old, as reaching the age of legal majority was not a requirement. The high-priestly duties were deemed possible for a walking child - and several emperors abdicated/reached their entitled retirement while still in their teens.) Three empresses, Empress Suiko, Empress Kōgyoku (also Empress Saimei) and Empress Jitō, were widows of deceased emperors and princesses of the blood imperial in their own right. One, Empress Gemmei, was the widow of a crown prince and a princess of the blood imperial. The other four, Empress Genshō, Empress Kōken (also Empress Shōtoku), Empress Meishō and Empress Go-Sakuramachi, were unwed daughters of previous emperors. None of these empresses married or gave birth after ascending the throne. A panel that was dealing with the succession issue recommended on October 25, 2005 that females be allowed to ascend to the Japanese throne. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said that he would submit a bill to the Diet by the end of the year.[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051025/ap_on_re_as/japan_imperial_succession]

References

External links

- [http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/eindex.html The Imperial Household Agency]
- [http://photoguide.jp/pix/thumbnails.php?album=158 Photos of Emperor's birthday at the Imperial Palace]
- [http://www.friesian.com/sangoku.htm#japan List of the Emperors], accompanied with the regents and shoguns during their reign and a genealogical tree of the imperial family
- [http://www.wsu.edu:8001/~dee/GLOSSARY/TENNO.HTM A Page from Washington State University]
- [http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=17&ItemID=8081 Emperor, Shinto, Democracy]: Japan's Unresolved Questions of Historical Consciousness Category:Japanese monarchy Category:Positions of authority Category:Monarchy Category:Tokyo Category:Yamato line Category:History of Japan ko:덴노 ja:天皇

Hirohito

Hirohito (April 29, 1901 – January 7, 1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigned from 1926 to 1989. Since his death he has been known as Emperor Shōwa (昭和天皇, Shōwa tennō) in Japan, although he is widely referred to as Hirohito, or Emperor Hirohito, outside of Japan. Before his death, he was simply addressed as Tennō Heika — literally, "His Majesty the Son of Heaven". His reign was the longest of all Japanese emperors, and oversaw the greatest changes to Japanese society. 1989

Early life

Born in the Aoyama Palace in Tokyo, Hirohito was the first son of then Crown Prince Yoshihito and then-Crown Princess Sadako. His childhood title was 迪宮　'Michi no miya' (Prince Michi). He became heir apparent upon the death of his grandfather, the Emperor Meiji, on July 30, 1912. His formal investiture as Crown Prince took place on November 2, 1916. He attended the boy's department of Gakushuin Peer's School from 1908 to 1914 and then a special institute for the Crown Prince (Tōgū-gogakumonsho) from 1914 to 1921. On November 29, 1921, he became regent of Japan, in place of his ailing father. In 1922, Prince Regent Hirohito took a six month tour of the United Kingdom and five other European countries (France; Italy, Vatican City; the Netherlands; and Belgium) thus becoming the first Japanese crown prince to travel abroad. He married his distant cousin Princess Nagako, the eldest daughter of Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, on January 26, 1924. There were seven children from the marriage: #Princess Teru (Teru no miya Shigeko), b. December 9, 1925, d. July 23, 1961; m. October 10 1943 Prince Morihiro (b. May 6, 1916, d. February 1, 1969), the eldest son of Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko and his wife, Princess Toshiko, the eighth daughter of Emperor Meiji; lost status as imperial family members, October 14, 1947. #Princess Hisa (Hisa no miya Sachiko), b. September 10, 1927, d. March 8, 1928. #Princess Taka (Taka no miya Kazuko), b. September 30, 1929, d. May 26, 1989; m. May 5, 1950 Mr. Toshimichi Takatsukasa (b. August 26, 1923, d. January 27, 1966), eldest son of Nobusuke Takatsukasa [peer]. #Princess Yori (Yori no miya Atsuko), b. March 7, 1931; m. October 10, 1952 Mr. Takamasa Ikeda (b. October 21, 1927), eldest son of former Marquis Nobumasa Ikeda. #Crown Prince Akihito (now HM The Emperor), b. December 23, 1933; m. April 10, 1959 Miss Michiko Shoda (b. October 20, 1934), elder daughter of Mr. Hidesaburo Shoda, former president and chairman of Nisshin Flour Milling Company. #Prince Hitachi (Hitachi no miya Masahito), b. November 28, 1935; m. October 30, 1964 Miss Hanako Tsugaru (b. July 19, 1940), fourth daughter of former Count Yoshitaka Tsugaru. #Princess Suga (Suga no miya Takako), b. March 2, 1939; m. March 3, 1960 Mr. Hisanaga Shimazu, son of former Count Hisanori Shimazu.

Accession

Prince Hitachi On December 25, 1926, upon the death of his father Yoshihito, he succeeded to the throne and a new era Shōwa (Enlightened Peace) was proclaimed. He was crowned emperor on November 10, 1928 in Kyoto. The new emperor had the distinction of being the first Japanese monarch in several hundred years whose biological mother was his predecessor's official wife.

Early reign

The first part of Hirohito's reign as sovereign (between 1926 and 1945) took place against a background of increasing military power within the government, through both legal and extralegal means. The Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy had held veto power over the formation of cabinets since 1900, and between 1921 and 1944 there were no fewer than 64 incidents of right-wing political violence. One notable case was the assassination of moderate Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai in 1932, which marked the end of any real civilian control of the military. This was followed by an attempted military coup in February 1936, mounted by junior Army officers; it was occasioned by a loss of ground by the militarist faction in Diet elections. The coup resulted in the murder of a number of high government and Army officials, and was put down with Hirohito angrily assuming a major role in confronting them. Still, from the 1930s on, the military clique held almost all political power in Japan, and pursued policies that eventually led Japan to fight the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.

World War II

In the immediate aftermath of the war, many believed that the Shōwa Emperor was an evil mastermind behind the war while others claimed that he was simply a powerless figurehead. Many people in China, Taiwan, Korea and Southeast Asia see Hirohito as Asia's Hitler of World War II, and some feel he should have been tried for war crimes. Because of this, many Asians residing in countries that were subject to Japanese invasion retain a hostile attitude towards the Japanese Imperial Family. The central question is how much real control Hirohito had over the Japanese military during the two wars. The view promoted by both the Japanese Imperial Palace and the American occupation forces immediately after World War II had Hirohito behaving strictly according to protocol, remaining at a distance from the decision-making processes. On the other hand, Herbert Bix has recently produced evidence suggesting that the emperor worked through intermediaries to exercise a great deal of control over the military, and that he was, in fact, the prime mover of most of the events of the two wars. On September 4, 1941, the Japanese Cabinet met to consider the war plans prepared by Imperial General Headquarters, and decided that: :Our Empire, for the purpose of self-defence and self-preservation, will complete preparations for war ... [and is] ... resolved to go to war with the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands if necessary. Our Empire will concurrently take all possible diplomatic measures vis-a-vis the United States and Great Britain, and thereby endeavor to obtain our objectives ... In the event that there is no prospect of our demands being met by the first ten days of October through the diplomatic negotiations mentioned above, we will immediately decide to commence hostilities against the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. October The "objectives" to be obtained were clearly defined: a free hand to continue with the conquest of China and South-east Asia, no increase in US or British military forces in the region, and cooperation by the West "in the acquisition of goods needed by our Empire". On September 5, Prime Minister Konoe informally submitted a draft of the decision to the Emperor, just one day in advance of the Imperial Conference at which it would be formally implemented. According to the traditional view (again, contradicted by Bix's research), Hirohito was deeply concerned by the decision to place "war preparations first and diplomatic negotiations second" and announced his intention to break with centuries-old protocol and, at the Imperial Conference on the following day, directly question the chiefs of the Army and Navy general staffs — a quite unprecedented action. Konoe quickly persuaded Hirohito to summon them for a private conference instead, at which the Emperor made it plain that a peaceful settlement was to be pursued "up to the last". Chief of Naval General Staff Admiral Osami Nagano, a former Navy Minister and vastly experienced, later told a trusted colleague "I have never seen the Emperor reprimand us in such a manner, his face turning red and raising his voice." Nevertheless, all speakers at the Imperial Conference were united in favour of war rather than diplomacy. Baron Yoshimichi Hara, President of the Imperial Council and the Emperor's representative, then questioned them closely, producing replies to the effect that war would only be considered as a last resort from some, and silence from others. At this point, the sovereign astonished all present by addressing the conference personally, and in breaking the tradition of Imperial silence left his advisors "struck with awe". (Prime Minister Konoe's description of the event.) Emperor Hirohito stressed the need for peaceful resolution of international problems, expressed regret at his ministers' failure to respond to Baron Hara's probings, and recited a poem written by his grandfather, the Emperor Meiji which, he said, he had read "over and over again": : Methinks all the people of the world are brethren, then. : Why are the waves and the wind so unsettled nowadays? Recovering from their shock, the ministers hastened to express their profound wish to explore all possible peaceful avenues. The war preparations continued without the slightest change, however, and within weeks Cabinet would replace the insufficiently belligerent Konoe with the hard line General Hideki Tojo, chosen by Hirohito. On December 8 (December 7 in Hawaii) 1941, in simultaneous attacks, Japanese forces struck at the US Fleet in Pearl Harbor and began the invasion of South-East Asia. From here, there was no turning back. Whatever his actual involvement leading up to hostilities, with the nation now fully committed to the war, Emperor Hirohito took a keen interest in military progress and did all he could to boost morale. To begin with, the news was all good. He also chose the PM, that went to war, and could have chosen one that did not, and he supported the move to war. As the tide of war gradually began to turn (around late 1942 and early 1943), some people argue that the flow of information to the palace gradually began to bear less and less relation to reality, while others suggest that the emperor worked closely with Prime Minister Tojo, continued to be well and accurately briefed by the military, and knew Japan's military position precisely right up to the point of surrender. In the first six months of war, all the major engagements had been victories. Throughout the following years, the sequence of drawn, and then decisively lost engagements were also reported to the public as great victories. Only gradually did it become apparent to the people in the home islands that the situation was very grim. U.S. air raids on the cities of Japan starting in 1944 made a mockery of the unending tales of victory. Later that year, with the downfall of Hideki Tojo's government, Hirohito appointed two other prime ministers to continue the war effort, Kuniaki Koiso and Kantaro Suzuki. Both were unsuccessful and Japan was nearing defeat.

Last days of the war

In early 1945, in the wake of the loss of Leyte, the Emperor began a series of individual meetings with senior government officials to consider the progress of the war. All but one advised continuing. The exception was ex-Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, who feared a communist revolution even more than defeat and urged a negotiated surrender. Hirohito took the view that peace was essential but that the armed forces would have to engineer a conspicuous military victory somewhere in order to provide a stronger bargaining position. With each passing week this became less likely. In April the Soviet Union issued notice that it would not renew its neutrality agreement. Japan's ally Germany surrendered in early May 1945. In June, the cabinet reassessed the war strategy, only to decide more firmly than ever on a fight to the last man. This was officially affirmed at a brief Imperial Council meeting, to which the Emperor listened in stone-faced silence. The following day, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Koichi Kido prepared a draft document which summarised the hopeless military situation and proposed a negotiated settlement. According to some sources, the Emperor privately approved of it and authorised Kido to circulate it discreetly amongst the less hawkish cabinet members; others suggest that the Emperor was indecisive, and that the mixed signals from the palace delayed the peace process, costing many tens of thousands of Japanese and Allied lives. By mid-June the cabinet had agreed to approach the Soviet Union to act as a mediator, though not before the bargaining position had been improved by a repulse of the coming Allied invasion of mainland Japan. On June 22, Hirohito broke tradition once again to speak to his ministers, saying "I desire that concrete plans to end the war, unhampered by existing policy, be speedily studied and that efforts be made to implement them." The attempt to negotiate a peace via the Soviet Union came to nothing: the Allies were determined not to settle for anything short of "unconditional surrender", and as late as July 1945 neither the Emperor nor his government were prepared to consider that option: they insisted on at least one condition, a guarantee of the emperor's continuing position in Japanese society.

Post-war reign

unconditional surrender On August 15, 1945, following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan, Hirohito, after more hesitation, abandoned the condition of preserving his own position and finally made the radio broadcast announcing the unconditional surrender of Japan's military forces (known as Gyokuon-hōsō). The broadcast exhorted the Japanese to "accept the unacceptable" in surrender; it was the first time the public had ever heard the Emperor's voice. Because Hirohito was in charge of the cause of Pacific War, there were attempts to put him on trial for war crimes by numerous leaders, among them President Harry S Truman, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur insisted that Hirohito remain Emperor to keep him as a symbol of continuity and cohesion of the Japanese people. Hirohito was spared trial and retained the throne, but Hirohito was forced to explicitly reject (in the Ningen-sengen 人間宣言, lit. "declaration of human being") the traditional claim that the Emperor of Japan was divine, and a descendant of the Sun Goddess. According to the Japanese constitution of 1889, Hirohito had a divine power over his country, which was derived from the mythology of the Japanese Imperial Family who were said to be the offspring of the creator of Japan or Amaterasu. The imperial title was thus transformed from 'imperial sovereign' to 'constitutional monarch' in 1946. It should, however, be noted that immediately after Hirohito's repudiation of divinity, he implicitly reaffirmed it by asking the occupation authorities for permission to worship an ancestress and then worshipping the Sun Goddess; this reaffirmation would have been comprehensible to all Japanese though not necessarily by the occupation authorities. 1946] Although Hirohito was forced to reject any claims to his own divine status, his status was deliberately left vague, partly because General MacArthur thought him likely to be a useful tool to get the Japanese to accept the occupation, and partly due to behind-the-scenes maneuverings by Yoshida Shigeru to thwart MacArthur's attempts at casting Hirohito as a European-style monarch. While Hirohito was usually seen as a head of state, there is still a broad dispute about whether he became a mere citizen or something else. Many scholars claim that today's tennō (usually translated into Emperor of Japan in English) is not an emperor. That view determines whether Japan is a democratic republic or a constitutional monarchy. See the "Emperor of Japan" article for discussion of the position of Emperor of Japan. Regardless, for the rest of his life, Hirohito was an active figure in Japanese life, and performed many of the duties commonly associated with a figurehead head of state. The emperor and his family maintained a strong public presence, often holding public walkabouts and making public appearances on special events and holidays. He also played an important role in rebuilding Japan's diplomatic image, traveling abroad to meet with many foreign leaders, including numerous American presidents and the United Kingdom's Elizabeth II. In his lifetime, he was interested in marine biology, and the Imperial Palace contained a laboratory from which Hirohito published several papers in the field.

Death

On September 22, 1987, Hirohito underwent surgery on his pancreas after having digestive problems for several months. This was the very first time a Japanese Emperor underwent surgery. The doctors discovered that he had duodenal cancer, but in accordance with Japanese tradition, they did not tell him. Hirohito seemed to be recovering well for several months after his surgery. About a year later, however, on September 19, 1988, he collapsed in his palace, and his health worsened over the next several months as he suffered from continuous internal bleeding. On January 7, 1989, at 6:33 AM, Hirohito finally died. At 7:55 AM, the grand steward of Japan's Imperial Household Agency, Shoichi Fujimori, officially announced the Emperor's death, and revealed details about his cancer for the first time. Upon his death, he was renamed Emperor Showa (Shōwa Tennō), after the era during which he ruled. On February 24, Emperor Showa's funeral was held, and unlike that of his predecessor, it was not done in a strictly Shinto manner, and a number of world leaders attended it. He is buried in the Imperial mausoleum in Hachioji, alongside other past emperors.

References

- Mosley, Leonard Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1966. ISBN 1111755396 ISBN 1199997609 - The first full-length biography, it gives his basic story.
- Hoyt, Edwin P. Hirohito: The Emperor and the Man, Praeger Publishers, 1992. ISBN 0275940691
- Behr, Edward Hirohito: Behind the Myth, Villard, New York, 1989. - A controversial book that posited that Hirohito had a more active role in WWII than had publically been portrayed; it contributed to the re-appraisal of his role.
- Bix, Herbert P. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, HarperCollins, 2000. ISBN 006019314X - A recent scholarly (and copiously sourced) look at the same issue.
- Wetzler, Peter Hirohito and War: Imperial Tradition and Military Decision Making in Prewar Japan, University of Hawaii Press, 1998. ISBN 082481925X
- Kawahara, Toshiaki Hirohito and His Times: A Japanese Perspective, Kodansha International, 1997. ISBN 0870119796 (Japanese standard image)

External links

- [http://homepage3.nifty.com/kadzuwo/triviana/hirohito.htm Hirohito, Emperor @A Trivial Encyclopedia of Japan] (with links in multiple languages)
- [http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/esyouwa/esyouwa.html#koujyun Kunaicho | Emperor Showa] Hirohito, emperor of Japan Hirohito, emperor of Japan category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Regents Category:Japanese emperors Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Showa period Category:World War II political leaders Category:Yamato line ko:쇼와 천황 ja:昭和天皇

Ningen-sengen

On New Year's Day, 1946, the Showa Emperor issued an imperial rescript, which is called Shin-Nippon kensetsu ni kan suru shōsho (新日本建設に関する詔書, lit. "Imperial Rescript on the Construction of a New Japan") and Nentō, kokuun shinkō no shōsho (年頭、国運振興の詔書 lit. "Imperial Rescript on National Revitalization") in a formal situation, but is commonly known as Ningen-sengen (人間宣言 lit. "humanity declaration"). Delivery of this rescript was to be one of Hirohito's last acts as the imperial sovereign. The Supreme Commander Allied Powers and the Western world in general gave great attention to the following passage: : The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection and do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world. According to the popular Western view, this challenged the centuries-old claim that he and those before him were descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and thus the Emperor had now publicly admitted that he was not a living god. However, the meaning of the exact contents — delivered in stilted, archaic court Japanese — have been the subject of much debate. In particular, instead of the common word arahitogami for "living god", the more unusual phrase akitsumikami (現御神) was used instead. While usually glossed as "divinity" in English, some commentators have argued that this means "manifest kami", and the Emperor could still be an arahitogami even if he is not an akitsumikami. Defenders also note that the Emperor later asked and received permission to worship an ancestor, and then worshipped Amaterasu — implicitly reaffirming the mythical line of descent. Critics of the Western interpretation, including the Emperor himself, argue that the repudiation of divinity was not the point of the rescript. Since this rescript starts with a full quote from the Five Charter Oath of 1868 by the Meiji Emperor, the Emperor's true intention was that Japan had already been democratic in the Meiji era and was not democratized by the occupiers. As was clarified at a press interview of August 23, 1977, the Emperor wanted the Japanese people not to forget pride in Japan. This rescript is said to have been drafted by Reginald Horace Blyth, who also contributed to the popularization of Zen and Haiku outside Japan.

External links

- [http://www.chukai.ne.jp/~masago/ningen.html Full text of the rescript] (in Japanese and English) ja:新日本建設に関する詔書 Category:Japanese monarchy Category:Occupied Japan Category:1946

Imperial cult

An Imperial cult is a cult in which an Emperor, or a dynasty of emperors, are worshipped as demigods or deities.

Ancient Rome

In the Roman Empire the Imperial cult was the worship of the Roman emperor as a god.

From Julius Caesar to Hadrian

Julius Cæsar allowed a statue of himself with the inscription, Deo Invicto (Latin "to the unconquered god") in 44 BC. In the same year, Cæsar declared himself dictator for life. Julius Cæsar's nephew and adopted son, Augustus Cæsar caused a temple to be built in Rome to Divus Julius, the "divine", or "deified" Julius. As the (adopted) son of the deified Julius, Augustus was already titled divi filius - son of a god. Between 29 and 19 BC Virgil, befriended to Augustus, wrote the Aeneid. The first book of that poem contains a passage where Jove is portrayed to unfold his decisions to Venus, containing these words: : In other words: through the poetry of his friend, as through other channels, Augustus sanctions the "cult" of his adopted father - and so also prepares his own. Note that in these 1st century BC mythological developments, that tied the gens Julia to Iulus, Julius Caesar was portrayed as descending from several gods, amongst which Venus and Jupiter. Tacitus describes (Ann. IV, 37-38 and 55-56) that Augustus and Tiberius had each allowed a single temple to be erected in their honor during their respective lifetimes: such a temple would, however, not only contain a statue of the ruling emperor, that could be venerated in a god-like fashion, but the temples were also dedicated to the Roman people (the "City of Rome" in Augustus' case; the "senate" in Tiberius' case). Both temples were situated in the Asian part of the Roman empire:
- Augustus' temple was situated in Pergamon;
- Pressed from several sides, Tiberius would not allow any other temple or statue in his honor, than a single one in Asia, following his predecessor's example. Tiberius declared before the senate he'd rather be remembered for his acts than by stone, but consented in 26 that the senate chose Zmyrna out of eleven candidate-cities for erecting "his" temple. The several temples and statues dedicated to Caligula (on his own instigation) were all destroyed immediately after this emperor's death. Claudius appears to have allowed a single temple in his honor, following Augustus' and Tiberius' example again, this time in Britain, after his successful conquest there. Generally Roman emperors avoided claiming the status of a deity in their own lives, even if some critiques insisted they should, and not doing so would be considered a sign of weakness. Other Romans would ridicule the notion that a Roman emperor was to be considered a living god, or would even make fun of the deification of an emperor after his death: Seneca the Younger's only known satirical writing, the Apocolocyntosis divi Claudii, shows bitter sarcasm regarding Claudius' foreseeable deification, which, according to Tacitus, however was already effectuated at the Emperor's funeral in 54 (Ann. XII, 69). Most often, deceased emperors were the subject of worship during this period — at least, the ones who did not become so unpopular with their subjects that the populace considered their assasination a relief. Most emperors benefited from a speedy deification of their predecessor: if that predecessor was a close relative (even if only by adoption), that meant that the new emperor could count on a "near to deified" status of being a divi filius, without needing to be too presumptuous regarding his own godhead status. A famous deathbed remark, allegedly by Vespasian, claims that his last words were puto deus fio — "I think I'm turning into a god." For females of the Imperial dynasties, acquiring the title of Augusta, only exceptionally granted, was generally regarded as the essential stepstone to the status of divinity.

Civil religion until abolishment by Constantine

After Hadrian, the power of the emperors had become so absolute and consolidated that the later emperors could claim divinity during their own lives. During the persecution of Christians that took place in the Roman empire, the imperial cult became an important aspect of that persecution. To the extent that participation in the imperial cult became a loyalty test, the imperial cult was a particularly aggressive sort of civil religion. Loyal citizens of the Empire were expected to make a periodic offering of incense to the genius, or tutelary spirit, of the Emperor, and upon doing so they received a certificate that they had in fact demonstrated their loyalty by sacrificing. Christians, of course, refused to worship the Emperor, considering the cult to be idolatry. The sacrifice was used as a law enforcement tool to ferret them out. The imperial cult was abandoned when Constantine I - who had adopted the christian religion - became Emperor. From then on high religious claims by Roman and Byzantine emperors, no longer stated in terms of godhead of the Emperors, but in terms of challenging the religious authority of the highest non-secular leaders of the Church, would be indicated as Caesaropapism.

Japan

Before the end of World War II, the Japanese Emperor made similar claims to deity; see:
- Shinto - general article about Japan's religion.
- Arahitogami - the concept of a god who is a human being applied to Emperor Hirohito, up till the end of World War II.
- Ningen-sengen, the declaration with which Emperor Hirohito, on New Year's Day 1946, (formally) declined claims of divinity, keeping with traditional family values as expressed in the Shinto religion.

Haile Selassie and the Rastafari

An imperial cult of a totally different dimension occurred also in the 20th century. Thousands of miles from where the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie lived, a new religion developed in the Caribbean, stating the Ethiopian Emperor to be a manifestation of Jah. Note that there was no explicit connection to the fact he was Emperor, he was considered to be an earthly aspect of the God that was also identified with the Christian God. That the Emperor was a secular ruler too was no essential part of the definition of his god-like status. He was exiled in Britain during Italian occupation of his country (1935-1941), but basically he was the only Emperor who survived the second world war with his godhead status still rising: the Rastafari belief was still far from its peak, which occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was spread around the world with Reggae music as its best known carrier.

Notes

# Vergilius, Aeneis I, 286-290, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0055:book=1:line=272 Perseus Project (Latin, ed. J. B. Greenough)] # Ibid., [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0054:book=1:line=272 Perseus Project, translation by Theodore C. Williams] # Venus/Aphrodite was the mother of Aeneas, who was the father of Iulus/Ascanius; # Jupiter/Zeus was an ancestor of Aeneas' father Anchises (Homer, Iliad, XX)

External links

- [http://janusquirinus.org/essays/Cult.html Role of the Roman Imperial Cult During the Augustan Age] Category:Ancient Rome zh-tw:君主崇拜

Category:Shinto

This category comprises articles pertaining to the Shinto religion. Category:Eastern culture Category:Religious faiths, traditions, and movements Category:Religion in Japan ja:Category:神道

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