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According to the Imperial Household Agency, Prince Yoshihito (who was to become Emperor Taisho afterwards) and Princess Sadako were married in a small ceremony at eight o’clock in the morning on May 10, 1900; at the Imperial Shrine on the palace grounds in Tokyo. Only members of their immediate families attended the rites, and on April 29, 1901; nearly one year after the wedding, their first son, Hirohito, was born.

At least, that is the official story given and repeated in most histories of Japan. But court gossip tells another tale, and its version is strongly supported by Count Yoshinori Futara, the personal “public relations adviser” of the Emperor for a time, who wrote in 1928 that Prince Hirohito was “born on the night of April 29, 1900″ – exactly one year before the date that is officially presented to the public.

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ChiaraC Historical Royals, Japanese Royals Emperor Hirohito, Emperor Meiji, Emperor Taisho, Empress Teimei, Succession

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 ”The monarchy is a brake on any hopes of deepening Japanese democracy and making it real. As long as it exists, democracy has quotes around it.” This is the opinion of Herbert Bix who has written a book about Emperor Hirohito that won the Pulitzer-prize. As Bix is an expert concerning the Japanese monarchy, his words are certainly well worth to be taken into careful consideration, disagreeable as their implications may seem.

There cannot be any doubt that “State Shinto” with its ceremonial head, the tenno, became a powerful instrument in the hands of early 19th century militarists, who used it to glorify their policy of aggression that, finally, led to World War II. As the tenno, at the time, was supposed to be a divine being (the Japanese emperors claimed descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu), his will was seen as capable of justifying even the most atrocious crimes – a god is not obliged to abide by the moral laws of common mortals, he is beyond them.

After Japan’s surrender to the Allies, there were, consequently, some thoughts of completely eradicating the monarchy. But General MacArthur felt that he needed the emperor to legitimize the Allies’ occupational reforms. Therefore, the monarchy was preserved. But the new Constitution of 1947 reduced the emperor from the status of a living god to that of a mere national symbol and, furthermore, contained detailed rules to narrowly limit his powers and make them almost entirely ceremonial. The first eight articles of the constitution dealt exclusively with the emperor and the monarchy, leaving no doubt that he has no “powers related to government”. And to be quite safe from any recurrences of the past, the Allies further added the famous Article Nine that denies Japan the right to maintain armed forces and the state´s right of belligerency. Additionally, in article 20 it is stated that “The state and its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious activity.” which was meant to prevent the ancient Shinto religion from becoming ever again a political instrument to ensure national support for chauvinistic political measures. Read more…

ChiaraC Japanese Royals Democracy, Emperor Akihito, Emperor Hirohito, Prince Naruhito