Tatiana Maria
Majesty
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2013
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- United States
With deft political move, Japan's Emperor seeks to cement the role he created | The Japan Times
An Imperial appeal to the people- Nikkei Asian ReviewYuichi Nishimura, a young constitutional scholar at Hokkaido University, told the Asahi that whoever leaked the [abdication] news wanted to appear to be bypassing the Cabinet, which has authority over the Imperial Household Agency. […] The government, which currently represents the desires of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party, is working to revise the Constitution, and one of the things they want to change is the status of the Emperor from a "symbol" (shōchō) of the state to its "sovereign head" (genshu), which is what he was before Japan lost World War II.
Toshiya Sakiyama, a reporter who covers the Imperial household, speculated on TBS Radio that the Cabinet probably knew about the Emperor’s "intentions" before the leak and did nothing to stop it, but he "can’t confirm" that supposition. In any case, if the Cabinet didn’t know about it, then it was remiss in its responsibilities, because while the Emperor’s duties are stipulated in the Constitution, those he actually performs are carried out at "the discretion of the Cabinet." […] His visit last week to Nippon Budokan Hall to express remorse for World War II is not something he’s required to do, and thus he can only do it with the permission of the Cabinet.
The same goes for all those trips he and Empress Michiko have made to former battle sites to pray for those who perished in the war, not to mention visiting disaster areas to commiserate with evacuees. These "duties" (kōmu) are, legally speaking, not duties at all. Real kōmu are restricted to religious rituals, rubber-stamping documents and meeting foreign dignitaries. These newer tasks are simply things the Emperor wants to do, and now that he’s established a precedent in the minds of the people, he insists that his heirs continue this work, which is why he wants to step down. […] As Nishimura points out, this "role" the Emperor has assumed negates that of "sovereign head of state."
[…] Sakiyama says he received information that the announcement of the Emperor’s intention to step down was originally going to be made on the Emperor’s birthday in December, and while no one in the media has said so explicitly, the feeling is that it was moved up because of the LDP's victory in the Upper House election in July. Before the government starts fiddling with the national charter, the Emperor wants the people involved and thus has injected his "will" into the matter. Such a scheme is clearly political and outside the Emperor's job description, but when you create an occupation for yourself, you get to say how it’s carried out.
The aging monarch first signaled his intention to step down to family members and close aides about five years ago, according to the Imperial Household Agency, which released the video on Aug. 8. But the Japanese constitution forbids the emperor from saying anything with political implications, and the prime minister's office has been hesitant to address the emperor's wish, according to the agency.
"To move the discussion forward, we had no choice but to create an opportunity for the emperor to directly speak to the public about what he has been thinking," an agency official said.
[…]
It is not true that Akihito wants to retire early because of the heavy workload, an agency official said, adding that he is worried some people may have the mistaken impression that the emperor intends to relinquish the throne immediately.
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