The present emperor-priest at new year, 2010 (picture by UPI/Keizo Mori)
There are many things that could be said about Japan’s emperor system. One is that the present incumbent is certainly not the 125th in direct line from the legendary Jimmu. There have been many hiccups on the way, and it’s generally agreed by historians that the earliest emperors are entirely fictitious. Yet the pre-war belief in an unbroken imperial line since time immemorial has never been renounced and is still routinely trotted out. Even Wikipedia mentions it in the very first line of its article on the present emperor. (See Akihito.)
Since Meiji times, in an invented tradition, the emperor has been recognised as the head priest and central figure of Shinto. Still today Jinja Honcho (Association of Shrines) devotes much effort to fostering the emperor’s prestige through its campaign to promote Ise, which is the seat of the imaginary imperial ancestor, Amaterasu. In this respect the intriguing constitutional predicament brought about by a lack of male heirs in the imperial family is of interest, as an article in the Japan Times illustrates. Curiously for a lineage that claims descent from the sun-goddess, females are debarred from succeeding as emperor. Hisahito, the present grandson of the ailing Emperor Akihito, is the sole male member of his generation, leading to nervous thoughts about the future.
Excerpt follows from an article by Colin P.A. Jones, professor at Kyoto’s Doshisha Law School.
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Since members of the Imperial family are prohibited by law from adopting children, there is a very real prospect that in the not-too-distant future the Japanese Imperial household will be reduced to little more than a single nuclear family headed by Prince Hisahito and his wife.
Under current law, if all of the princesses marry out of the monarchy, Hisahito would quite literally be the only one left in the household to perform a myriad of state functions and religious ceremonies. He and his lucky spouse would also have to bear the intense pressure of producing male heirs to continue the lineage, a burden that reportedly drove his aunt, Princess Masako, to the brink of despair.
The onerous responsibility imposed by state functions on the Emperor should not be underestimated. Some of them, such as appointing the prime minister, receiving foreign ambassadors and promulgating new legislation, are mandated by the Constitution. Other members of the Imperial family thus play an important role not just as a source of potential heirs, but also as proxies for the Emperor when he is unavailable due to illness or other commitments. During Akihito’s recent hospitalization the Crown Prince performed state functions in his place.
At a recent press conference Prince Akishino suggested there should be a “retirement age” after which the Emperor should perform only constitutional functions, leaving the rest of the Imperial family to handle the many other public duties not specified in the Constitution (there are no provisions in the law allowing emperors to retire completely before death). Yet even this would not be a long-term solution if there are no other Imperials around to share the burden. While the constitutional roles performed by the Emperor are formalities, if neither he nor any lawful proxies are available to perform them, a constitutional crisis is possible nonetheless.
As for succession, that having a baby boy remains a matter of fate has been demonstrated by the situation of the current Crown Prince and Princess Masako, not to mention numerous Imperial predecessors, who in days past were at least aided by the availability of official concubines. Akihito’s grandfather and great-grandfather, the Meiji and Taisho Emperors, were both born to concubines (a status that would have rendered them ineligible for the throne under current law).
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(Click here for the full article.)
” One is that the present incumbent is certainly not the 125th in direct line from the legendary Jimmu. ”
Indeed. Jingû-kôgô was in the list before. Sudô-Tennô is not counted as part of those 125th Emperors. Some of them were enthroned twice too. So, depending on how you count, and of your point of view, he is certainly not 125th. ^^’
” There have been many hiccups on the way, and it’s generally agreed by historians that the earliest emperors are entirely fictitious. ”
It was also agreed, based upon the BIBLE, that the Earth was created just a couple of Millenia. At the same time, in Japan and China, the earliest mythical sovereign lived Millions of Years. LOL
” Since Meiji times, in an invented tradition, the emperor has been recognised as the head priest and central figure of Shinto. ”
He is not, but it is not baseless. And so, saying “invented” is nothing but slander.
The Emperor has the longest blood line, 125 Emperors or not, the most ancient, and the most prestigious one in Japan (if not in the World… “Japanese Things” by Chamberlain says Japanese sees His Majesty as De Jure Monarch of the Universe… the only who can rival are the Pope and the English Monarch… whose dynasty is recent).
The 2nd holiest and longest Shinto Priest blood line is… The Senge family of Izumo Taisha, who is still considered “beyond the clouds” by believers. Is the International Comunity bitching about that ? It is not. So why not the Emperor, who is more prestigious, powerful, holier and have longer dynasty ?
The Emperor is or was the De Facto head priest of Shinto, since Meiji era or not.
” Curiously for a lineage that claims descent from the sun-goddess, females are debarred from succeeding as emperor. ”
As mentionned in another comment by me, it doesn’t descend from the Sun Goddes Amaterasu, but pretty much ALL the gods from the Kamiyo eras. And the dynasty was funded by Jimmu-Tennô thru Ninigi-no-Mikoto, who was male. And since Ninigi, the family head was always male, and thus had a Y chromosom. The only exceptions were female Emperor, Jôshi Tennô, but they didn’t passed the Throne to their children.
A tradition who survived for that much time desserved to be preserved. Period.
” Since members of the Imperial family are prohibited by law from adopting children, there is a very real prospect that in the not-too-distant future the Japanese Imperial household will be reduced to little more than a single nuclear family headed by Prince Hisahito and his wife.
Under current law, if all of the princesses marry out of the monarchy, Hisahito would quite literally be the only one left in the household to perform a myriad of state functions and religious ceremonies. ”
Unless Hisahito-shinnô take concubines. :)
A lot of them. :D
Why not ? :p
It’s how the dynasty survived for all that time. They don’t have a choice. The Americans opposed this custom by long time anti-Monarchy policy and “maybe” because it was awkward in the current “modern” world to have multiple wives.
The Kôzoku is closer in style to Saudi Arabia than Sweden or Belgium.
I see no problem with multiple consorts. :/