https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/japan-emperor-abdication-190429012534525.html

Why is Akihito abdicating?

In August 2016, Akihito, citing concerns about his age and declining health, expressed his wish to abdicate while he was still well and capable.

As a constitutionally defined symbol with no political power Akihito sought understanding in a message to his people, and immediately won overwhelming public support, paving the way for the government's approval.

With Japan's Imperial House Law lacking a provision on abdication by a reigning emperor and virtually allowing only posthumous succession, the government enacted a one-time law to allow Akihito's abdication.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/emperor-akihito-japanese-abdication-rituals-today-2019-04-30/

Emperor Akihito has officially announced his abdication from the Japanese throne. The elaborate abdication ritual began at a Shinto shrine Tuesday morning as Japan embraced the end of his reign with reminiscence and hope for a new era. Television images showed Akihito in a traditional robe entering the main Shrine of Kashikodokoro to report his retirement to the gods. The shine is where the goddess Amaterasu, said to be the direct ancestress of the imperial family, is enshrined.

In a palace ceremony later in the day Akihito officially announced his retirement before other members of the royal family and top government officials. His reign technically runs through midnight when his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, becomes new emperor and his "era" begins.

That's cool! Ask your question and supply the answer!

That'll cut down on pixel wear & tear!

It's a real question even if not intended that way.

Akihito was the first emperor untainted by WW2. He symbolized, and was happy to symbolize, Japan's new and pacific role in international affairs.

PM Abe, by contrast, has a militarist and nationalistic family legacy. His mother's father, Kishi, was a convicted war criminal who spent three years in prison before the Americans released him to allow him to return to politics. He served for a while as Prime Minister. On the other side of the family, Abe's father Shintaro, a long-time leader of the LDP and a sometime Prime Minister, was also nationalistically inclined; he wanted to revise the constitution and allow Japan to participate in military activities abroad.

The scion of these two families, Shinzo Abe has long viewed constitutional revision his highest goal as well as a means of rehabilitating his father and his father-in-law. Akihito is constrained in his ability to intervene in political debate, but his aides have been leaking word of his dissatisfaction with the new policy for years.

This subtext has been in the news since the beginning, and when Akihito first announced his intention to retire the Abe government resisted on the grounds that the emperor should not take an action everyone knew indicated dissatisfaction with the constitutional revision. Ultimately, though, there was no way to prevent him from stepping down.

So there is an answer to the query. To the rest of the world this may seem like shadow puppetry, since nationalistic dictators are the flavor of the month, but in Japan it is a big deal.

elderolddog Wrote:
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> That's cool! Ask your question and supply the
> answer!
>
> That'll cut down on pixel wear & tear!

You can thank the journalists at Al Jazeera, not me.

The new Japanese Empress Masako attended high school in Massachusetts, and went to Harvard for university. Before she married into the Japanese royal family (which she was essentially forced to do, emphatically against her will), she had a prestigious and productive career....yet she was essentially forced to give up what she loved and had achieved, to become a lifetime prisoner (in an extremely nice prison), whose interaction with the outside world was (and still is) severely curtailed (to the point where she has had mental issues in recent years).

Their only child, daughter Princess Aiko (who is 18 now), faces an even worse future than did her mother. Potential marriage for her is restricted to a Japanese royal husband ONLY, but there are no single male members of the royal family anymore, so she cannot marry anyone. If, at some point, she were to insist on marrying a commoner, she would be stripped of her royal title and financial support (and possibly contact with her parents, as well).

I read Empress Masako's biography, and it was one of the most depressing real life stories I have ever encountered (it bothered me for months afterwards....it still does)--especially since she was, in reality, forced into a marriage, and a rigidly secluded life, she actively DID NOT WANT [!!], as her patriotic duty to her country.

Princess Aiko (the daughter) is now facing "serving for life in an isolated gilded cage," just as her mother, Empress Masako, faced the same horrific fate in 1993.

After reading Empress Masako's biography, I feel so sorry for all of them. It is a horrible fate, not unlike finding oneself marooned on a tiny remote island, alone, for all the rest of your life.

It is true that Masako went through several severe depressions after marrying into the imperial family.

Oh, that is terrible.

It sounds similar to the Baron de Rothschild's daughters. They weren't allowed to marry anyone outside of the family. Only if it were an uncle or a cousin, then maybe the parents would allow it.

Several of their daughters were spinsters throughout their lives, who lived in ivory castles much like prisoners. They had everything money could buy, but lacked love.

The majority of the daughters died in their 30's, in Paris and other high society places.

It was a sad tragic tale for them. Their brothers fared better than they because they were men in a patriarchal caste system.

The sons each were given a country to run a bank from. One in London, another in Naples. One in Paris. And the fourth in Frankfurt.

The Rothschild mother being the dowager and matriarch of the clan, outlived most of her daughters by a few decades. She clung to power and the dynasty she helped to create.

The Japanese royal family with the emperor abdicating shows his willingness and humility to step down when he could have remained for life. He in essence wasn't really giving anything up IMO, because the torch was being passed on to his heir by his own volition.

Japan does have a lot to do if it's going to turn things around in the age of modernity.

I'll give a Mormon connection. Empress Masako went to the same high school as Richard Bushman's (Rough Stone Rolling) kids, although they were likely there some years earlier than her.

Thank you, summer!!

:D

It's an interesting high school -- technically public, but with the quality of a private school. A lot of professors at Harvard and other area universities send their kids there. I can easily see why the school was chosen for Masako.

Mitt Romney, by contrast, sent his eldest son Tagg to the far snootier (and private) Belmont Hill School.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2019 07:18PM by summer.

these poor oriental pagan people need Jesus ~

My TBM daughter was called to the Japan Osaka mission, but got married instead, or else she'd have taken Jesus to them and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

She would have loved Japan--and very well may have lost faith in the church.

Well they don't celebrate Easter or Christmas in Japan.

They did have the past week and a day off for Golden Week though, to honor their Emperor. It's a national holiday for all Japenese.

You bet it is. Christmas Cake and KFC

I was on my mission in Okayama when Emperor Akihito ascended the imperial throne and the day that his coronation occurred, we were at a dinner meeting at an investigator's house. The TV was on and I was glued to it even though I understood zip. For MONTHS afterward there would be articles and pictures in the papers. I thought the Empress had an innate sophistication that just made me stare. That was when I fell in love with ombre.

I remember when the now-current Emperor married Masako as well. There was all this talk of her imbuing the position with a newfangled pizzazz and that she would be the Japanese version of Princess Diana but the Imperial Household Agency put a quick stop to those dangerous thoughts.

Your personal account adds wonderful color to this story, Levi.

Thank you!!

Levi Wrote:
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> You bet it is. Christmas Cake and KFC


The internet agrees with you!

Christmas is known throughout the world for being a Christian holiday, but in Japan it is treated as a secular celebration, and tends to be celebrated regardless of one’s religion. In fact, very few people in Japan consider themselves Christian, but the holiday of Christmas is enjoyed by people from far and wide in Japan.

One of the key differences is that Christmas in Japan is thought of as a holiday for lovers...

There are five other points about Christmas in Japan, including the KFC and the strawberry shortcake! But then, you already knew that...

https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-tokyo_train_station/article-a0000770/

It may be a fraction of the Japanese population, but there are more Japanese Christians than people living in Utah. That should put it in perspective... Hardly "very few".

Not according to my son, who lives there.

He was just telling me that the era of Showa is what the Japanese calendar began with prior to today. That was in honor of the last emperor who ruled Japan for 62 years.

Going forward will be marked the era of Renwa on the Japanese calendar.

Japan is mostly a secular country. Its primary religion is Shintoism and Buddhism. Christianity is a minority religion there - only 1-2% identify as Christian.

Amyjo Wrote:
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> Christianity
> is a minority religion there - only 1-2% identify
> as Christian.

For a minority religion, Christianity has been surprisingly influential in Japan. It's very regional (more common in the south), but it has been a major force in Japanese history, and some notable Japanese people have been Christian - including some of the current royal family.

The Japanese also celebrate Christmas although more in the commercial style than the Christian one.

That may be all they know about Christmas'. One year my child and a couple of friends set up a display booth at a community event around X-mastime. Their display was a nativity creche to teach the children about the story of the first Christmas. It was an interactive display for the children to participate. They had never heard of the story before.

Only 1% of Japanese consider themselves Christian, which is anywhere between 1-2 million of the population. Most of them live in Western Japan.

In contrast, there are over 3 million residents of Utah. It doesn't really make an adequate comparison by demographics.

Amyjo Wrote:
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> Only 1% of Japanese consider themselves Christian,
> which is anywhere between 1-2 million of the
> population. Most of them live in Western Japan.

No, southern Japan. Nagasaki was one of the traditional centers. It's quite visible there. I speak from personal experience.

> In contrast, there are over 3 million residents of
> Utah. It doesn't really make an adequate
> comparison by demographics.

The lowest estimates give a six figure number, which is not "very few". The state has persecuted Christians within living memory, and further back, so there will be a reluctance on some people's part to put such information on a census. The real figure is higher than on the census, and there will be a number who have flirted with Christianity at some point in their lives, or come from a Christian background but do not practise or believe. A lot of people are reluctant to put their religion on a census.

The retired emperor's wife, for example is of Christian origin, but was pressured to leave the family religion for political reasons when she got engaged.

Some sections of Japanese Christianity went underground when Japan shut down outside and there has been a lot of Christian-Buddhist syncretism in the past. Asians don't tend to set up hard boundaries between religions like westerners do. So there are even a few who perform Christian practises without realizing what they are e.g. the merger of Kwaidon with the Virgin Mary.

A figure of well over three million is not unreasonable. Christianity is more visible in Japan than Buddhism is the west, although Christianity is not fashionable or suburban in the way Buddhism is the west. There are a number of Christian schools in Japan, which have often been attended by non-believers such as Princess Mako (although she too has Christian relatives).

>>Asians don't tend to set up hard boundaries between religions like westerners do.

One of my university professors said that many years ago. A given Japanese might have a Shinto wedding, celebrate Christmas, and eventually have a Buddhist funeral.

He also said, "Everyone celebrates Christmas," although they might do it in different ways. He meant that many non-Christians celebrate it, too, as a secular holiday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 11:34AM by summer.

Japan is mostly secular. Even for those who observe the Shinto and Buddhist traditions is from a cultural standpoint, not from a religious one. The Christians that are in Japan tend to be very devout, however, for the few that are there.

My son has seen pairs of Mormon mishies wandering around parts of Japan. They stand out more like tourists basically. Trying to assimilate, but the short time they are there they really don't get all that immersed in the culture or the traditions, let alone the language.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 12:05PM by Amyjo.

Jordan and your professor are right.