Japan's emperor would abdicate

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-emperor-message-idUSKCN10J0J6?il=0


Japanese Emperor Akihito, 82, in a rare video address to the public on Monday, said he worried that age may make it difficult for him to fully carry out his duties, remarks widely seen as suggesting he wants to abdicate.

Public broadcaster NHK reported last month that Akihito, who has had heart surgery and been treated for prostate cancer, wanted to step down in a few years - which would be unprecedented in modern Japan.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Emperor Hirohito was forced to renounce his claim to divine status...but he still technically claimed divine descent.

The Americans forced Hirohito to renounce his "divine" nature, however they made a huge mistake about it.
Basically, what happened was the Allies were looking at it from a strictly judeo-christian understanding of what a "god" is and made the emperor denounce a kind of divinity he never claimed to have in the first place - namely that of being an all-knowing, all-powerful god.
In his humanity declaration he used a certain term, namely that of akitsukikami (which could be translated as "Manifested God") rather than the term arahitogami ("Living God"), however the official english translation only uses the term "divinity". The difference between the two terms, however, is rather large in Shinto understanding.

mostly because the many religious rituals they had to do were so tedious and repetitive that even Japanese people thought "fuck this shit"

Resigning freed the emperor of certain time consuming duties and court ceremonies as you said, but that meant that he wasn't tied down by court restrictions and thus could move more freely and better wield his power.
Granted this was only relevant at certain times, seeing how the emperor was divorced from power for centuries at a time.
Later, abdication was a tool to put more desirable people on the throne (such as Taira Kiyomori making his nephew the new Emperor).
I wouldn't be surprised if many of the tasks the Emperor has were invented specifically to tie him up in court procedures and ceremonies in order to hinder his ability to put any kind of resistance towards the military rule.

Personally, I've always thought "Pope" was a better translation for 天皇 (Tennou) than "Emperor" since "Heavenly Sovereign" is the literal translation of that title, His Holiness is technically a monarch anyway, and the role has always had a stronger religious component than political even at the respective heights of their powers. I just never knew this was official.

Only when you have a certain distinction between "heaven" and "earth".
~1500 Years ago, some clan managed to overpower the surrounding clans and ruled over a larger area than all the people before him in Japan. In a rather smart move, they declared Amaterasu (the goddess they claim as an ancestor) the supreme goddess to legitmate their reign. Fast forward a couple hundred years and these people suddenly live in a world of poems, music and parties at their court and have to rely on their warrior subordinates to retain their power.
However the military leaders eventually realized that they can be the de facto rulers but rather than overthrowing the Emperor, they keep him as legitimization for their own power (as that particular part of the imperial bloodline was a very good institution to avoid usurpers).
Thus, the imperial family was now a token to make ones rule as regent or general (more) official.
Strangely enough, the very same developement threatened Shoguns as well, making their clans figureheads while yet other people ruled through them.

 

[Caesare]

Fun fact:



Also, before the modern constitution which made the Emperor a ceremonial figurehead, the Imperial family were more religious leaders than political ones. The country was ruled more by clans and noble families close to the Emperor up until the Shogunate (leading to a couple hundred years of military rule), and early European explorers translated his Japanese title as "Pope"



(Source: I was a huge weeaboo in elementary school)

Thanks for that addition, really fascinating stuff, weeb or not.

Since you seem to be knowledgeable about Japan, let me ask you something. I understand that the Emperor was more or less of a honorable "figurehead" rather than a head of state, however, during Imperial Japan's war years, occupation of Korea, Manchukuo, the Philippines, etc. where did the power lie? Who more or less made the decisions that guided the country through its expansionistic years when they were spreading out in all directions?

I'm curious, because I know, while Hirohito was a respected figure and I believe he was the one who had to sign the "unconditional surrender" order from the U.S.A., I know he wasn't making the day to day decisions guiding the war and governing the occupied territories and Japan proper.

I remember reading somewhere that during the war years, the Prime Ministers in Japan held a lot of power, so they were constantly getting assassinated by mid-level military officers all throughout that period. Any truth to that? Thanks.

 

[*Asterisk*]

Thanks for that addition, really fascinating stuff, weeb or not.

Since you seem to be knowledgeable about Japan, let me ask you something. I understand that the Emperor was more or less of a honorable "figurehead" rather than a head of state, however, during Imperial Japan's war years, occupation of Korea, Manchukuo, the Philippines, etc. where did the power lie? Who more or less made the decisions that guided the country through its expansionistic years when they were spreading out in all directions?

I'm curious, because I know, while Hirohito was a respected figure and I believe he was the one who had to sign the "unconditional surrender" order from the U.S.A., I know he wasn't making the day to day decisions guiding the war and governing the occupied territories and Japan proper.

I remember reading somewhere that during the war years, the Prime Ministers in Japan held a lot of power, so they were constantly getting assassinated by mid-level military officers all throughout that period. Any truth to that? Thanks.

I understand far less about Japanese history myself, but based on what I do understand, it was rather similar to the German and Italian monarchies: Power was split among different branches, but rather than functioning as a check against any one branch's overreach, there was constant jockeying for greater influence by all those who wielded significant power.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Thanks for that addition, really fascinating stuff, weeb or not.

Since you seem to be knowledgeable about Japan, let me ask you something. I understand that the Emperor was more or less of a honorable "figurehead" rather than a head of state, however, during Imperial Japan's war years, occupation of Korea, Manchukuo, the Philippines, etc. where did the power lie? Who more or less made the decisions that guided the country through its expansionistic years when they were spreading out in all directions?

I'm curious, because I know, while Hirohito was a respected figure and I believe he was the one who had to sign the "unconditional surrender" order from the U.S.A., I know he wasn't making the day to day decisions guiding the war and governing the occupied territories and Japan proper.

I remember reading somewhere that during the war years, the Prime Ministers in Japan held a lot of power, so they were constantly getting assassinated by mid-level military officers all throughout that period. Any truth to that? Thanks.

The Meiji Restauration officially was meant to reinstate the Emperor's reign and to abolish the military rule of the Tokugawa bakufu, however they placed so-called consultants (ie: themselves) between the Emperor and the next lower level of admnistration, effectively making them the rulers.
With the developement of more nationalistic views, the importance of the role of the Emperor as a symbol for Japan as a whole increased (during the reign of the Tokugawas noone really gave a shit about the Tenno).
Eventually, during WW2, his generals, the Prime Minister and so on would 'suggest' strategies, plans and policies and the Emperor would officially sign them off.
However, the Emperor was by no means a mere figurehead and was instead active within the military decision making. It's a bit disputed, however, since according to the 'official' version after WW2, he wasn't aware of most attrocities and events of the war, when in fact he was most likely very well informed of what was going on and had a say when it came to certain things.

In terms of actual power, nowhere can his influence be seen any better than in the last days of the war when it was none other than Hirohito himself that commanded the unconditional surrender. There was even an attempt of a coup d'état against the Emperor to prevent this, yet he managed to force it upon his military.

During WW2, there were no Assassinations of japanese Prime Ministers afaik, but there had been times when people fell from grace and were replaced (namely Konoe was replaced by Hideki Tojo, who was wielding power during most of the pacific war).