The Emperor System in Japan

By James L. Secor, Ph.D.

In the West, when we hear "Emperor" we immediately think of the Kings and Queens of European history. These rulers were the absolute lawmakers and lawgivers of the land…nothing could be farther from the truth with the Japanese emperors.

Since the 8^th century, the Emperor has been no more than a de facto ruler. His job, down to the present, has been to affix his seal to official documents and carry out necessary Shinto rituals - and, until the 19^th century, hold poetry parties. All, including the poetry, have been recorded for posterity. Given the proclivity of the Japanese for sake, first noted in the 3^rd century by the Chinese, it is perhaps amazing that some of the verses have persisted as shining examples of the art form of tanka (or Waka) and by extension the rest of the country's literary endeavors.

This unique system arose with the insurgency of the Fujiwara in 645, with full and total control not accruing until 770 after the demise of Shotoku Tenno, the last emperor with any power and the last female emperor. It was because of the influence of the monk Dokyo on Shotoku that women were banned from becoming emperor. The real reason was, of course, that the Fujiwara could not reign in a female emperor as they could a male one.

Fujiwara means "wisteria" and commemorates the place where the plot to overthrow the Soga family was hatched. The Soga had held supremacy since defeating the Mononobe over the influence of the new religion of Buddhism. Although Buddhism and the Soga won the battle, all official rites and, indeed, everyday life, were still Shinto. Even more interesting is that the beginnings of the samurai ethic and the myth of the failed hero begins here with Yorozu of the Mononobe.

It should be noted, however, that though the emperor held power, Japan was not yet a united, country, the landed nobility governing their own lands as kinds in their own right. Much of the history of Japan until the Soga supremacy is a battle for control by these nobles who invariably gathered into factions.

Although in later years this situation of external control was abused, it was not all that bad. Under the Fujiwara, Japan reached the first and definitive flowering of culture, including the world's first novel. Several poetry anthologies were complied, at the emperors' orders, as the Japanese moved from imitation of the Chinese style to their indigenous art forms. The two most famous are the Man'yoshu and the Kokin wakashu (Kokinshu).

The emperors were generally forced to retire early, thus assuring control over a youthful charge. The Fujiwara were most successful because of marriage politics. For they never sought out the highest Court rank and the ruling member never strove for more than Kampaku, regent. Fujiwara women were offered as both wives and concubines, assuring a half-breed Fujiwara succession. At one point, an emperor married how own aunt. Until the late 12^th century, the Fujiwara produced prolifically, especially girls.

When the samurai wrested control of the country in the 12^th century, they took the reins of government as well. They moved their seat of government to Kamakura, just south of present-day Tokyo. Thus, they rode roughshod over the emperors by long distance. In this way, they avoided Court intrigue, a favorite pastime of the nobility.

But Tenno Go-Sanjo in 1072 developed the Insei system, the retired emperor system (usually translated as "cloistered emperor") by which an abdicated emperor could exert pressure and real power both on his chosen young successor and the ruling Fujiwara and samurai. Go-Sanjo was able to do this because he was the first emperor in a long while who was not of Fujiwara stock. His succession is considered the beginning of the end for the Fujiwara. His son, Shirakawa, wielded great power as Insei, though not as great as the last, go-Shirakawa, who "ruled" as Insei from 1158-92. The greatest difficulty was that there could be more than one Insei at any single time.

In the 14^th century, Go-Daigo Tenno tried to take Imperial power back. He might have succeeded but for a traitorous general and his own poor judgment in waging war. Further, he treated his most successful general, Kusunoki Masashige, somewhat disdainfully. Go-Daigo did succeed in dividing the Kingdom into Northern and Southern division, with two governments. This was known as the Nambokucho jidai.

In the end, he was tricked into capitulating by the same traitorous samurai, Ashikaga Takauji. Takauji indeed made his family's name by way of treachery. It has been put forward that the reason for the life of the myth of samurai ethic is because such characteristic behavior did not exist. This seems to be true throughout history in every country.

Since the 12^th-13^th century, the emperor has been no more than a figure-head, a manipulable puppet. This was especially so with the mentally weak Taisho Tenno. Thus, Showa Tenno's (Hirohito's) inability to stop the war, at its beginning or end. That he stood up and told the war cabinet to ease hostilities was quite a usurpation of power. As it was, he had to prepare his capitulation speech in secret and keep it from the military cabinet until the last minute. We in America tend to see him as weak-willed when in fact he was powerless. The cabinet used his name and position or its own perverted ends.

The present Tenno is only the second to ever leave the country. He is very popular, as are his children. He has appeared on TV, including a film clip showing him walking hand-in-hand with his wife, Kimiko. Their marriage, though arranged, is a love-match. The Emperor today is humanized. His enthronement and his sons' marriages were televised. Before Tenno Showa, no one had ever heard the emperor's voice. Before the present Emperor, the life of royalty was shrouded in mystery.

Throughout history the emperor's main function has been the performance of appropriate ritual, always Shinto. Despite the reality of the economic situation in the country, performance of these rites on schedule is still seen as necessary. They bring in the New Year, they celebrate the beginning of spring and the successful harvest, they honor the goddess Amaterasu - the goddess who made the country (her great-grandson becoming the first emperor, Jimmu). The public never witnesses many of the rituals; however, part of Tenno's investiture was televised. The entire nation watched.

Thus, the Emperor of Japan is less a ruler than the Kings and Queens of European antiquity. It is therefore wrong to hold the emperor responsible for the country's policies or behavior; but, in all reality, it was only since WWII that he has been humanized and the actual power base recognized for what it is.

There is, nevertheless, a movement afoot to do away with the emperor system altogether. I am not sure this is a good idea, for although his position maybe passé, he is a cultural icon and does hold together, however tenuously it may appear to outsiders, the cultural identity of the people.

The Japanese people are a proud people. It is through the Emperor that the greatest and oldest collection of art and cultural items is maintained in a specially designed wooden building for preservation of such items. It is not open to the public and only a few artifacts ever go on display but in the late 1990's an exhibit was arranged by which certain art objects were taken on a world tour. In this way, Tenno is richer than the British royal family.

Jim Secor is a freelance writer who has traveled extensively overseas, especially Japan and China. Jim received a Master's from Johns Hopkins and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas before studying at the National Puppet Theatre of Japan (Bunraku), the first foreigner ever to do so. He has published in all genres and produced several plays over the years and has taught theatre, writing and literature in three countries. Jim is now teaching at Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University in China. He is a columnist for MWC News.