00 01/05/2019 17:28










On April 16, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI turned 92.



ALWAYS AND EVER OUR MOST BELOVED BENEDICTUS XVI



See preceding page for earlier entries today, May 1, 2019.




Top panel: Akihito in imperial regalia arrives for his formal abdication after visiting the shrine of his goddess ancestor; then delivers his formal abdication address, with Emoress Michiko beside him.
Bottom panel: Naruhito delivers his first address as Emperor, with Empress Masako beside him (to the right, the surviving older generation of the imperial family); right, with Empress Masako.


"When I consider that my fitness level is gradually declining, I am worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the State with my whole being as I have done until now."
- Japan's now Emeritus Emperor Akihito
when he announced his decision to abdicate the Chrysanthemum Throne
in 2016 (only the third time a Japanese emperor has addressed his people since 1945)


I digress to take note of a secular story that is nonetheless compelling, about the historic abdication yesterday of 95-year-old Akihito as Emperor of Japan after 30 years, and the ascension to the throne today of his son Naruhito, 59, who referred to his father in his enthronement address as the Emeritus Emperor [as does the New York Times in its account of the event).

My special interest in calling attention to this occasion is that no one at all has faulted Akihito for the reason he gave in 2016 for abdicating, as many intelligent Catholics fault Benedict XVI for doing. And yet the principally ceremonial duties of the Emperor of Japan surely cannot compare to the immense temporal and spiritual function of a contemporary Pope.

Granted, the Emperor of Japan cannot be compared one on one to a Pope, but to the Japanese, the history of their emperors is even older than the history of the popes. [From Wikipedia: "The Imperial House of Japan is the oldest continuing monarchical house in the world. The historical origins of the Emperors lie in the late Kofun period of the 3rd–7th centuries AD, but according to traditional accounts... Japan was founded in 660 BC by Emperor Jimmu, who was said to be a direct descendant of the sun-goddess Amaterasu".]

Legend says the imperial regalia passed on today to Naruhito were handed over by the sun goddess to a grandson whom she sent down to earth to bring peace to Japan, thereafter becoming the great-grandfather of Japan's first emperor Jimmu. Therefore, the use of the regalia in the ascension ceremonies signifies that the Japanese emperors are are descendants of the goddess...




Emperor Naruhito takes the throne,
and a new era arrives in Japan

By Motoko Rich

May 1, 2019

TOKYO — A day after his father became the first monarch to abdicate the imperial throne of Japan in more than two centuries, the new emperor, Naruhito, on Wednesday received the sacred imperial regalia that represents his rightful succession to the world’s oldest monarchy.

In an eye-blinkingly brief ceremony at the Imperial Palace, Naruhito, 59, officially succeeded Akihito, 85, an enormously popular monarch who brought the royal family much closer to the people as he emphasized a message of peace in a country haunted by the legacy of war.

Emperor Akihito abdicated the Chrysanthemum Throne on Tuesday, three decades after he succeeded his father, the wartime emperor Hirohito.

While the role of emperor has been chiefly ceremonial since the end of World War II, the departing monarch acted as the nation’s chief consoler during times of disaster, such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and sought to make amends throughout Asia for Japan’s wartime atrocities.

Conservatives balked at Akihito’s embrace of atonement, but his son is likely to continue to stress pacifism and war remembrance, as well as his father’s efforts to humanize the monarchy.

“In acceding to the throne, I swear that I will reflect deeply on the course followed by His Majesty the emperor emeritus and bear in mind the path trodden by past emperors, and will devote myself to self-improvement,” Naruhito said in his first remarks as emperor after the enthronement ceremony on Wednesday.

He added that he would work in service “of the unity of the people of Japan, while always turning my thoughts to the people and standing with them.”

Naruhito is taking the throne at a time when Japan faces numerous challenges, including a low birthrate and a declining, aging population. The country is making efforts to open itself to foreign workers, change the country’s brutal, entrenched work culture and reduce gender inequality.

Under the country’s postwar Constitution, the emperor — once regarded as a demigod — has no political power to address any of these issues directly, but he can set a tone. Analysts have been scrutinizing Naruhito’s previous public statements for hints of what his reign might look like.

Educated at Oxford University, Naruhito, along with his wife, Masako, a former diplomat with a degree from Harvard, represents a cosmopolitan outlook in an often insular Japan.

In his limited public statements, Naruhito has indicated he believes the monarchy should adjust to modernity.

“I believe that just as new winds blow in every age, the role of the imperial family changes in each age as well,” he said at a news conference on his birthday in 2017, shortly after Akihito indicated he wished to retire. “I would like to learn various things from the past and firmly carry forward traditions that have been passed down since ancient times, while also pursuing the ideal role that the imperial family should take in the future.”

The royal family itself faces a looming existential crisis. After Naruhito, there are only three male members left in the line of succession, including his 83-year-old uncle, his 53-year-old brother and his 12-year-old nephew.

Women are not allowed to ascend to the throne, and women born into the royal family must renounce their imperial titles and officially leave the family once they marry. None of their children can be in line to the throne.

At a news conference marking his birthday earlier this year, Naruhito acknowledged that “the declining ratio of male imperial members” and “the fact that female imperial members have to leave the imperial house” could affect the future of the royal family.

Analysts suggested that Naruhito was hinting that the rules governing the imperial household should change. “You have to try to read into what they’re saying,” said Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian studies at Temple University in Tokyo. “I think he was subtly suggesting that he, too, supports women’s succession.”

The new emperor has been fiercely protective of his wife, who gave up a promising career in the diplomatic corps when she married him and suffered bouts of depression because of the enormous pressure to produce a male heir. She has kept a curtailed schedule of public appearances for years.

“Although it is certainly the case that Masako’s condition is improving steadily, she remains subject to ups and downs,” Naruhito said in 2017. “And it is my hope that at a measured pace, she will prudently and gradually continue to broaden the scope of her activities.”

The Japanese public has been largely sympathetic to Masako, and has praised Naruhito for his devotion to her along with their daughter, Aiko, 17.

“He cares about his family so much,” said Hiroyo Abe, 48, who works at a satellite broadcasting company and was attending a theater performance in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon. “He must be a good person.”

Naruhito’s father secured his reputation as an admired figure in his extensive travels across Japan. Akihito and Empress Michiko were a consoling presence particularly after disasters. They visited the Kobe region after the 1995 earthquake that killed close to 6,500 people, kneeling before survivors in a break with tradition.

After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed almost 16,000 people in northern Japan and caused a nuclear disaster, the emperor gave an unprecedented nationally televised address, asking people to act with compassion “to overcome these difficult times.”

“Since ascending the throne 30 years ago, I have performed my duties as the emperor with a deep sense of trust in and respect for the people, and I consider myself most fortunate to have been able to do so,” Akihito said on Tuesday in a short address inside a state room at the palace, in central Tokyo.

In a farewell address to the departing emperor, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe noted that Japan had faced numerous challenges during Akihito’s reign.

“In such cases, His Majesty the emperor, together with Her Majesty the empress, have stood close to the people, and encouraged the victims of disasters,” he said. “He gave people courage and hope for the future.”

As the successor to Hirohito, Akihito also took on the mantle of atoning for Japan’s wartime sins. He traveled widely throughout Asia to countries that had been attacked or conquered by Japan during World War II, and spread a message of pacifism.

When Akihito took over the throne in 1989, it was after his father had suffered a prolonged illness. Akihito, who was treated for prostate cancer in 2003 and underwent heart surgery in 2012, may have wished to avoid subjecting his son to a period of such limbo.

But the decision to abdicate was not the emperor’s alone to make, and he ultimately had to wait three years after first expressing his desire to step down. The abdication required a special act of Parliament, passed in 2017. The law applies only to him and not to future emperors.

During the abdication ceremony on Tuesday, which lasted just over 10 minutes, the emperor and empress stood solemnly on a stage in a state room with wood flooring that evoked a high school gymnasium.

A crowd of nearly 300 politicians, Supreme Court judges and their spouses watched the proceedings, in which palace chamberlains placed an imperial sword, jewels and seals, all wrapped in silk cloth, on cypress benches flanking the stage.

Akihito wore a topcoat and tails with a silver tie, and Michiko wore a floor-length silver-white gown with white gloves.

In his brief address, with Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife standing to the side just off the stage, the departing emperor said he had prayed that the new era would be “peaceful and fruitful.”

At the end of the ceremony, Akihito, now emperor emeritus, stepped down from the stage, turned and waited. He wanted to give his wife a hand down the steps.

The following morning, Naruhito, the new emperor, returned to the same room at the palace to receive the sword, jewels and seals. He stood on the same stage where his father and mother had stood, but alone, without his wife, Masako. Off the stage beside him was his brother, Akishino.

Under the Imperial Household Law, which governs the line of succession as well as most matters of protocol related to Japan’s monarchy, women in the royal family are not permitted to be in the room during the sacred regalia ceremony. Satsuki Katayama, the sole woman in Mr. Abe’s cabinet, was present among a small audience of 26 people. Another woman, Misuzu Iwami, deputy chief of the board of ceremonies for the Imperial Household Agency, stood along a wall.

Empress Masako, along with several other princesses, joined the new emperor for his formal remarks.

Sputnik News has a well-backgrounded account of the abdication ceremony yesterday:

Japanese Emperor Akihito officially abdicates
at Imperial Palace in Tokyo



TOKYO, April 30, 2019 (Sputnik) - Japan's outgoing Emperor Akihito has officially stepped down at the abdication ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

On Wednesday, Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne as Japan's 126th emperor.

In Japan's case, the beginning of a new era that will follow the ascension of Crown Prince Naruhito is not just a figure of speech. The Asian country has its own calendar system used along with Gregorian calendar — the start of the reign of each Japanese monarch marks a new era, with its name being motto for the emperor's rule.

Akihito's three-decade rule, which will end on Tuesday, went by the name "Heisei", which can be interpreted "peace everywhere." The era name also becomes the monarch's posthumous name.

The Japanese government has unveiled that the new imperial era, which will begin on May 1 with the ascension of Crown Prince Naruhito, will be named "Reiwa." The Chinese characters that make up the name of the era can be translated as "order" and "harmony," or "peace."

Since the adoption of the post-war constitution in 1946, the emperor plays a symbolic rather than a political role in Japan, and the succession of the emperor and the change of era would also be of symbolic nature, Dr Peter Cave, a senior lecturer in Japanese Studies at the University of Manchester, told Sputnik.

"It is a symbolic change, which provides a convenient way of dividing up time. It also has a practical aspect in that the regnal year is often used in daily life, on forms etc. (e.g. 2018 was also Heisei 30). 2019 is unusual as until the end of April it is Heisei 31, but from 1 May it will be Reiwa 1," Cave said.

Takako Amano, a senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, pointed out the importance played by the retiring imperial couple as the nation's symbols.

"He has made a lot of effort to fulfill his role always with his wife by visiting almost all prefectures of Japan, areas where it was affected by natural disasters and softened the wounds of ex-soldiers because of WWI and WWII abroad," Amano said.

She noted that Akihito and Michiko won hearts of many Japanese people not only with being financially humble and prudent in their actions, but also with moving and tender attitude to each other.
The couple has recently celebrated the 60 years of their marriage, which once shook Japan as Michiko became the first commoner to marry a member of the Japanese imperial family.

"They have demonstrated strong attachments to each other: Michiko’s strong support for Akihito has been witnessed every now and then in public. They have been truly loved and respected by the majority of the Japanese," Amano said.

US President Donald Trump will become the first leader to make a state visit to Japan in the new era. Trump and his wife Melania will meet with their majesties the Emperor and the Empress and have dinner afterward.

"Hosting President Trump and the First Lady as first state guests in the Reiwa era symbolizes the unwavering bond of the Japan-US alliance. I hope this visit will further strengthen the Japan-US global partnership that contributes to peace and prosperity in the region and the world," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a briefing in mid-April.

After reporting his abdication to the sun goddess Amaterasu, a major deity in the Shinto religion, and ancestral spirits of the imperial family in private ceremonies at the palace's sanctuaries, Akihito would walk into a state hall where he would deliver his final remarks as emperor and receive audience with representatives of the people, including Prime Minister Abe, for the last time.

The ceremony took place in one of the most beautiful rooms in the Imperial Palace, "Matsu-no ma" or "Hall of Pine," famous for its polished wooden floors and used for the court's main ceremonies.

The new emperor's ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne will take place next morning at 10:30 a.m. in the same room. He will inherit the two of the sacred imperial regalia — a sword and a jewel — and state and privy seals in a sacred ceremony dating back thousands of years. It is believed that the regalia, also referred to Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, were handed over by the sun goddess Amaterasu to her grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto, whom she sent down to earth to bring peace to Japan.

The upcoming transfer of the throne will be exceptional due to the presence of a woman, Satsuki Katayama, the only female minister in Abe's cabinet, who handles regional revitalization and female empowerment, at the ascension ceremony, which is usually off-limits to women. The exception, however, will not be extended even to Naruhito's wife and incoming empress Masako.

After the ascension, the new emperor will have his first audience at 11:10 a.m. with representatives of legislative, judiciary and executive branches in the Imperial Palace.

Naruhito will then make his first public appearance as emperor on Thursday, with thousands of people expected to flock to the Imperial Palace grounds. The Kyodo News reported that several thousand police officers would ensure security at the upcoming ceremonies and celebrations.

The official enthronement of the new emperor, however, will take place in October in a series of ceremonies, including a procession by motorcar and court banquets. The main ceremony will take place on October 22 and is expected to be witnessed by thousands of guest and foreign delegations.

Japan's annual spring holidays dubbed the Golden Week were unprecedentedly extended to 10 days to celebrate the ascension of the new emperor, causing a significant rise in tourism. According to the JTB travel agency, some 24.67 million Japanese citizens are planning to use the long holidays for trips, with number of both domestic (24.01 million) and overseas (0.662 million) travellers setting an all-time record.

"With the new name incorporating a nuance of 'creating and nurturing culture by bringing hearts and minds together,' people's expectations for the dawning of a new era are growing, and there is a feeling of anticipation and welcome in society, in contrast to the mood of self-constraint that sometimes characterized the current Heisei era," the agency said in its press release.

The abdication has drawn once again attention to the debate around the Japanese royal family’s hereditary male-only succession rules.

The Japanese government considered changes to the 1947 Imperial Household Law, which does not allow women to ascend the throne, back in the 2000s when there was no male heir born to the imperial family for almost 40 years. Crown Prince Naruhito has only one daughter, Princess Aiko, while his younger brother Prince Akishino, second in the line to the throne, had only two daughters.

The dynasty crisis was postponed by the birth of Prince Hisahito to Akishino's family in 2006. Nevertheless, as the 126th emperor of Japan is preparing to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne, there are still concerns that the centuries-old succession may be threatened if 12-year-old Hisahito has no male heirs.

One of the conservatives' main arguments against a woman ascending the throne, according to Cave, is that only a man can perform certain Shinto rituals. However, the Japanese history knows the examples of female monarchs, with the last being Empress Go-Sakuramachi, who reigned from 1762 to 1771, but then abdicated in favour of her nephew.

"As the new emperor's younger brother does have a son, and there is thus a male heir for the throne, there seems no current prospect of a change in legislation unless there is a very dramatic change of view within Japanese society on the issue," Cave noted.

The expert noted, however, that there was currently no sign of such a change.

Amano agreed that immediate changes were unlikely, noting that she was surprised by how discussions of allowing Princess Aiko ascend the throne ended once the news broke that Akishino's wife was expecting a boy back in the 2000s. She noted, however, that changes to the succession rules were still possible in the long run.

"Although on the surface it looks as if they are not, such discussion has been definitely continuing behind the scene because Emperors have not had concubines since Taisho era (1921-1926) and no extended families have been allowed to take the throne since the end of WWII, so as is, realistically Japan won't be able to continue producing male Emperor for long," Amano explained.

Emperor Akihito announced in 2016 that he intended to step down, citing his age and physical inability to perform his duties. After the abdication, Akihito and his wife Michiko, who have been hosting hundreds of events and extensively traveling over the past three decades, are expected not to be involved in ceremonial duties and will peacefully retire at the Togu Palace in Tokyo.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/05/2019 06:09]