Eas205 unit 10 lecture 2015

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EAS205AutumnSemester　2013-2014
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Wednesday 3rd
February
9:00-12:00 in Philadelphia Conference
Centre
Next week’s seminar is an exam
revision session
Exam

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UNIT 10UNIT 10
ETHNICITY AND IDENTITY:ETHNICITY AND IDENTITY:
STATE AND EMPERORSTATE AND EMPEROR
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What does Emperor
Akihito actually do?

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Aim
To examine the degree to which the
state and emperor continue to serve as
a source for Japanese identity and
nationalism in the post-1945 period.
To evaluate the Showa emperor’s
wartime responsibility and his new role
as a ‘symbol’ monarch.

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Objectives:
1) To analyse the difference in the political and
legal position of the emperor in the pre-war and
post-war Japanese state,
2) To assess the relevance of the emperor and
state as a source for post-war identity and
nationalism,
3) To introduce the problem of ‘war responsibility’
and its relationship with the state, emperor and
the post-war ‘symbol’ monarch, and
4) To look at the debate over the succession
issue.

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Position of the emperor
• Japanese law, politics and society have changed
dramatically during the history of the imperial
household so as the position of the emperor in
Japanese society.
• At the start of the Meiji era there was a need to:
• build up the nation.
• make Japan strong militarily and economically
( 富国強兵　 fukoku kyōhei).
• ...but, first there was the necessity to create a
sense of nation.

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Building a nation –
following the West
• The leaders of the new Japan needed a
symbolic centre for a Japanese identity.
• They had seen the might of the West with the
advance of the West’s military forces into East
Asia.
• Stories brought back to Japan by the Iwakura
Mission, which visited the centres of politicial,
military, economic and industrial power from
1871-73 (the mission visited Sheffield in 1872),
• They were determined to become a modern
state centred on a symbol relevant to the whole
nation.

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Iwakura Mission in Britain
The principal British cities and areas they
visited were:
London,
Liverpool,
Manchester,
Glasgow,
Edinburgh,
the Scottish Highlands,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Bradford,
Halifax,
Sheffield,
Burton-upon-Trent,
Birmingham,
Coventry,
Warwick,
Worcester and
Chester.
Cultural Enlightenment for
Imperial nation building

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The emperor as a
nationalism’s vehicle
The emperor became a vehicle for
nationalism to build:
•a national consciousness
•the sense of all Japanese belonging to
one nation, and
•a centralized, authoritarian state.

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Joining the Imperial
powers
• Meiji leaders placed the emperor at the centre of
the new state in order to:
1. Establish a symbol for creating a sense of the nation
and nationalism.
2. Emperor as the core of Japanese identity – vertical link
established between the ‘father’ (of the nation) and the
‘child’ (subject).
• Symbolic linkage to mobilize the people to build a
prosperous country and strong military 　 (fukoku-kyohei).
1. If necessary, the leaders used the symbol of the
emperor to call on the people to...
• labour for and give their life to the state, so to ensure
survival and prosperity of Japan in the midst of the
Western imperial carve up of East Asia (soon J. joined).

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Creating a sense of nation
• The Meiji government tried to bind the people
to the state by:
• Building on the ancient concept of the nation as
a family.
• This fitted in with a hierarchical relationship
between the emperor and the people.
• The emperor in particular, and the imperial
family in general, were at the head of the
Japanese family in a symbolic sense.

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Deification of the emperor
• The Meiji leaders constructed the new sense
of nation based on the idea that Japan is an
imperial family state:
• A primordial consanguineous community, all
united by lineage to the emperor, who was the
incarnation of kami (god): 　現人神 (arahito-
gami).
Art.3 of the Meiji constitution declares him to be
"sacred and inviolable”.

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The emperor in the pre-
and post-war periods
• The position of the emperor in the prewar
period was legally established by the Imperial
(or Meiji) Constitution of 1889.
• The Meiji constitution was based on the
sovereignty of the emperor (not people).
• Article 1 stated:
• ‘The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and
governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for
ages eternal’.

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Significance to the
Japanese national identity
Unbroken imperial line = Japanese identity
can be traced back historically, giving
precedence to the historical basis of the
imperial system.
Hence, promoted the idea of ethnicity as the
basis for Japanese identity.
It suggests the idea of a homogenous nation,
linked vertically back in time to other
Japanese, not horizontally to other parts of
East Asia, i.e., a multiethnic Japan

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Legal authority
• The Article 3 of the pre-war law:
• ‘The person of the Emperor is sacred and
inviolable’—i.e. the emperor is the spiritual
centre of the Japanese (head of the Shinto
religion) and should not be criticized.
• The creation of a modern state by the Meiji
leaders needed the trappings of a modern
state.
• Give symbolic representation to Japan and
Japanese identity in international society.

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The national flag
• The Hi no Maru (circle of the sun), aka
Nisshoki, represents the rising sun, may
be linked to the sun goddess in
Japanese ancient mythology:
Amaterasu Omikami.
• Used on Tokugawa vessels.
• Officially designated as the Japanese flag in 1870
for ships.
• Used on government buildings from 1872.
The proportions of the two elements, the
White background and the red circle, are
officially defined in the Law Concerning
the National Flag and Anthem (1999)

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National anthem:
Kimigayo
• Music: originally written in 1869 by the British navy
band instructor, John William Fenton, who
encouraged Japan to adopt a ceremonial music or
a national anthem.
• The melody was“too western”  Yoshiisa Oku of the
Imperial House Music Office recomposed.
• Oku’s version was adopted and played on the
emperor’s birthday in 1880.
• Lyrics: a poem figuring in Kokin-waka-shû ( 古今和歌
集 , 905 or 912 AD)

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Kimigayo
Kimi ga yo wa,
Chiyo ni,
Yachiyo ni,
Sazare ishi no,
Iwao to narite,
Koke no musu made.
May the Emperor’s reign,
Continue for a thousand,
Eight thousand generations;
Until the pebbles,
Grow into boulders,
Lush with moss.
*kimi: an honorific form of ‘you’. cf. ‘vous’.

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Legislated: imposed?
• The emperor, the national flag and anthem,
were used to construct and consolidate
Japanese identity.
• They were also used to promote Japanese
nationalism.
• Unlike being custom as with the Union Jack as
the national flag of the United Kingdom, the
Hinomaru was recently legislated.

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The emperor’s position
within the polity: Central
• The government was subordinate to the emperor.
He was:
• The supreme commander of Japanese military
forces.
• The final arbiter of the national will.
• The emperor enjoying these enormous powers,
the idea of kokutai developed:
• National polity, in which the emperor, the people,
and the land of the gods were allegedly united in
both time and space.
• This kokutai ideology was central in viewing the
nation as having consanguineous unity, where all
are linked together through the imperial blood.

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Emperor as the centre of
Japanese national identity
• With these changes in the position of the emperor
following the Meiji Restoration, he became the
equivalent of a powerful European ruler.
• The attempt to build a sense of being tied to the
emperor and Japanese national identity was also
promoted in Okinawa.
• ...as symbolized by the introduction of portraits of
the Meiji emperor and empress in 1887 (earlier than
in other prefectures).
• An attempt to ensure loyalty to Japan, not to China.

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After return, assimilation
• Certain forces in Okinawa still sympathetic to the
idea of being a tributary state of China, although:
• Okinawa was annexed in 1879 to Japan as one of its
prefectures.
• Sino-Japanese War in 1894-5.
• The policy of assimilation from both the Japanese
state and some local political and social forces in
Okinawa, meant that:
• Over time, Okinawa was incorporated into Japanese
national identity.
• Okinawans were discriminated and not fully
integrated into the Japanese national identity.

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Post-war identity and
nationalism
• Under the postwar Constitution,
• The position of the emperor was changed to
become the ‘symbol of the Japanese nation’,
• Emperor was no longer sovereign.
• Interestingly, the present emperor, Akihito, has
challenged the very foundation of Japanese
ethnic identity:
• He declared that there was a blood link with
Korea, not of pure blood lineage going back
time immemorial.

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Little public response
• Little debate in the wake of the emperor’s
statement in the Japanese media reflects:
• Recognition of the Japanese people that they and the
imperial household have historical link and ethnic links
with the Korean peninsula.
• On the other hand, it may reflect:
• A reluctance to think about Japanese identity outside
the context of ethnicity.
• The persistence of the myth of Japanese exclusivity
• For many, ethnocentric nationalism still centres on the
emperor, but...
the new emperor was, in effect,
suggesting the potential for a new
national identity.

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Symbols of Japanese
national identity
• Japan had established a national flag and anthem
during the Meiji period.
• 1893 Children’s Songbook for the High-Holy-Days
issued by the Ministry of Education (Shukujitsu-
taisaijitsu-shôka)
• The flag (hinomaru) & anthem ((kimigayo)
represented militarized, imperialist-expansionist
Japan during WWII.
• Popular rejection of their use after WW II
domestically / internationally (esp. In Asia).

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Teachers’ opposition
to the flag
• The flag used to represent the wartime Japan,
hence the flag does not deserve the respect of
the people.
• However, the parliament, dominated by the
conservative political forces of the LDP, insisted
to fly the flag as a symbol of Japan in order to
build up respect for the state and to nurture
patriotism.
• With the gradual erosion of political opposition
to the flag, LDP legislated Hinomaru 
recognized officially as the national flag by the
passage of government legislation in 1999.

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Opposition to Kimigayo

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Official explanation
• PM Obuchi explained that:
• Kimi in ‘Kimigayo’, under the current Constitution of
Japan, indicates the Emperor.
• ‘Kimigayo’ as a whole depicts the state of being of
our country, with the Emperor.
• Symbol of the country and of the unity of the people.
• Deriving his position from the will of the people, with
whom resides sovereign power.
• It is appropriate to interpret the words as praying for
the lasting prosperity and peace of the country.

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Tension at schools
• Government attempted to incorporate the national
anthem (and the eternal nature of imperial rule) into
democracy while holding people as sovereign.
• Under 1999 legislation the MoE repeatedly tried to
compel schools to raise the flag and sing the anthem
at school graduation ceremonies.
•  representing a rise of nationalism in Japan.
•  creating serious friction between the School Board
requesting to follow these rules, the Head Teacher
asking his teachers to implement them, and teachers,
who may refuse it.

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Strong pressure in Tokyo
• Teachers and students must comply with the
demands to raise the flag, stand when the flag is
raised, and sing the national anthem
• Noncompliance can be punishable by pay cuts,
being blacklisted, or, possibly, dismissal.
• No legal obligations to the teachers to comply, but
the School Board insisted making the pupils and
teachers to stand for kimigayo and hinomaru.

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Revival of
Imperial nationalism?
• the 2011 Ordinance No. 83 passed by the Osaka
Prefectural Assembly now obliges all school
employees, including teachers, in Osaka to stand
and sing when Kimi-ga-yo is played during school
ceremonies.

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What for Okinawa?
• Longer period of American occupation (1945-72;
while up to 1952 for the main islands)
• There, the Japanese flag took on different meaning.
• The flag was banned under US Occupation, except
for special holidays.
• It became a symbol for Okinawans in their goal of
returning to the ‘motherland’.
• A sign of resistance, a symbol of a way to bring an
end to the American occupation.
• An expression of will to return to Japan, yet it was
not until 1879 that it (Ryukyu) was incorporated into
Japan.

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After the return of
Okinawa
• The Ministry of Education has called on schools
in Okinawa (and mainland Japan) to raise the
Japanese flag and sing the Japanese anthem.
• This has also caused resistance on the part of
Okinawans opposing to a deeper assimilation
into the Japanese state.
• As for the emperor, not only due to his role in
the war, there was an opposition due to his
statement on Okinawa immediately after the
war.

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The Showa emperor’s
statement
• Emperor of Japan’s Opinion Concerning the
Future of the Ryukyu Islands.
• ‘It will be noted that the Emperor of Japan hopes that
the United States will continue the military occupation
of Okinawa and other islands of the Ryukyus, a hope
which undoubtedly is largely based upon self-interest.
• The Emperor also envisages a continuation of United
States military occupation of these islands through the
medium of a long-term lease.
• In his opinion, the Japanese people would thereby be
convinced that the United States has no ulterior
motives and would welcome United States occupation
for military purposes.’

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War responsibility of the
Showa emperor
• The Occupation of Japan by the Allied forces
brought up the question of the degree to which
the emperor had responsibility for the war.
• This has remained a point of controversy in
postwar Japan.
• The creation of the ‘symbol’ emperor was the
product of a joint effort by SCAP General
McArthur and the Japanese leadership.
• Both wished to use the power and authority
inherent in the emperor for their own purposes.

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Never been tried
• While particularly on the left of the political
spectrum, the Showa emperor Hirohito was
regarded as ultimately responsible for the war.
• His position in the Meiji Constitution as the supreme
commander of the armed forces seems to make his
responsibility clear.
• But any actual trial of the emperor was opposed by
both the Japanese political elite and the Americans.
• Some, such as the Australians, believed he should
have been tried, but the emperor never appeared
before the Military Tribunal for the Far East.

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Socio-political reasons
behind
• On the one hand, the Japanese leaders wanted
to preserve the imperial institution due to the
importance in preserving Japanese national
identity and maintaining continuity with the past.
• On the other hand, the Americans saw the
emperor as useful for legitimizing the occupation
reforms, and to put him on trial might have risked
popular resistance.

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The impact on the
population
• The question of the emperor’s war responsibility
was not dealt with at the military tribunal.
• The impact of this has been the general
unwillingness of the Japanese to acknowledge
war crimes and war responsibility.
• If the emperor, the supreme commander, was
not responsible, then how can ordinary
Japanese be responsible for the war?

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The US decision and its
consequences
• The decision of the US not to bring the emperor to
trial for war crime made it easier for Japan’s
political leaders and other Japanese not to
acknowledge the responsibility for the war.
• The identity of Japan as a state is:
• not of that which has come to terms with its past
and taught the young about the role of the
emperor in Japan’s war of aggression.
• Rather, it is of that which simply went through a
period of aberration when the Japanese Imperial
Army, not the nation as a whole, was responsible
for the crime.

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‘Someone’ to blame
• The military had run amock, disobeying the
imperial will, and duping the Japanese people
• Indeed, the judgment by the War Time Tribunal
for the Far East laying blame on PM General
Tojo Hideki and the Imperial Army somewhat
helped to absolve ordinary Japanese of their
responsibility.
• Rather than a strong sense of responsibility as
an aggressor, this interpretation of war
responsibility helped to build up a sense of the
emperor and ordinary Japanese people as
victims of the military.

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Gokoku-jinja
• If the emperor was absolved of war crimes,
why can’t they be?
• In this way, the emperor and war responsibility
are intricately linked to the question of Japanese
national identity and nationalism.
• This is repeatedly seen by the visit of political
leaders to the Yasukuni shrine which honours
the war dead, including those convicted of war
crimes

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The impact of SCAP’s
policy
• SCAP’s policy had a great impact on the level of
the Japanese people’s consciousness of the
Emperor’s war responsibility and their general
attitude towards the imperial family.
• The aim was to shape the Japanese view on the
issue of war responsibility.
• Example: Publication of a series of newspaper
articles called ‘the History of the Pacific War’ by
SCAP, also made into a book.
• SCAP also instructed the Japanese government
to use this book as a textbook for every school.

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Impact of kiku tabū
(chrysanthemum taboo)
A wide-spread custom in Japan, especially among the
media, of avoiding criticism of the emperor and the
imperial family.
Background: assaults by members of right-wing groups
on individuals in the media, publishers, and political
leaders etc. who have:
expressed criticism of the imperial family,
printed a novel disrespectful of the imperial family, or
questioned the emperor’s war responsibility, etc.
the influential Imperial Household Agency controlling
the media’s tone and expressions referring to/reporting
on the imperial family.
In such atmosphere, the Japanese public has never
been exposed to discussion on the issues.

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The succession issue
• The Imperial Charter article 1 stipulates that a
male heir from a paternal line should succeed
the throne
• The imperial paternal line has been succeeded
without break* since the first emperor Kanmu
until the 125th
and current emperor Kinjō-Akihito
*except periods of empresses temporarily ruling to
bridge the previous emperor from a paternal line
and a male successor from a paternal line

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Imperial lineage
• The imperial family had practiced polygamy,
which had produced many male heirs
• The number of male heirs declined significantly
especially following SCAP’s policy of
• Reducing the number of imperial households
which could maintain the imperial status
• Also to abolish polygamy the emperor
• For a long time no birth of a male heir in the
imperial family since that of Prince Fumihito, the
second son of the current emperor Akihito in
1965

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What to do if there’s no
male heir?
• The question had become increasingly a serious
issue among Japanese élite.
• Moreover, the ages of the wives of the princes
had exceeded the general child-bearing age.
• Birth of a male heir (Prince Hisahito) by Princess
Kiko (Crown Princess Masako’s sister-in-law) in
Sept. 2006, the issue turned to a back burner.
• ...however, this being the first new heir for over
40 years, succession crisis continues...

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Solutions sought
• A number of solutions had been raised in the
élite’s discussion
1. To allow female heir from a paternal line to succeed
the throne,
2. To allow male and female heirs from both paternal and
maternal lines to succeed the throne,
3. To re-introduce the polygamy system for the emperor,
4. To let some of the former imperial households to return
to the imperial status to increase the number of male
heirs from paternal lines, or
5. To adopt a male heir from the former imperial
households to succeed the throne.

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Maintaining tradition
– pros & cons
• Pro camp: the importance of its uniqueness and its
value
• Led by some imperial family members, those close
to the imperial house, the headquarter of the 80,000
shrines, a conservative circle.
• Con camp: allow female heirs or maternal lines
• Claim for gender equality or the statistical
improbability to maintain the tradition, even by
bringing back some imperial households or adopting
a male heir.
• Re-introducing polygamy will not gain the public
support.

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Council of Intellectuals
• January 2005: the Koizumi Cabinet established
a Council of the Intellectuals for the Imperial
Charter and released a report in Nov. 2005.
• It concluded that it was possible to allow female
heir both from paternal and maternal lines.
• The report met a criticism from the pro-
traditionalists.
• But the overwhelming majority of the Japanese
public welcomed the idea of including the female
in the succession.

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...then came a male heir

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A (male) child was born
• In the midst of it, the wife of Prince Fuminhito,
the second son of the current emperor, gave a
birth to a son, Prince Hisahito, in Sept. 2006.
• This relieved all the concerned circles.
• However, the question still remain unsolved,
since:
• It is very likely that the baby will be the only male
heir in this generation.
• There is no guarantee that he will produce a son.

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Prince Hisahito

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The debate goes on and
on
• By his birth the Council’s report (2005) was
discarded.
• The government announced that issue will be
reviewed all over again.
• A supra-party Diet members’ league for the
purpose of maintaining the tradition was
formed in October 2006, led by a leading
Liberal Democratic Party member.

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What of the imperial
family’s view?
• Simply put, their views are doomed to be
ignored.
• The Japanese constitution (Art. 3 and 4)
stipulates that every public conduct of the
imperial family is subject to advice and approval
of the cabinet who in turn is held responsible for
the imperial family’s actions.
• Hence, we will never hear or read about their
opinions firsthand.

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Conclusion
The extent to which Emperor is a source of
the Japanese identity.
Change of the position of the Emperor
before and after the war.
The relevance of the emperor as a source of
Japan’s post-war identity and nationalism.
The debate concerning ‘war responsibility’.
The debate over the succession issue.

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