Constitution of Japan, Article 1: The
Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People,
deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign
power. Based on that provision, the people in Japan began discussion over
abdication of Emperor Akihito. It has a lot of talking points, from the will of
Emperor to political use of Emperor’s status.
Seventy years ago, Prince Mikasa, Takahito,
uncle of Akihito, laid a question. “Isn’t it against the principle of Article 18
of new constitution, No person shall be held in bondage of any kind, not to
pave a way for abdication except death?” Takahito said, according to an article
of Asahi Shimbun. Although Takahito was in charge of discussing new Imperial
Household Law, Japanese government ignored his opinion with reason that then
Emeperor, Hirohito, had already approved the original draft.
Scholars on constitution recognize that
human rights of Emperor, who succeeds throne or has special role as a symbol of
the state, has to be restricted compared to ordinary citizens. However, the
status of Japanese Emperor has changed from “God” in pre-war era to “human” in
post-war Japan. It will contradict that notion to assume restricted human
rights of Emperor without any consent.
It is likely that Akihito asked the
sovereign people of Japan to discuss to what extent Emperor’s human rights
would be guaranteed. Although Akihito did not directly referred to abdication,
people properly understood his intention. In the poll of Kyodo News Agency, 86%
of the people approved Emperor’s abdication before his death, requiring
immediate discussion for necessary legislature.
According to Asahi, the first abdication of
Emperor was right after a coup in A.D. 645, when Emperor Kotoku succeeded the
throne from Emperor Kogyoku. Although abdication became usual matter of
Imperial house thereafter, it was not tolerated in Imperial Household Law in
1889. The first Prime Minister of Japan, Hirobumi Ito, opposed including
abdication in the law, because of huge power of Emperor in modern society,
which could be used for political purpose.
Actually, politics has taken advantage of
Imperial power. In 2009, Yukio Hatoyama administration set a meeting of Akihito
with then Chinese Vice-president Xi Jinping without ordinary advanced notification
one month before. Shinzo Abe administration decided to let Emperor participate in
a ceremony of “Sovereignty Restoration Day,” April 28th in 2013. If Imperial
Household Law is amended with request of Akihito, it will be possible that politics
interprets the power of Emperor as preferable for them as possible. It is what the
government did in the wartime.
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