Illustrations

Abbreviations

Introduction

The Monarchy, "660 B.C."-1945

The making of the modern monarchy
The monarchy after World War I
The emperor system and the Fifteen-Year War, 1931-45

The Constitutional Symbolic Monarchy

The symbolic monarchy as Japanese tradition
Interpreting the emperor's new role
The imperial decoration system
Contesting the symbolic monarchy
Official legitimization
The "constitutional symbolic monarchy under popular sovereignty"

Ministerial Briefings and Emperor Hirohito in Politics

Briefings under the new constitution and the Occupation, 1947-52
The post-Occupation period

Imperial War Responsibility and Apologies

Emperor Hirohito's new clothes
Emperor Hirohito and General Charles de Gaulle: referents for sanitized memories of the war in Japan and France
The right's endorsement of the symbolic monarchy
Imperial apologies and the constitution

Nationalistic Movements to Restore Cultural Symbols of the Monarchy

The Foundation Day re-establishment movement
The movement to perpetuate the reign-name system

The "Monarchy of the Masses"

Hirohito, emperor of the people
The emergence of Crown Prince Akihito
An imperial "love match"
Backlash against the monarchy of the masses
The warm, fuzzy Heisei monarchy

Conclusion

Reference Matter

Notes
Works Cited
Index