- List of Figures*
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1. The Monarchy, “660 BCE”–1945
- The Making of the Modern Monarchy
- The Monarchy after World War I
- The Emperor System and the Fifteen-Year War, 1931–45
- 2. 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”
- 3. Ministerial Briefings and Emperor Hirohito in Politics
- Briefings under the New Constitution and the Occupation, 1947–52
- The Post-Occupation Period
- 4. 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
- 5. Nationalistic Movements to Restore Cultural Symbols of the Monarchy
- The Foundation Day Reestablishment Movement
- The Movement to Perpetuate the Reign-Name System
- 2019 Addendum
- 6. 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
- 7. From the Heisei Era to the Reiwa Era
- The Heisei Agenda
- Mixed Messages and Absences
- The Reiwa Era
- 8. The Abdication of Emperor Akihito and the Fragility of the Imperial Line
- The Abdication in Historical Context
- The Fragility of the Imperial Line
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
- * Figures
- 1. A chart showing some members of the royal family to help illustrate, in particular, the heir crisis as of 2019
- 2. Cartoon mocking imperial democracy, 1945
- 3. Order of the Golden Kite
- 4. General Nogi Maresuke and his wife shortly before their suicide, 1912
- 5. Stone monument commemorating “vestiges” of Emperor Jimmu
- 6. Japanese students at work in service to the throne, 1940
- 7. 1940 postmark from Kashihara, center of the 2,600th anniversary celebrations of the Empire of Japan’s (mythical) foundation
- 8. Advertisement for tourist memorabilia to mark holy visits to imperial sites
- 9. Supreme Commander Emperor Hirohito
- 10. Chart titled “The Japanese State Today” showing the reformed postwar polity
- 11. Proposed “Order of Peace”
- 12. Emperor Hirohito with Mickey Mouse, 1975
- 13. Emperor Akihito offering an apology to South Korean President Roh Tae Woo, 1990
- 14. Emperor Akihito greets Yokoi Shōichi at garden party, 1991
- 15. Mayor Yoshikawa Saburō of Kashihara City playing the role of Emperor Jimmu in his city’s Yamato Parade
- 16. Famous photograph of General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito in their first meeting, September 1945
- 17. Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako walking on the beach with four of their children, 1946
- 18. Emperor Hirohito greets his countrymen during a domestic tour, 1947
- 19. Emperor Hirohito visiting the Miike Coal Mine in Fukuoka Prefecture, 1949
- 20. Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako, then-Crown Prince Akihito and then-Crown Princess Michiko, and other members of the imperial family greet countrymen making a congratulatory visit to the palace on Hirohito’s birthday, 1986
- 21. Elizabeth Vining, English-language tutor to Akihito from 1946 to 1950, in classroom with the crown prince and his classmates
- 22. The wedding parade of Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko, 1959
- 23. Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko with “Baby Naru,” 1961
- 24. Crown Princess Michiko in the kitchen, 1961
- 25. Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko visiting a public apartment complex, 1960
- 26. Koizumi Shinzō, director of Crown Prince Akihito’s education, and Elizabeth Vining answer questions at a press conference on the day of Akihito’s wedding to Michiko
- 27. Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko holding hands while ice skating
- 28. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko comforting disaster victims, 1991
- 29. Empress Michiko hugging a victim of the destructive Kobe earthquake, 1995
- 30. Naruhito and Masako, 1999
- 31. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko dancing with nursery school children, 2001
- 32. Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide holds up a sign with the new reign name, Reiwa, 2019
- 33. Akihito and Michiko talk with Nagano Paralympics gold medalists during a spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens, 1998
- 34. Michiko assists Akihito in finding the correct page of his address at the ceremony marking the thirtieth year of his reign, 2019
- 35. Then-Crown Prince Naruhito delivers a speech about “Water and Natural Disasters” at the World Water Forum, 2018
- 36. Akihito catching gobies in Saroma Lake, Hokkaido, 1985
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