End of an era

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End of an era

Wednesday, 01 May 2019 | Pioneer

End of an era

Japan's Emperor Akihito is abdicating his throne, the first one to do so in two centuries, in a major culture shift  

The Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuing hereditary royal line in the world. Some legends date it back to 600 BC and as the sun rose over Japan today, the 126th Emperor of the Chrysanthemum throne, Naruhito took over from his father Akihito. The 85-year-old emperor  decided to abdicate from his throne because after surgery for prostate cancer and a heart bypass, he felt he could not continue in his ceremonial role and made a rare heartfelt address to his nation in 2016 on this issue. The public sympathised with him as did the Japanese government, which passed a law, allowing him to abdicate. Naruhito will be just the third emperor of Japan after the end of World War II, where the Americans sensibly allowed the imperial family to continue so as to display a sense of continuity to the defeated Japanese. Although stripped of their “divinity” — some always said that following the Allied victory, it was American General Douglas MacArthur who was God in Japan — Emperor Hirohito continued in power. It was the stability that the royal family symbolised in Japan that played a role in that nation’s tremendous economic turnaround from the ashes of war. And while the imperial family in Japan is like most other monarchies in democratic nations, a notional one, it is deeply important and holds cultural significance. The Japanese people and media are respectful of their monarch and their families quite unlike in Great Britain.

But there are challenges ahead for the Japanese monarchy as well, not only the fact that people are living longer — Emperor Akihito is eight years younger than Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain, the world’s longest serving and oldest monarch by quite some distance — but it does not allow a female succession.  The royals have a male hereditary line, meaning that Naruhito’s daughter Princess Aiko cannot inherit the throne. It will eventually be her cousin Hisahito who will be eligible for the next generation through his father Fumihito. Japan might be a deeply patriarchal society but even there many realise that this is something that needs to change in the modern era. Holding on to traditions is one thing and may be vital for countries to be moored culturally. But those should also adapt gradually to the changed gender dynamics of the time. Considering that Akihito himself redefined the role, renouncing divinities, breaking norms and interacting with the common people, Japan’s lawmakers must consider the possibilities of an empress, going forward.

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