A New Era Begins

Earlier this week, news broke that newest period of Japanese history would be known as the Reiwa 令和 period. In addition to being monumental in its own right, this was also the first time that many had heard that the current emperor, Akihito, had intentions to abdicate the throne at all, which is why I felt the need to talk about the new ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne. Please forgive me, as this article is less a personal discussion on changes, but an article I felt compelled to make to help present the information about the abdication in a concise and easy-to-digest manner. 

It was back in 2010 when the emperor first told his advisory council that one day he would like to retire. Six years later he made a formal request to do so. Since then the last two years have been spent speaking with everyone who could be considered as having a right to the throne and asking them to officially abdicate in favour of the preferred heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, and to prepare for the abdication process, which began officially on January 8th of this year.

Since then, both the current emperor and the crown prince have been preparing for the change in rulership, a process which picked up on March 12 when they began taking part in the private abdication ceremonies. Official celebrations will begin in late April-early May to coincide with not only the 30th anniversary jubilee arranged for the passing of the current emperor's reign but Golden Week, a week of holidays in Japan that feature no less than two emperors birthdays and Midori no Hi, also known as Greenery Day(April 29th), a holiday celebrated by showing one's love for plants and the natural world and to be thankful for their many blessings. On May 1st the new era will truly begin. On that day, the crown prince will become emperor, receiving two of the three imperial regalia as well as the Privy and State seals. His official enthronement ceremony will be held on October 22nd. 

As I said above, the new era will be known as  Reiwa 令和, a term that means Beautiful Harmony.  In reaction to some erroneous overseas reports, the Japanese Government felt the need to assure the world at large that they have no expansionistic designs or plans to try and force their beliefs upon the world at large, a fear that was brought up due to an alternate translation, part of which can also be used to mean "command" or "order" as well.

Personally speaking, while I am very excited about the prospect of seeing a new emperor enthroned and watching the changes that will come about from it, I remain filled with a sense of disappointment that Akihito's daughter, Sayako, will not be the next Empress of Japan. While the laws don't say that a woman can't be chosen as heir, the Japanese have had a preference for emperors, rather than empresses. In 2010 the point was made moot when Sayako married a long-time friend of the imperial family, Yoshiki Kuroda. At that time, according to the laws of Japan, she gave up her royal title of Nori-no-Miya (Princess Nori) and officially joined the Kuroda family. Even if she will never be empress, Sayako has done very well for herself, not only in completing her bachelor's degree in Language and Letters before becoming a research associate in 1998 but more recently as well, when she took over the position of the supreme priestess of Ise Shrine in 2012.