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Emperor, Shinto, Democracy: Japan s Unresolved Questions of Historical Consciousness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Herbert P. Bix
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Japanese archaeologists and historians have long rejected the government's claim that Japan has had 124 emperors from the mythical Jimmu, descendant of the Sun Goddess, to the controversial Showa Emperor Hirohito, whose pre-World War II reign brought havoc to Asian and Japanese people. The scholars recognize that most sites of ancient imperial tombs should be treated as objects of scientific inquiry rather than as religious remnants of discredited State Shinto. But bureaucrats of the Imperial Household Agency, claiming to follow the Imperial Household Law, interpret the rules and control the tombs. They will neither allow the tombs to be treated as ordinary historical sites for investigation nor release copies of documents pertaining to them or to more recent emperors. Professing concern for the peace, calm, and privacy of emperors, but really fearing public scrutiny of the imperial institution and its “traditions,” they continue to deny permission to excavate the tombs.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 3 , Issue 6 , June 2005 , e12
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

References

Notes

1. See Reiji Yoshida, “New Weapon Wielded in old tomb Debate,” The Japan Times (June 4, 2005); Richard Lloyd Parry, “Guardians of Japan's Forbidden tombs Resist Bid to Dig Up Past,” available at: http:www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-161528000.html

2. Umehara Takeshi, “Nihon no dento to wa nani ka,” Asahi shimbun, eiseiban (May 17, 2005).

3. Asukai Masamichi, “Kindai tennozo no tenkai,” in Asao Naohiro, et al., eds., Iwanami koza, Nihon tsushi, kindai 2, dai 17 kan (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1994), pp. 234-35.

4. Yoshida Yutaka, “Yasukuni jinja, gokoku jinja,” in Yoshida Yutaka, Hara Takeshi, Iwanami tenno, koshitsu jiten (Iwanami Shoten, 2005), p. 324.

5. Sato Manabu, “Genba no mirai wa akenai,” Asahi shimbun, eiseiban (March 30, 2003).

6. Okudaira Yasuhiro, “Ima koso ‘tennosei’ sonomono ni kokuminteki rongi o ‘jotei’ ronso ni igi ari,” Shukan kinyobi, No. 545 (Feb. 18, 2005), pp. 12-13; Yasumaru Yoshio, “Seido sasaeru josei e fuka—kozoku no jiyu ya jinkaku keisei to wa,” Asahi shimbun, eiseiban (Feb. 16, 2005), p. 13.