Akihito

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Emperor Akihito (2014)
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko (2016)
Wedding photo of the then Crown Prince Akihito with Michiko Shōda (1959)

Akihito ( Japanese 明仁 ; * December 23, 1933 in Tokyo ) is a retired Tennō ( 上皇 陛下 , jōkō heika ; eng. "Emperor Emeritus"). He ascended the Japanese chrysanthemum throne on January 7, 1989 , was officially proclaimed the 125th Emperor of Japan on November 12, 1990, and abdicated on April 30, 2019. His government motto was called Heisei ( 平 成 , "peace everywhere").

biography

Akihito is the fifth child and the eldest son of Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989) and Empress Kōjun (1903-2000). His full childhood name was Tsugu-no-miya Akihito and his title of nobility was Prince Tsugu ( 継 宮 , Tsugu no Miya ). Akihito and his brother Prince Masahito were evacuated during the US bombing of Tokyo . An American private teacher , Elizabeth Gray Vining (1902-1999), brought the prince closer to the English language and Western culture during the occupation . In 1952 he was officially named crown prince and heir to the chrysanthemum throne, although this career path was already determined when he was born. In 1953 the Crown Prince represented the Japanese imperial family at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II . Akihito is the first Japanese emperor to go to college, although he did not graduate. In addition to economics and political science he studied at the Gakushuin University in the Department of Marine Biology specializing in ichthyology . He classified freshwater fish and from 1967 published internationally recognized scientific papers on gobies - especially gobies , one of which ( Exyrias akihito ) has been named after him since 2005. Since 2007 a genus of lip-tooth gobies has also been named after him.

Akihito is personally characterized by great restraint and a very modest demeanor. He has been married to Empress Michiko (born Michiko Shōda), a commoner , since April 10, 1959 . The marriage of the then crown prince to the Christian-raised daughter of a wealthy Japanese businessman was a break with a tradition going back to prehistoric times, according to which the emperor's main wife was only allowed to come from the hereditary nobility ( kazoku ).

On August 8, 2016, Akihito addressed the Japanese people in a televised address. He expressed concern about his health and shared his personal opinion on the way in which an emperor should carry out his duties. He was of the opinion that if an emperor was unable to perform his duties for various reasons, "society could come to a standstill" and "the lives of many people would be affected in various ways". With this address he responded to some reports published in mid-July 2016 according to which he was considering abdicating "in the next few years". For such an abdication, an amendment to the law on the imperial household was necessary, as this was not provided and was last done in 1817 by Emperor Kōkaku . Since the emperor is not allowed to interfere in political affairs, he was unable to comment directly on a possible abdication at the address. In September 2016, the government commissioned a committee consisting of 16 experts with the task of submitting a proposal for the amendment to the law by spring 2017 . On April 21, 2017, the panel submitted its submission to the government, which based on it drafted a bill allowing Akihito to abdicate. The committee suggested, among other things, that Akihito should bear the title Jōkō ( 上皇 , dt. "Former emperor") after his abdication . On May 19, 2017, the government submitted the bill to the Kokkai . The law was passed on June 9th. On December 1, 2017, the "Imperial Council" ( 皇室 会議 Kōshitsu Kaigi ), consisting of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe , the presidents of the two chambers of parliament Tadamori Ōshima and Chūichi Date as well as Akihito's younger brother Prince Masahito of Hitachi and his wife Princess, agreed Hanako von Hitachi , responded to an abdication on April 30, 2019 and passed this recommendation on to the government, which joined it shortly afterwards. She then officially announced by cabinet resolution on December 8, 2017 that Akihito would abdicate on the day mentioned and that Crown Prince Naruhito would ascend the chrysanthemum throne on the following day . Before that, the press and politicians had suggested December 31, 2018 and March 31, 2019 as possible dates, which, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, were rejected due to the imperial family's schedule around the New Year and planned local elections in April 2019 .

On April 30, 2019, Akihito abdicated in a ceremony. His reign officially ended at 11:59 p.m. local time .

progeny

The then Crown Prince couple with their children in September 1969

The former imperial couple has three children:

They also have four grandchildren:

  • Mako (born October 23, 1991) - daughter of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko
  • Kako (born December 29, 1994) - daughter of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko
  • Aiko (born December 1, 2001) - daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako
  • Hisahito (born September 6, 2006) - son of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko

Under the current rules of succession , only one man can ascend the imperial throne. Since the only child of the imperial couple Naruhito and Masako is a daughter and all other members of the grandchildren generation in the imperial family were female until September 6, 2006, there was intense political discussion about a change in the law in favor of female heirs to the throne . After the birth of Prince Hisahito, plans in this regard were given up again by the government under Prime Minister Jun'ichirō Koizumi . In general, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party is critical of such plans.

status

The Chōwaden Palace on the 71st birthday of Emperor Akihito (December 23, 2004)

In contrast to the Japanese emperors before him, including his father Hirohito until the surrender of Japan in 1945, Akihito no longer officially held the god-like status of a heavenly ruler and descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu , but was - according to the constitution - as the unifying state symbol of Japan. Since Japan is a parliamentary monarchy , Akihito did not have any power to govern - in formal terms he was not even the head of state . As a Tennō , however, he had both a de facto political and a religious function in Shintoism .

A Japanese emperor is not mentioned by his proper name, either by family members or by the Japanese people. Instead, one refers to him respectfully as tennō heika ( 天皇 陛下 , literally: "His majesty , the heavenly sovereign") or kinjō heika ( 今 上 陛下 , literally: "His current majesty") or simply as tennō . These titulatures were also valid during Akihito's reign. Since his abdication on April 30, 2019, Akihito has been titled jōkō heika ( 上皇 陛下 ), officially translated as "emperor emeritus". After his death he will be referred to as Heisei-tennō ( 平 成 天皇 ) according to the motto of his reign .

Most of the Japanese people hold Akihito in high regard and even deeply adore it, even if he and his family lead a secluded life determined by the strict court ceremonies . During his time as emperor, he usually addressed the population only twice a year - on his birthday on December 23rd and on January 2nd for the New Year . The imperial family is on the balcony of the Chōwaden Palace inside the imperial palace in Tokyo behind a bulletproof glass pane and is cheered by tens of thousands of citizens with Japanese flags on the Kyūden-Tōtei Square in front of it. The emperor's birthday is the Japanese national holiday and therefore a public holiday .

The Imperial Court Office , which is subordinate to the Japanese cabinet , is responsible for the emperor and his family .

Important appearances (selection)

  • Akihito and Michiko escaped in July 1975 during a visit to Okinawa as part of Expo '75 at the Himeyuri Memorial barely a Molotov - assassination of three left-wing extremist radicals . Both were unharmed. The visit of the Crown Prince couple to Okinawa was problematic because Akihito's father, Emperor Hirohito, as commander-in-chief of the imperial army , was blamed by the islanders for the atrocities and many - mostly senseless - dead during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. In 1993 Akihito returned to Okinawa as emperor.
  • In 1992, Akihito became the first Japanese emperor to travel to China to express his regret over the suffering that the Japanese had brought to China in the past.
  • After the Kobe earthquake in 1995 , Akihito visited an emergency shelter in simple casual clothes accompanied by the empress and gave consolation to the local people.
  • In 2005 the imperial couple visited the island of Saipan and commemorated the many dead of the Second World War in a symbolic gesture.
  • Five days after the earthquake disaster in March 2011, as a result of which Japan was struck by a tsunami and several reactor accidents, the Japanese emperor addressed his people in a televised speech with comforting words for the first time in history . The event - like his father's radio address on the surrender of Japan in 1945, with which a Japanese emperor spoke to his subjects for the first time - is a sensation by Japanese standards. From the end of March 2011, the imperial couple visited several emergency shelters for refugees and those affected from the disaster area in a total of seven prefectures .
  • On March 11, 2012, Akihito gave a sensitive and at the same time admonishing speech at the central commemoration ceremony for the victims of the earthquake disaster of March 11, 2011 in Tokyo, in which the Empress also took part, although the Emperor had only had a bypass one week earlier -Operation due to constricted coronary arteries (performed on February 18) was discharged from the hospital.
  • On August 8, 2016, Akihito addressed his people a second time in a televised address. In this he expressed concern about his health and shared his personal opinion about the way in which an emperor should carry out his duties. The address was interpreted as Akihito's wish to abdicate and thus to change the law on the imperial household. As a result, Parliament passed a law in June 2017 allowing such an abdication; In addition, the government set the December 2017 date to April 30, 2019.

Private

His siblings, who are still alive, are Atsuko Ikeda (* 1931), Masahito von Hitachi (* 1935) and Takako Shimazu (* 1939).

Picture gallery

  • Prince Akihito (1938)

  • Akihito with teacher Vining (1949)

  • With his grandmother Teimei (1949)

  • Akihito with his father (1950)

  • Akihito with his parents (1952)

  • Akihito and Michiko wedding (1959)

  • State visit to the Netherlands (1979)

  • Visit to Saipan (2005)

  • Birthday address 2005

  • Honolulu War Cemetery Visit (2009)

  • Visit to Canada (2009)

  • New Years Address 2010 (video)

  • Reception of Hillary Clinton at the Imperial Palace (2011)

  • The Imperial Couple in Tokyo Station (2012)

  • State visit of Barack Obama to Tokyo (2014)

  • State banquet with Benigno Aquino III. in the Philippines (2016)

Web links

Commons : Akihito  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Royalty - portrait: Emperor Akihito ( memento from June 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), ndr.de, January 6, 2008.
  2. ↑ Emperor Akihito to Be Called Emperor Emeritus after Abdication. In: nippon.com. Retrieved April 30, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Elizabeth Gray Vining, Japan's royal tutor, died on November 27th, aged 97 , economist.com, December 9, 1999.
  4. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Kaiser von Japan: The oldest monarch in the world , kurier.at, March 17, 2011.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / kurier.at
  5. ↑ Life in a goldfish bowl , timesonline.co.uk, May 24, 2007
  6. ↑ Exyrias akihito at fishbase.org (English), accessed June 17, 2014.
  7. ↑ Akihito vanuatu on fishbase.org (English), accessed June 17, 2014.
  8. ↑ Imperial Court Office : 象 徴 ​​と し て の お 務 め に つ い て の 天皇 陛下 の お こ と ば (Japanese), accessed on August 8, 2016
  9. ↑ Emperor Akihito apparently wants to abdicate . Spiegel online, July 13, 2016
  10. ↑ Kyodo News : Era name for new Emperor may be announced ahead of accession: sources. In: The Japan Times . Retrieved January 11, 2017 .
  11. ↑ www.kantei.go.jp - 最終 報告 (Japanese), accessed April 21, 2017
  12. ↑ Kyodo News : Cabinet greenlights abdication bill. In: The Japan Times . Retrieved May 19, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Reiji Yoshida: Diet enacts one-time law to allow Emperor Akihito to abdicate. In: The Japan Times . June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2017 (Japanese).
  14. ↑ 天皇 陛下 退位 「２０１９ 年 ４ 月 ３０ 日」 政令 を 閣 議 決定 . Retrieved December 8, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Emperor Akihito to abdicate on April 30, 2019. In: The Mainichi . Retrieved December 1, 2017 .
  16. ↑ "When the emperor has a cough, all of Japan suffers" , welt.de, July 26, 2007.
  17. ^ Emperor Akihito wishes the Japanese better times ( memento of January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), bazonline.ch, January 2, 2009.
  18. ^ Thousands greet Japan's Emperor Akihito on his 75th birthday , tagesanzeiger.ch, December 23, 2008
  19. ↑ Tenno Akihito: When the Emperor has grief ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), diepresse.com, December 28, 2008.
  20. ↑ こ れ ま で の 新年 一般 参 賀 の 参 賀 者 数 （平 成 以降） accessed on May 19, 2017
  21. ^ Post-Reversion Okinawa and US-Japan Relations (PDF; 2.1 MB), in: US-Japan Alliance Affairs Series , page 72, May 2004.
  22. ↑ Emperor Akihito: A bulwark against a sea of troubles , guardian.co.uk, March 20, 2011th
  23. ^ Japanese imperial couple bow in silence , news.ch, June 28, 2005.
  24. ^ A Message from His Majesty The Emperor , kunaicho.go.jp (Imperial Court Office), March 16, 2011.
  25. ↑ Call for Solidarity , spiegel.de, March 16, 2011.
  26. ↑ When the Tenno speaks , sueddeutsche.de, March 16, 2011.
  27. ↑ Japan's emperor visits disaster victims - "Please all stay healthy" , spiegel.de, March 31, 2011.
  28. ^ Emperor Akihito visits atomic victims in the gym , welt.de, March 31, 2011.
  29. ↑ Japan's imperial couple travels to the disaster area ( memento of April 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), mopo.de, April 7, 2011.
  30. ↑ Japan pauses , euronews.com, March 11, 2012.
  31. ↑ Bypass successfully placed: Japanese emperor released from clinic , focus.de, March 4, 2012.
  32. ↑ Comment: Japan's Emperor Akihito , Jetzt.de, March 16, 2011.
  33. ↑ I want to be like a king of the Danes , spiegel.de, January 16, 1989.
  34. ↑ Japan's Emperor Akihito - Enduring the Unbearable , sueddeutsche.de, March 16, 2011
  35. ^ The Japanese Imperial Family ( Memento from June 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), mietrecht.de, June 25, 2010.
  36. ↑ PoWs' anger at Akihito honor , bbc.co.uk, April 10, 1998
  37. ↑ Palace small talk problem solved: royal guest is a goby fish fanatic , timesonline.co.uk, May 30, 2007.
  38. ↑ Shock in Japan - The Kaiser has cancer , spiegel.de, December 28, 2002.
  39. ^ Emperor Akihito suffers from gastric bleeding , focus.de, December 9, 2008
  40. ↑ Japan's Emperor Akihito has hardened arteries , DA-imnetz.de, February 10, 2011.
predecessor Office successor
Hirohito ( Shōwa ) Emperor of Japan
1989-2019 		Naruhito ( Reiwa )
personal data
SURNAME Akihito
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 明仁 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Tennō emeritus
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo