text:
Whip (politics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
In countries influenced by the British political system, a whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are the party's "enforcers"; they invite their fellow legislators to attend voting sessions and to vote according to the official party policy. The term is taken from the "whipper-in" during a hunt, who tries to prevent the hounds from wandering away from the pack.
Additionally, the term "whip" may mean the voting instructions issued to members by the whip[1], or the status of a certain legislator in their party's parliamentary grouping.
Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology
2 Australia
3 Canada
4 Greece
5 India
6 Ireland
7 Malaysia
8 New Zealand
9 South Africa
10 United Kingdom
11 United States
12 Whips in other parts of the world
13 In popular culture
14 References
15 External links
Etymology[edit]
The expression whip in its parliamentary context has its origins in hunting terminology. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term whipper-in as, "a huntsman's assistant who keeps the hounds from straying by driving them back with the whip into the main body of the pack". According to that dictionary, the first recorded use of the term whipper-in in the parliamentary sense occurs in 1772. However, P. D. G. Thomas in House of Commons in the Eighteenth Century cites two examples of the use of the term that pre-date 1772.[2]
It was within the context of such summonses to members out of town that the first known Parliamentary instance of the use of the term "whip" occurred. In the debate of 8 May 1769 on a petition from some Middlesex freeholders against the seating of Henry Luttrell instead of John Wilkes, Edmund Burke mentioned that the ministry had sent for their friends to the north and to Paris, "whipping them in, than which, he said, there could not be a better phrase". Although Burke's particular emphasis on the expression implied its comparative novelty, the hunting term had been used in this political context for at least a generation: on 18 November 1742 Heneage Finch remarked in a letter to Lord Malton that "the Whigs for once in their lives have whipped in better than the Tories".
Australia[edit]
Main article: Party whip (Australia)
In the Parliament of Australia, as well as in the parliaments of the six states and two self-governing territories, all political parties have whips to ensure party discipline and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the party leadership. The most important function of the whip's office is to ensure that all members and senators are present to take part in votes in the chamber (maintaining quorum and preventing censure motions).[3] Unlike in the United Kingdom, Australian whips do not hold official office, but they are recognised for parliamentary purposes. In practice, Australian whips play a lesser role than their counterparts in the United Kingdom, as party discipline in Australia tends to be tighter.[4]
Their roles in the chamber include taking divisions, and maintaining a "pairs book" which controls the ability of members and senators to leave the parliament building during sittings, as well as the entitlement to be absent during divisions.
Liberal Party whips are appointed by the leader of the party, while Australian Labor Party whips are elected by the Caucus. For Labor and the Liberals, the chief whip is assisted by two deputy whips.[5]
Similar arrangements exist in the state and territory parliaments.
Canada[edit]
Main article: Party Whip (Canada)
In Canada the Party Whip is the member of a political party in the Canadian House of Commons, the Canadian Senate or a provincial legislature charged with ensuring party discipline among members of the caucus. The whip is also responsible for assigning offices and scheduling speakers from his or her party for various bills, motions and other proceedings in the House.
Greece[edit]
In Greece, party discipline is normally very strict. However, a few governments have collapsed despite this strictness. The role of the whip is usually exercised by the party leader but Kostas Karamanlis, the prime minister from 2004 to 2009 and former leader of the New Democracy party, mostly used Giannis Tragakis, General Secretary of his party parliamentary group, as a whip. Until November 2008, New Democracy, Karamanlis' party, had 152 MPs out of 300. When Petros Tatoulis, MP for Arcadia Prefecture, stated that Karamanlis was guilty of a few political scandals, Karamanlis immediately expelled him from both the parliamentary group and the party, as a result giving New Democracy a majority of only one seat [6].
India[edit]
In India, the concept of the whip was inherited from colonial British rule. Every major political party appoints a whip who is responsible for the party's discipline and behaviour on the floor of the house. Usually, he/she directs the party members to stick to the party's stand on certain issues and directs them to vote as per the direction of senior party members.[7][8] However, there are some cases such as Indian presidential elections where whips cannot direct a member of parliament or member of legislative assembly on whom to vote.[9]
Ireland[edit]
Whips exist for all parliamentary parties in Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.[10] The government chief whip is normally a Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach,[11] and attends cabinet meetings.[12] The whips of each house meet weekly to set the agenda for the next week's business.[12] The Technical Group in the Dáil and the analogous Independent groups in the Seanad nominate whips to attend these meetings even though there is no party line for their whips to enforce.[13] Whips also coordinate pairing.[10][12]
The timing of most votes are difficult to predict and TDs are expected to stay within earshot of the division bell at all times. All TDs are required to vote with their party and to receive permission if they intend to be absent for a vote. Free votes are not a common feature of the Irish parliamentary tradition but they do happen on occasion, and there are calls for them to happen more often. For instance, Fianna Fail usually allows a free vote on abortion bills as in the Protection of Human Life In Pregnancy Act [14].
From 1998, whips and assistant whips may be entitled to an allowance on top of their base legislator's salary.[15] In 2011, these allowances varied proportional to the size of the group, with Fianna Fáil's Dáil whip's allowance the highest at €19,000.[16]
Malaysia[edit]
Main article: Party whip (Malaysia)
New Zealand[edit]
See also: Senior Whip of the Labour Party, Senior Whip of the Liberal Party, and Senior Whip of the National Party
In New Zealand, the concept of the whip was inherited from British rule. All political parties that have four or more members in Parliament have at least one party whip, although Green Party whips are called musterers.[17] Parties with 25 to 44 members are allowed two whips (one senior and one junior), and parties with 45 or more members are entitled to three whips (one senior and two junior).
Whips act in an administrative role, making sure members of their party are in the debating chamber when required and organising members of their party to speak during debates. Since the introduction of proportional representation in 1996, divisions which require all members in the chamber to vote by taking sides (termed a personal vote) are rarely used, except for conscience issues. Instead, one of the party's whips votes on behalf of all the members of their party, by declaring how many members are in favour and/or how many members are opposed. They also cast proxy votes for single-member parties whose member is not in the chamber at the time of the vote, and also cast proxy vote during personal votes for absent members of their parties and for absent members of associated single-member parties.
South Africa[edit]
Although South Africa uses a proportional representation system, the concept of a political party whip, which was inherited from colonial British rule, has been maintained [18][19].
In 2017, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said "Voting according to conscience doesn't work in a political party system. We all get into the list of things and go to Parliament as parliamentarians of the ANC [...] There will be no voting against the ANC" [20].
United Kingdom[edit]
In British politics, the chief whip of the governing party in the House of Commons is customarily appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury so that the incumbent, who represents the whips in general, has a seat and a voice in the Cabinet. By virtue of holding the office of Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, the government chief whip has an official residence at 12 Downing Street, although the chief whip's office is currently located at 9 Downing Street. Whips report to the prime minister on any possible backbench revolts and the general opinion of MPs within the party, and upon the exercise of the patronage, which is used to motivate and reward loyalty.
In the sense of 'voting instructions', there are three categories of whip in British politics that are issued on particular business. An expressed instruction on how to vote could constitute a breach of parliamentary privilege, so the party's wishes are expressed unequivocally but indirectly. These whips are issued to MPs in the form of a letter outlining the parliamentary schedule, with a sentence such as "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote, underlined one, two or three times according to the severity of the whip:
A single-line whip is a guide to what the party's policy would indicate, and notification of when the vote is expected to take place; this is non-binding for attendance or voting.
A two-line whip, sometimes known as a double-line whip, is an instruction to attend and vote; partially binding for voting, attendance required unless prior permission given by the whip.
A three-line whip is a strict instruction to attend and vote, breach of which would normally have serious consequences. Permission not to attend may be given by the whip, but a serious reason is needed. Breach of a three-line whip can lead to expulsion from the parliamentary political group in extreme circumstances and may lead to expulsion from the party. Consequently, three-line whips are generally only issued on key issues, such as votes of confidence and supply.[citation needed] The nature of three-line whips and the potential punishments for revolt vary dramatically among parties and legislatures. Disobeying a three-line whip is a newsworthy event, indicating as it does a potential mutiny; an example was the decision on 10 July 2012 by 91 Conservative MPs to vote against Prime Minister David Cameron on the issue of reform of the House of Lords.[21]
United States[edit]
This section includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this section by introducing more precise citations. (March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
In the United States there are legislatures at the local (city councils, town councils, county boards, etc.), state, and federal levels. The federal legislature (Congress), the legislatures in all states except for Nebraska, and many county and city legislative bodies are divided along party lines and have whips, as well as majority and minority leaders. Similarly, the whip may also be known as the assistant majority or assistant minority leader.
Both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and Senate, have majority and minority whips. They in turn have subordinate "regional" whips. While members of Congress often vote along party lines, the influence of the whip is weaker than in the UK system. One reason is that a considerable amount of money is raised by individual candidates, and members of Congress, or any other person, cannot be expelled from a political party, which are formed simply by open registration. In addition, because preselection of candidates for office is generally done through a primary election open to a wide number of voters, a candidate who obeys their constituents' rejection of the party line cannot easily be deselected by his party.
Because members of Congress cannot serve simultaneously in executive positions, a whip in the United States cannot bargain with a member by using as an inducement the possibility of promotion or demotion in a sitting administration. There is, however, a highly structured committee system in both houses of Congress, and a whip may be able to use promotion or demotion within that system instead. In the House of Representatives, the influence of a single member individually is relatively small and therefore depends a great deal on the representative's seniority (i.e., in most cases, on the length of time they have held office).
In the Senate, the majority whip is the third-highest ranking individual in the majority party (the party with the most seats). The majority whip is outranked by the majority leader and, unofficially, the president pro tempore; because the office of president pro tempore is largely honorific and usually given to the longest-serving senator of the majority, the majority whip is in reality the second-ranking senator in the majority conference in terms of actual power. Similarly, in the House, the majority whip is outranked by both the majority leader and the speaker. Unlike the Senate's presiding officer, the Speaker is the leader of his or her party's caucus in the House.
In both the House and the Senate, the minority whip is the second highest-ranking individual in the minority party (the party with the lesser number of legislators in a legislative body), outranked only by the minority leader.
The whip position was first created in the House of Representatives in 1897 by Republican Speaker Thomas Reed, who appointed James A. Tawney as the first whip. The first Democratic whip, Oscar Wilder Underwood, was appointed around 1900.[22][23] In the Senate, the position was created in 1913 by John W. Kern, chair of the Democratic caucus, when he appointed J. Hamilton Lewis as the first whip, while Republicans later chose James Wadsworth as the party's first in 1915.[24]
Whips in other parts of the world[edit]
In most countries not now or formerly under control of the British Empire or part of the Commonwealth of Nations—like most of continental Europe and Asia—the position of whip does not officially exist. The whip's responsibilities are mostly exercised by the party leader or the leader of a parliamentary faction themselves.
In popular culture[edit]
British author and politician Michael Dobbs wrote a trilogy of books, centred around a fictional party whip named Francis Urquhart, which was dramatised and broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation between 1990 and 1995. The first book in the trilogy, entitled House of Cards, lent its name to the original UK television series and has also been used as the title of subsequent series based on other countries' political systems. In House of Cards, Francis Urquhart is the Chief Whip for the UK Conservative Party and the trilogy charts his ambitious rise through his party's ranks until he becomes Prime Minister.
In the American remake of House of Cards, Frank Underwood is the House Majority Whip for the US Democratic Party. The series charts Underwood's ambitious rise through his party's ranks until he becomes President. The name Frank Underwood was both an acknowledgement of the original trilogy's protagonist Francis Urquhart and to the US political system itself, as Oscar Underwood was the first ever party whip for the US Democratic Party.
In the UK there is a reproduction of James Graham's play titled This House that deals with the Conservative and Labour whips during the 1970s.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Pandiyan, M. Veera (May 14, 2006). How the term 'Whip' came to be used in Parliament. The Star (Malaysia).
Jump up ^ House of Commons briefing note: The Whip's Office Doc ref. SN/PC/02829. Last updated 10th October 2008
Jump up ^ Parliamentary Education Office. Fact Sheet 36: The Party Whip.
Jump up ^ Parliament of Australia: Parliamentary Library. Free Votes in Australian and some Overseas Parliaments.
Jump up ^ "Fact Sheet – Party Whips". Parliamentary Education Office. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
Jump up ^ Matthew Jones (November 13, 2008). "Once popular Greek PM struggling to reconnect". Reuters Blog.
Jump up ^ "Derek O'Brien is TMC's Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha". Outlook India. Aug 2, 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
Jump up ^ "leaders and chief whips of recognised parties and groups in parliament (facilities) act, 1998" (PDF). Rajya Sabha Secretariat. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
Jump up ^ "Issuing whips to MPs, MLAs in Presidential poll is an offence: EC". The Times of India. Jul 10, 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b "Whips". Glossary. Dublin: Oireachtas. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
Jump up ^ MacCarthaigh, Muiris (2008). Government in Modern Ireland. Institute of Public Administration. p. 37, fn.6. ISBN 978-1-904541-72-1. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b c MacCarthaigh, Muiris (2005). "How parliamentary accountability functions in Ireland". Accountability in Irish parliamentary politics. Institute of Public Administration. pp. 147–150. ISBN 978-1-904541-31-8. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
Jump up ^ Murphy, Catherine (2 June 2011). Dáil Reform: Statements. Dáil debates. Oireachtas. Vol. 734 No.2 p.6 c.250. Retrieved 21 February 2012. I act as the whip for the Technical Group even though there is no party line to be enforced.
Jump up ^ Ronan McGreevy (May 30, 2013). "Fianna Fáil to allow free vote on forthcoming abortion legislation". The Irish Times.
Jump up ^ Oireachtas (Allowances To Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Act, 1998 Irish Statute Book
Jump up ^ S.I. No. 347/2011 — Oireachtas (Allowances) (Members and Holders of Parliamentary and Certain Ministerial Offices) Order 2011 Irish Statute Book
Jump up ^ Donald, Rod (14 Dec 1999). "The Musterer replaces whips in the Green Party". Green Party of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 30 Oct 2013.
Jump up ^ Parliamentary Monitoring Group. Structure of Government - Office bearers of legislative institutions
Jump up ^ Chief Whips on Parliament Website. [1]
Jump up ^ Thulani Gqirana. "ANC MPs will toe party line in no confidence motion - chief whip". News24.
Jump up ^ Chapman, James (10 July 2012). "Coalition suffers biggest rebellion yet as Tory backbenchers scupper Clegg's dream of Lords reform, leaving senior Lib Dems vowing revenge". Daily Mail.
Jump up ^ "Democratic Whips". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
Jump up ^ "History of the Whip". Office of the house majority whip. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
Jump up ^ Gould, Lewis L. (2005). The Most Exclusive Club. Basic Books. pp. 57, 59. ISBN 978-0-465-02778-1.
External links[edit]
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "whip". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whip_(politics)&oldid=821910213"
Categories:
Political whips
Political terminology
Parliamentary titles
Government occupations
Legal professions
Hidden categories:
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014
Articles lacking in-text citations from March 2016
All articles lacking in-text citations
Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Dansk
Deutsch
Français
हिन्दी
Italiano
עברית
Nederlands
Norsk
Polski
Português
Русский
Simple English
Suomi
Svenska
தமிழ்
తెలుగు
中文
Edit links
This page was last edited on 23 January 2018, at 09:29.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

key: html

type: local

value: div

attrs: id class

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

value: a

attrs: id class lang

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

value: b

attrs: href title

value: p

value: sup

attrs: role tabindex class

values: button 0 togglelink

attrs: class dir xml:lang

values: toctitle ltr en

values:
/wiki/Censure_motion
mw-redirect
Censure motion

values:
/wiki/Prime_minister_of_Greece
mw-redirect
Prime minister of Greece

values:
/wiki/Member_of_legislative_assembly
mw-redirect
Member of legislative assembly

values:
/wiki/Cabinet_meeting
mw-redirect
Cabinet meeting

values:
/wiki/Technical_Group
mw-redirect
Technical Group

values:
/wiki/Motion_of_Confidence
mw-redirect
Motion of Confidence

values:
/wiki/Loss_of_Supply
mw-redirect
Loss of Supply

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (September 2014)

values:
noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact
white-space:nowrap;

attrs: alt src width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values: Wikipedia:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check

values: plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-style ambox-More_footnotes

values: President pro tempore of the United States Senate

values: Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives

values: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

values:
/wiki/James_A._Tawney
mw-redirect
James A. Tawney

values:
/wiki/Oscar_Wilder_Underwood
mw-redirect
Oscar Wilder Underwood

values:
/wiki/James_Wolcott_Wadsworth,_Jr.
mw-redirect
James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr.

values: Edit section: Whips in other parts of the world

values: Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.pmg.org.za/node/17040

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values: Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition

values: Category:All articles with unsourced statements

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014

values: Category:Articles lacking in-text citations from March 2016

values: Category:All articles lacking in-text citations

values: Category:Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Whip_(politics)
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values:
uls-settings-trigger
Language settings
0
button
true

values:
https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indpisker
Indpisker – Danish
da
da
interlanguage-link-target

values:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip
Whip – German
de
de
interlanguage-link-target

values: सचेतक – Hindi

values:
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip
Whip – Italian
it
it
interlanguage-link-target

values: מצליף – Hebrew

values:
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip
Whip – Dutch
nl
nl
interlanguage-link-target

values:
https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innpisker
Innpisker – Norwegian
no
no
interlanguage-link-target

values:
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip
Whip – Polish
pl
pl
interlanguage-link-target

values: Парламентский организатор – Russian

values:
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip
Whip – Finnish
fi
fi
interlanguage-link-target

values:
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip
Whip – Swedish
sv
sv
interlanguage-link-target

values: கொறடா – Tamil

values: విప్ (రాజకీయాలు) – Telugu

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Whip_politics rootpage-Whip_politics skin-vector action-view


text:
Factor income
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Factor Income is income derived from selling the services of factors of production. In the case of labour, this means wages, plus the part of the incomes of the self-employed which is a reward for their own labour. Income from land is rents, including part of the incomes of the self-employed, and part of the imputed incomes of owner-occupiers of houses. Incomes from capital and entrepreneurship are received as dividends, interest, the retained profits of companies and the part of the incomes of the self-employed which is a return on their own capital and entrepreneurship.

This economics-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
v
t
e
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Factor_income&oldid=755407012"
Categories:
Factor income distribution
Economics and finance stubs
Hidden categories:
All stub articles
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Български
Deutsch
Nederlands
Svenska
Українська
Edit links
This page was last edited on 17 December 2016, at 21:20.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: href class title

values: /wiki/Dividends mw-redirect Dividends

value: img

attrs: href class

value: td

attrs: class href

value: i

value: abbr

values: position: absolute; right: 15px; display: none;

values:
metadata plainlinks stub
presentation
background:transparent

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Factor_income
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values: Факторен доход – Bulgarian

values: Факторні доходи – Ukrainian

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Factor_income rootpage-Factor_income vector-experimental-print-styles vector-nav-directionality skin-vector action-view


text:
Emperor of Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Japanese Emperor" and "Tennō" redirect here. For the butterfly, see Sasakia charonda. For other uses, see Tenno (disambiguation).
Emperor of Japan
天皇
Imperial
Imperial Standard
Incumbent
Akihito
since January 7, 1989
Details
Style
His Imperial Majesty
Heir apparent
Crown Prince Naruhito
First monarch
Emperor Jimmu
(mythical)
Formation
660 BC
Residence
Tokyo Imperial Palace
as official residence
Website
The Imperial Household Agency
Japan
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Japan
Constitution[show]
The Constitution
History
Laws
The Monarchy[show]
Emperor (list)
Akihito
Crown Prince
Naruhito
Imperial House
Imperial Household Agency
Legislature[show]
National Diet
House of Representatives
Speaker
Tadamori Oshima
Vice-Speaker
Hirotaka Akamatsu
House of Councillors
President
Chuichi Date
Vice-President
Akira Gunji
Leader of the Opposition
Yukio Edano
Executive[show]
Prime Minister (list)
Shinzō Abe
Deputy Prime Minister
Tarō Asō
Government
Cabinet
Ministries
Administrative Agencies
Judiciary[show]
Chief Justice (list)
Itsurō Terada
Supreme Court
Intellectual Property High Court
Administrative Divisions[show]
Prefectures
Governors (list)
Subprefectures
Districts
Municipalities
Mergers and Dissolutions
Submunicipalities
Elections[show]
House of Councillors
2007
2010
2013
2016
House of Representatives
2009
2012
2014
2017
Next General Election
Political parties[show]
Major parties
Liberal Democratic
Constitutional Democratic
Kibō no Tō
Other parties
Foreign relations[show]
Foreign policy
Related topics[show]
National Police
Imperial Guard
Special Assault Team
Special Investigation Team
Self-Defense Force
Air
Ground
Maritime
Japan portal
Other countries
Atlas
v
t
e
The Emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and the traditional head of state of Japan. According to the 1947 constitution, he is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people" and he has "no powers related to government". Historically, he was also the highest authority of the Shinto religion. In Japanese, the Emperor is called Tennō (天皇), which translates to "heavenly sovereign". In English, the use of the term Mikado (帝) for the Emperor was once common, but is now considered obsolete.[1]
Currently, the Emperor of Japan is the only head of state in the world with the English title of "Emperor". The Imperial House of Japan is the oldest continuing monarchical house in the world.[2] The historical origins of the Emperors lie in the late Kofun period of the 5th-6th centuries AD, but according to the traditional account of the Kojiki (finished 712) and Nihon Shoki (finished 720), Japan was founded in 660 BC by Emperor Jimmu, who was said to be a direct descendant of the sun-goddess Amaterasu.[3][4] The current Emperor is Akihito. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne upon the death of his father, Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito), in 1989. The Japanese government announced in December 2017 that Akihito will abdicate on 30 April 2019.[5]
The role of the Emperor of Japan has historically alternated between a largely ceremonial symbolic role and that of an actual imperial ruler. Since the establishment of the first shogunate in 1192, the Emperors of Japan have rarely taken on a role as supreme battlefield commander, unlike many Western monarchs. Japanese Emperors have nearly always been controlled by external political forces, to varying degrees. In fact, between 1192 and 1867, the shoguns, or their shikken regents in Kamakura (1203–1333), were the de facto rulers of Japan, although they were nominally appointed by the Emperor. After the Meiji Restoration in 1867, the Emperor was the embodiment of all sovereign power in the realm, as enshrined in the Meiji Constitution of 1889. His current status as a figurehead dates from the 1947 Constitution.
Since the mid-nineteenth century, the Imperial Palace has been called Kyūjō (宮城), later Kōkyo (皇居), and is located on the former site of Edo Castle in the heart of Tokyo (the current capital of Japan). Earlier, Emperors resided in Kyoto (the ancient capital) for nearly eleven centuries. The Emperor's Birthday (December 23) is a national holiday.
Contents
[hide]
1 Role
2 History
2.1 Origin
2.2 Factional control
2.3 Disputes
2.4 Territorial matters
2.5 Shoguns
2.6 Meiji restoration
2.7 World War II
2.8 Current constitution
2.9 Relation to Shinto
2.10 Education
3 Addressing and naming
3.1 Origin of the title
4 Marriage traditions
5 Burial traditions
6 Succession
6.1 Current status
7 See also
8 References
8.1 Citations
8.2 Sources
9 External links
Role[edit]
The Emperor is effectively the ceremonial head of state but not the Chief Executive. Article 65 of the Constitution explicitly vests executive power in the Cabinet, of which the Prime Minister is the leader. The Emperor is also not the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The Japan Self-Defense Forces Act of 1954 also explicitly vests this role with the Prime Minister.
The Emperor's powers are limited only to important ceremonial functions. Article 4 of the Constitution stipulates that the Emperor "shall perform only such acts in matters of state as are provided for in the Constitution and he shall not have powers related to government." It also stipulates that "the advice and approval of the Cabinet shall be required for all acts of the Emperor in matters of state" (Article 3). Article 4 also states that these duties can be delegated by His majesty as provided for by law.
While the Emperor formally appoints the Prime Minister to office, Article 6 of the Constitution requires him to appoint the candidate "as designated by the Diet", without giving the Emperor the right to decline appointment.
Article 6 of the Constitution delegates the Emperor the following ceremonial roles:
Appointment of the Prime Minister as designated by the Diet.
Appointment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as designated by the Cabinet.
The Emperor's other duties are laid down in article 7 of the Constitution, where it is stated that the "Emperor with the advice and approval of the Cabinet, shall perform the following acts in matters of state on behalf of the people":
Promulgation of amendments of the constitution, laws, cabinet orders, and treaties.
Convocation of the Diet.
Dissolution of the House of Representatives.
Proclamation of general election of members of the Diet.
Attestation of the appointment and dismissal of Ministers of State and other officials as provided for by law, and of full powers and credentials of Ambassadors and Ministers.
Attestation of general and special amnesty, commutation of punishment, reprieve, and restoration of rights.
Awarding of honors.
Attestation of instruments of ratification and other diplomatic documents as provided for by law.
Receiving foreign ambassadors and ministers.
Performance of ceremonial functions.
Regular ceremonies of the Emperor with a constitutional basis are the Imperial Investitures (Shinninshiki) in the Tokyo Imperial Palace and the Speech from the Throne ceremony in the House of Councillors in the National Diet Building. The latter ceremony opens ordinary and extra sessions of the Diet. Ordinary sessions are opened each January and also after new elections to the House of Representatives. Extra sessions usually convene in the autumn and are opened then.[6]
History[edit]
Although the Emperor has been a symbol of continuity with the past, the degree of power exercised by the Emperor has varied considerably throughout Japanese history. In the early 7th century, the Emperor had begun to be called the "Son of Heaven" (天子, tenshi, or 天子様 tenshi-sama).[7]
Origin[edit]
See also: List of Emperors of Japan
The title of Emperor was borrowed from China, being derived from Chinese characters and was retroactively applied to the legendary Japanese rulers who reigned prior to the 7th–8th centuries AD.[8]
According to the traditional account of the Nihon Shoki, Japan was founded by Emperor Jimmu in 660 BC. Modern historians agree that the Emperors prior to the possible late 3rd century AD ruler known traditionally as Emperor Ōjin are legendary. Emperor Ankō of the 5th century AD, traditionally the 20th emperor, is the earliest generally agreed upon historical ruler of all or a part of Japan.[9] The reign of Emperor Kinmei (c. 509 – 571 AD), the 29th emperor, is the first for which contemporary historiography is able to assign verifiable dates;[10][11] however, the conventionally accepted names and dates of the early emperors were not to be confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of Emperor Kanmu (737–806), the 50th sovereign of the Yamato dynasty.[12]
Archaeological information about the earliest historical rulers of Japan may lie within the ancient tombs known as kofun, built in the 4th-5th centuries AD. However, since the Meiji period, the Imperial Household Agency has refused to open the kofun to the public nor to archaeologists, citing their desire not to disturb the spirits of the past Emperors. In December 2006, the Imperial Household Agency reversed its position and decided to allow researchers to enter some of the kofun with no restrictions.
Factional control[edit]
There have been six non-imperial families who have controlled Japanese emperors: the Soga (530s–645), the Fujiwara (850s–1070), the Taira (1159-1180s), the Minamoto (and Kamakura bakufu) (1192–1333), the Ashikaga (1336–1565), and the Tokugawa (1603–1867). However, every shogun from the Minamoto, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa families had to be officially recognized by the Emperors, who were still the source of sovereignty, although they could not exercise their powers independently from the Shogunate.
Disputes[edit]
The growth of the samurai class from the 10th century gradually weakened the power of the imperial family over the realm, leading to a time of instability. Emperors have been known to come into conflict with the reigning shogun from time to time. Some instances, such as Emperor Go-Toba's 1221 rebellion against the Kamakura shogunate and the 1336 Kenmu Restoration under Emperor Go-Daigo, show the power struggle between the imperial court and the military governments of Japan.
Territorial matters[edit]
Until recent centuries, Japan's territory did not include several remote regions of its modern-day territory. The name "Nippon" came into use only many centuries after the start of the current imperial line. Centralized government only began to appear shortly before and during the time of Prince Shōtoku (572–622). The Emperor was more like a revered embodiment of divine harmony than the head of an actual governing administration. In Japan, it has always been easy for ambitious lords to hold actual power, as such positions have not been inherently contradictory to the Emperor's position. The parliamentary government today continues a similar coexistence with the Emperor as have various shoguns, regents, warlords, guardians, etc.
Historically the titles of Tennō in Japanese have never included territorial designations as is the case with many European monarchs. The position of Emperor is a territory-independent phenomenon—the Emperor is the Emperor, even if he has followers only in one province (as was the case sometimes with the southern and northern courts).
Shoguns[edit]
From 1192 to 1867, sovereignty of the state was exercised by the shoguns, or their shikken regents (1203–1333), whose authority was conferred by Imperial warrant. When Portuguese explorers first came into contact with the Japanese (see Nanban period), they described Japanese conditions in analogy, likening the Emperor with great symbolic authority but little political power, to the Pope, and the Shogun to secular European rulers (e.g., the Holy Roman Emperor). In keeping with the analogy, they even used the term "Emperor" in reference to the shogun and their regent, e.g. in the case of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, whom missionaries called "Emperor Taico-sama" (from Taikō and the honorific sama).
Meiji restoration[edit]
Main article: Meiji Restoration
After the United States Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry's Black Ships forcibly opened Japan to foreign trade, and the shogunate proved incapable of hindering the "barbarian" interlopers, the Emperor Kōmei began to assert himself politically. By the early 1860s, the relationship between the imperial court and the Shogunate was changing radically. Disaffected domains and rōnin began to rally to the call of sonnō jōi ("revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians"). The domains of Satsuma and Chōshū, historic enemies of the Tokugawa, used this turmoil to unite their forces and won an important military victory outside of Kyoto against Tokugawa forces.
In 1868, imperial "restoration" was declared, and the Shogunate was dissolved. A new constitution described the Emperor as "the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty", whose rights included to sanction and promulgate laws, to execute them and to exercise "supreme command of the Army and the Navy". The liaison conference created in 1893 also made the Emperor the leader of the Imperial General Headquarters.
World War II[edit]
The role of the Emperor as head of the State Shinto religion was exploited during the war, creating an Imperial cult that led to kamikaze bombers and other fanaticism. This in turn led to the requirement in the Potsdam Declaration for the elimination "for all time [of] the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest". In State Shinto, the Emperor was believed to be a Arahitogami (a living god). Following Japan's surrender, the Allies issued the Shinto Directive separating church and state within Japan.
Current constitution[edit]
The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights. Under its terms, the Emperor of Japan is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people" and exercises a purely ceremonial role without the possession of sovereignty.
The constitution, also known as the "Constitution of Japan" (日本国憲法, Nihonkoku-Kenpō, formerly written 日本國憲法 (same pronunciation)), "Postwar Constitution" (戦後憲法, Sengo-Kenpō) or the "Peace Constitution" (平和憲法, Heiwa-Kenpō), was drawn up under the Allied occupation that followed World War II and was intended to replace Japan's previous militaristic and quasi-absolute monarchy system with a form of liberal democracy. Currently, it is a rigid document and no subsequent amendment has been made to it since its adoption.
Relation to Shinto[edit]
In Japanese mythology, according to Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, the Emperor and his family are said to be direct descendants of the sun-goddess Amaterasu. During World War II, the role of the Emperor as head of the Shinto religion was exploited, which resulted in the creation of State Shinto and an Imperial cult. Following the end of the Second World War, the Allies issued the Shinto Directive which abolished the state support for the Shinto religion, leading to the Humanity Declaration of the incumbent Emperor which refuted the idea that the Emperor is a living divine being, and dismissed the importance of "myths and legends" for the Emperor's status. However, the Emperors have continued to perform many traditional ceremonies privately.[13][14][15]
Education[edit]
The Emperors traditionally had an education officer. In recent times, Emperor Taishō had Count Nogi Maresuke, Emperor Shōwa had Marshal-Admiral Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō, and Emperor Akihito had Elizabeth Gray Vining as well as Shinzō Koizumi as their tutors.
Addressing and naming[edit]
There are two Japanese words equivalent to the English word "Emperor": tennō (天皇, lit. "heavenly sovereign"), which is used exclusively to refer to the Emperor of Japan, and kōtei (皇帝, the title used for all other foreign Emperors), which is used primarily to describe non-Japanese Emperors. Sumeramikoto (lit. "the Imperial person") was also used in Old Japanese. The term tennō was used by the Emperors up until the Middle Ages; then, following a period of disuse, it was used again from the 19th century.[16] In English, the term mikado (御門 or 帝 or みかど), literally meaning "the honorable gate" (i.e. the gate of the imperial palace, which indicates the person who lives in and possesses the palace), was once used (as in The Mikado, a 19th-century operetta), but this term is now obsolete.[1] (Compare Sublime Porte, an old term for the Ottoman government.)
Traditionally, the Japanese considered it disrespectful to call any person by his given name, and more so for a person of noble rank. This convention is only slightly relaxed in the modern age and it is still inadvisable among friends to use the given name, use of the family name being the common form of address. In the case of the imperial family, it is considered extremely inappropriate to use the given name. Since Emperor Meiji, it has been customary to have one era per Emperor and to rename each Emperor after his death using the name of the era over which he presided. Prior to Emperor Meiji, the names of the eras were changed more frequently, and the posthumous names of the Emperors were chosen in a different manner.
Play media
The Emperor of Japan giving a New Year's address to the people in 2010
Outside Japan, beginning with Emperor Shōwa, the Emperors are often referred to by their given names, both whilst alive and posthumously. For example, the previous Emperor is usually called Hirohito in English, although he was never referred to as Hirohito in Japan, and was renamed Shōwa Tennō after his death, which is the only name that Japanese speakers currently use when referring to him.
The current Emperor on the throne is typically referred to by the title Tennō Heika (天皇陛下, "His (Imperial) Majesty the Emperor"), Kinjō Heika (今上陛下, "His Current Majesty") or simply Tennō, when speaking Japanese. The current Emperor will be renamed Daijō Tennō (太上天皇, Retired Emperor), often shortened to Jōkō (上皇), upon his planned retirement on 30 April 2019, and renamed Heisei Tennō (平成天皇) after his death and will then be referred to exclusively by that name in Japanese. Non-Japanese speakers will continue to reference him as Emperor Akihito. In Japanese culture, it is considered a major faux pas to refer to a living Emperor by his posthumous name, although the posthumous name is the same as the era, which is used in official documents.
Origin of the title[edit]
Originally, the ruler of Japan was known as either 大和大王/大君 (Yamato-ōkimi, Grand King of Yamato), 倭王/倭国王 (Wa-ō/Wakoku-ō, King of Wa, used externally) or 治天下大王 (Ame-no-shita shiroshimesu ōkimi or Sumera no mikoto, Grand King who rules all under heaven, used internally) in Japanese and Chinese sources prior to the 7th century. The oldest documented use of the word "Tennō" is on a wooden slat, or mokkan, that was unearthed in Asuka-mura, Nara Prefecture in 1998 and dated back to the reign of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō.[clarification needed]
Marriage traditions[edit]
The current empress, Michiko
Throughout history, Japanese Emperors and noblemen appointed the position of chief wife, rather than just keeping a harem or an assortment of female attendants.
The Japanese imperial dynasty consistently practiced official polygamy, a practice that only ended in the Taishō period (1912–1926). Besides the Empress, the Emperor could take, and nearly always took, several secondary consorts ("concubines") of various hierarchical degrees. Concubines were allowed also to other dynasts (Shinnōke, Ōke). After a decree by Emperor Ichijō, some Emperors even had two empresses simultaneously (kōgō and chūgū are the two separate titles for that situation). With the help of all this polygamy, the imperial clan thus was capable of producing more offspring. (Sons by secondary consorts were usually recognized as imperial princes, too, and could be recognized as heir to the throne if the empress did not give birth to an heir.)
Of the eight female Tennō (reigning empresses) of Japan, none married or gave birth after ascending the throne. Some of them, being widows, had produced children prior to their reigns.
In the succession, children of the empress were preferred over sons of secondary consorts. Thus it was significant which quarters had preferential opportunities in providing chief wives to imperial princes, i.e. supplying future empresses.
Apparently, the oldest tradition of official marriages within the imperial dynasty were marriages between dynasty members, even half-siblings or uncle and niece. Such marriages were deemed to preserve better the imperial blood or were aimed at producing children symbolic of a reconciliation between two branches of the imperial dynasty. Daughters of others remained concubines, until Emperor Shōmu (701-706) — in what was specifically reported as the first elevation of its kind — elevated his Fujiwara consort Empress Kōmyō to chief wife.
Japanese monarchs have been, as much as others elsewhere, dependent on making alliances with powerful chiefs and other monarchs. Many such alliances were sealed by marriages. The specific feature in Japan has been the fact that these marriages have been soon incorporated as elements of tradition which controlled the marriages of later generations, though the original practical alliance had lost its real meaning. A repeated pattern has been an imperial son-in-law under the influence of his powerful non-imperial father-in-law.
Beginning from the 7th and 8th centuries, Emperors primarily took women of the Fujiwara clan as their highest wives — the most probable mothers of future monarchs. This was cloaked as a tradition of marriage between heirs of two kami (Shinto deities): descendants of Amaterasu with descendants of the family kami of the Fujiwara. (Originally, the Fujiwara were descended from relatively minor nobility, thus their kami is an unremarkable one in the Japanese myth world.) To produce imperial children, heirs of the nation, with two-side descent from the two kami, was regarded as desirable — or at least it suited powerful Fujiwara lords, who thus received preference in the imperial marriage market. The reality behind such marriages was an alliance between an imperial prince and a Fujiwara lord, his father-in-law or grandfather, the latter with his resources supporting the prince to the throne and most often controlling the government. These arrangements created the tradition of regents (Sesshō and Kampaku), with these positions held only by a Fujiwara sekke lord.
Earlier, the Emperors had married women from families of the government-holding Soga lords, and women of the imperial clan itself, i.e. various-degree cousins and often even their own sisters (half-sisters). Several imperials of the 5th and 6th centuries such as Prince Shōtoku were children of half-sibling couples. These marriages often were alliance or succession devices: the Soga lord ensured his domination of a prince who would be put on the throne as a puppet; or a prince ensured the combination of two imperial descents, to strengthen his own and his children's claim to the throne. Marriages were also a means to seal a reconciliation between two imperial branches.
After a couple of centuries, Emperors could no longer take anyone from outside such families as primary wife, no matter what the expediency of such a marriage and power or wealth brought by such might have been. Only very rarely did a prince ascend the throne whose mother was not descended from the approved families. The earlier necessity and expediency had mutated into a strict tradition that did not allow for current expediency or necessity, but only dictated that daughters of a restricted circle of families were eligible brides, because they had produced eligible brides for centuries. Tradition had become more forceful than law.
Fujiwara women were often Empresses, and concubines came from less exalted noble families. In the last thousand years, sons of an imperial male and a Fujiwara woman have been preferred in the succession.
The five Fujiwara families, Ichijō, Kujō, Nijō, Konoe, and Takatsukasa, were the primary source of imperial brides from the 8th century to the 19th century, even more often than daughters of the imperial clan itself. Fujiwara daughters were thus the usual empresses and mothers of Emperors.
This restriction on brides for the Emperor and crown prince was made explicit in the Meiji-era Imperial House Law of 1889. A clause stipulated that daughters of Sekke (the five main branches of the higher Fujiwara) and daughters of the imperial clan itself were primarily acceptable brides.
The law was repealed in the aftermath of World War II. The present Emperor, Akihito, became the first crown prince for over a thousand years to marry a consort from outside the previously eligible circle.
Burial traditions[edit]
Entrance of the Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Hachiōji, Tokyo
During the Kofun period, so-called "archaic funerals" were held for the dead Emperors, but only the funerary rites from the end of the period, which the chronicles describe in more detail, are known. They were centered around the rite of the mogari (殯), a provisional depository between death and permanent burial.[17]
Empress Jitō was the first Japanese imperial personage to be cremated (in 703). After that, with a few exceptions, all Emperors were cremated up to the Edo period.[17] For the next 350 years, in-ground burial became the favoured funeral custom. In 2013, the Imperial Household Agency announced that Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko would be cremated after they die.[18]
Until 1912, the Emperors of Japan were usually buried in Kyoto.[19] From the Taishō Emperor onward, the Emperors have been buried at the Musashi Imperial Graveyard in Tokyo.
Succession[edit]
Tokyo Imperial Palace
The Japanese imperial dynasty bases its position in the expression that it has "reigned since time immemorial" (万世一系 bansei ikkei). It is true that its origins are buried in the mists of time: there are no records of any Emperor who was not said to have been a descendant of other, yet earlier Emperors. There is suspicion that Emperor Keitai (c. 500 AD) may have been an unrelated outsider, though the sources state that he was a male-line descendant of Emperor Ōjin.[citation needed] However, his descendants, including his successors, were according to records descended from at least one and probably several imperial princesses of the older lineage. The tradition built by those legends has chosen to recognize just the putative male ancestry as valid for legitimizing his succession, not giving any weight to ties through the said princesses.[citation needed]
Millennia ago, the Japanese imperial family developed its own peculiar system of hereditary succession. It has been non-primogenitural, more or less agnatic, based mostly on rotation. Today, Japan uses strict agnatic primogeniture, which was adopted from Prussia, by which Japan was greatly influenced in the 1870s.
The controlling principles and their interaction were apparently very complex and sophisticated, leading to even idiosyncratic outcomes. Some chief principles apparent in the succession have been:
Women were allowed to succeed (but there existed no known children of theirs whose father did not also happen to be an agnate of the imperial house, thus there is neither a precedent that a child of an imperial woman with a non-imperial man could inherit, nor a precedent forbidding it for children of empresses). However, female accession was clearly much more rare than male.
Adoption was possible and a much used way to increase the number of succession-entitled heirs (however, the adopted child had to be a child of another member agnate of the imperial house).
Abdication was used very often, and in fact occurred more often than death on the throne. In those days, the Emperor's chief task was priestly (or godly), containing so many repetitive rituals that it was deemed that after a service of around ten years, the incumbent deserved pampered retirement as an honored former Emperor.
Primogeniture was not used — rather, in the early days, the imperial house practiced something resembling a system of rotation. Very often a brother (or sister) followed the elder sibling even in the case of the predecessor leaving children. The "turn" of the next generation came more often after several individuals of the senior generation. Rotation went often between two or more of the branches of the imperial house, thus more or less distant cousins succeeded each other. Emperor Go-Saga even decreed an official alternation between heirs of his two sons, which system continued for a couple of centuries (leading finally to shogun-induced (or utilized) strife between these two branches, the "southern" and "northern" Emperors). Towards the end, the alternates were very distant cousins counted in degrees of male descent (but all that time, intermarriages occurred within the imperial house, thus they were close cousins if female ties are counted). During the past five hundred years, however, probably due to Confucian influence, inheritance by sons — but not always, or even most often, the eldest son has been the norm.
Historically, the succession to the Chrysanthemum Throne has always passed to descendants in male line from the imperial lineage. Generally, they have been males, though of the over one hundred monarchs there have been nine women (one pre-historical and eight historical) as Emperor on eleven occasions.
Over a thousand years ago, a tradition started that an Emperor should ascend relatively young. A dynast who had passed his toddler years was regarded suitable and old enough. Reaching the age of legal majority was not a requirement. Thus, a multitude of Japanese Emperors have ascended as children, as young as 6 or 8 years old. The high-priestly duties were deemed possible for a walking child. A reign of around ten years was regarded a sufficient service. Being a child was apparently a fine property, to better endure tedious duties and to tolerate subjugation to political power-brokers, as well as sometimes to cloak the truly powerful members of the imperial dynasty. Almost all Japanese empresses and dozens of Emperors abdicated, and lived the rest of their lives in pampered retirement, wielding influence behind the scenes. Several Emperors abdicated to their entitled retirement while still in their teens. These traditions show in Japanese folklore, theater, literature, and other forms of culture, where the Emperor is usually described or depicted as an adolescent.
Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan had eleven reigns of reigning empresses, all of them daughters of the male line of the Imperial House. None ascended purely as a wife or as a widow of an Emperor. Imperial daughters and granddaughters, however, usually ascended the throne as a sort of a "stop gap" measure — if a suitable male was not available or some imperial branches were in rivalry so that a compromise was needed. Over half of Japanese empresses and many Emperors abdicated once a suitable male descendant was considered to be old enough to rule (just past toddlerhood, in some cases). Four empresses, Empress Suiko, Empress Kōgyoku (also Empress Saimei), and Empress Jitō, as well as the mythical Empress Jingū, were widows of deceased Emperors and princesses of the blood imperial in their own right. One, Empress Genmei, was the widow of a crown prince and a princess of the blood imperial. The other four, Empress Genshō, Empress Kōken (also Empress Shōtoku), Empress Meishō, and Empress Go-Sakuramachi, were unwed daughters of previous Emperors. None of these empresses married or gave birth after ascending the throne.
Article 2 of the Meiji Constitution (the Constitution of the Empire of Japan) stated, "The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to by imperial male descendants, according to the provisions of the Imperial House Law." The 1889 Imperial Household Law fixed the succession on male descendants of the imperial line, and specifically excluded female descendants from the succession. In the event of a complete failure of the main line, the throne would pass to the nearest collateral branch, again in the male line. If the Empress did not give birth to an heir, the Emperor could take a concubine, and the son he had by that concubine would be recognized as heir to the throne. This law, which was promulgated on the same day as the Meiji Constitution, enjoyed co-equal status with that constitution.
Article 2 of the Constitution of Japan, promulgated in 1947 by influence of the U.S. occupation administration, provides that "The Imperial Throne shall be dynastic and succeeded to in accordance with the Imperial Household Law passed by the Diet." The Imperial Household Law of 1947, enacted by the ninety-second and last session of the Imperial Diet, retained the exclusion on female dynasts found in the 1889 law. The government of Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru hastily cobbled together the legislation to bring the Imperial Household in compliance with the American-written Constitution of Japan that went into effect in May 1947. In an effort to control the size of the imperial family, the law stipulates that only legitimate male descendants in the male line can be dynasts; that imperial princesses lose their status as Imperial Family members if they marry outside the Imperial Family;[20] and that the Emperor and other members of the Imperial Family may not adopt children. It also prevented branches, other than the branch descending from Taishō, from being imperial princes any longer.
Current status[edit]
Main article: Line of succession to the Japanese throne
Succession is now regulated by laws passed by the National Diet. The current law excludes women from the succession. A change to this law had been considered until Princess Kiko gave birth to a son.
Until the birth of Prince Hisahito, son of Prince Akishino, on September 6, 2006, there was a potential succession problem, since Prince Akishino was the only male child to be born into the imperial family since 1965. Following the birth of Princess Aiko, there was public debate about amending the current Imperial Household Law to allow women to succeed to the throne. In January 2005, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed a special panel composed of judges, university professors, and civil servants to study changes to the Imperial Household Law and to make recommendations to the government.
The panel dealing with the succession issue recommended on October 25, 2005 amending the law to allow females of the male line of imperial descent to ascend the Japanese throne. On January 20, 2006, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi devoted part of his annual keynote speech to the controversy, pledging to submit a bill allowing women to ascend the throne to ensure that the succession continues in the future in a stable manner. Shortly after the announcement that Princess Kiko was pregnant with her third child, Koizumi suspended such plans. Her son, Prince Hisahito, is the third in line to the throne under the current law of succession. On January 3, 2007, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced that he would drop the proposal to alter the Imperial Household Law.[21]
See also[edit]
Japan portal
Monarchy portal
Reigning Emperor
Daijō Tennō (Retired Emperor of Japan)
List of Emperors of Japan
Japanese imperial family tree
Sacred king
Chrysanthemum taboo
Japanese official state car
Japanese Air Force One
Japanese honors system
State Shinto
Divine right of kings
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Kanʼichi Asakawa. The early institutional life of Japan: a study in the reform of 645 A.D.. Tokyo: Shueisha (1903), p. 25. "We purposely avoid, in spite of its wide usage in foreign literature, the misleading term Mikado. If it be not for the natural curiosity of the races, which always seeks something novel and loves to call foreign things by foreign names, it is hard to understand why this obsolete and ambiguous word should so sedulously be retained. It originally meant not only the Sovereign, but also his house, the court, and even the State, and its use in historical writings causes many difficulties which it is unnecessary to discuss here in detail. The native Japanese employ the term neither in speech nor in writing. It might as well be dismissed with great advantage from sober literature as it has been for the official documents."
Jump up ^ "Japan desperate for male heir to oldest monarchy". London: independent.co.uk. March 1, 1996. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
Jump up ^ Kinsley, David (1989). The goddesses' mirror : visions of the divine from East and West. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 80–90. ISBN 9780887068355.
Jump up ^ "Amaterasu". Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
Jump up ^ Enjoji, Kaori (December 1, 2017). "Japan Emperor Akihito to abdicate on April 30, 2019". CNN. Toyko. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
Jump up ^ The formal investiture of the Prime Minister in 2010, the opening of the ordinary session of the Diet in January 2012 and the opening of an extra session of the Diet in the autumn of 2011. The 120th anniversary of the Diet was commemorarated with a special ceremony in the House of Councillors in November 2010, when also the Empress and the Prince and Princess Akishino were present.
Jump up ^ Boscaro, Adriana; Gatti, Franco; Raveri, Massimo, eds. (2003). Rethinking Japan: Social Sciences, Ideology and Thought. II. Japan Library Limited. p. 300. ISBN 0-904404-79-X.
Jump up ^ Charles Holcombe (January 2001). The Genesis of East Asia: 221 B.C. – A.D. 907. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 198–. ISBN 978-0-8248-2465-5.
Jump up ^ Kelly, Charles F. "Kofun Culture", Japanese Archaeology. 27 April 2009.
Jump up ^ Titsingh, pp. 34–36; Brown, pp. 261–262; Varley, pp. 123–124.
Jump up ^ Hoye, Timothy. (1999). Japanese Politics: Fixed and Floating Worlds, p. 78; excerpt, "According to legend, the first Japanese emperor was Jinmu. Along with the next 13 emperors, Jinmu is not considered an actual, historical figure. Historically verifiable Emperors of Japan date from the early sixth century with Kinmei.
Jump up ^ Aston, William. (1896). Nihongi, pp. 109.
Jump up ^ 役員、総代としての基礎知識 全国神社総代会編集発行「改訂神社役員、総代必携」(in Japanese)
Jump up ^ "The Ritual Ceremonies of the Imperial Palace - The Imperial Household Agency". www.kunaicho.go.jp. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
Jump up ^ "List of main ritual ceremonies of the Imperial Palace - The Imperial Household Agency". www.kunaicho.go.jp. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
Jump up ^ Screech, (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822, p. 232 n4.
^ Jump up to: a b François Macé. "The Funerals of the Japanese Emperors".
Jump up ^ "Emperor, Empress plan to be cremated". The Japan Times. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
Jump up ^ Seidensticker, Edward. (1990). Tokyo Rising, p. 20.
Jump up ^ Martin, Alex, "Imperial law revisited as family shrinks, Emperor ages", Japan Times, December 16, 2011, p. 3.
Jump up ^ "Report: Japan to drop plan to allow female monarch". USA Today. McLean, VA: Gannett. The Associated Press. January 3, 2007. ISSN 0734-7456. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
Sources[edit]
Asakawa, Kan'ichi (1903). The Early Institutional Life of Japan. Tokyo: Shueisha. OCLC 4427686; see online, multi-formatted, full-text book at openlibrary.org
Screech, Timon (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-7007-1720-X; ISBN 978-0-7007-1720-0.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "article name needed". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emperors of Japan.
Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Mikado.
The Imperial Household Agency
List of the Emperors, accompanied with the regents and shoguns during their reign and a genealogical tree of the imperial family
The Emperor of Japan, explanation of the title of Emperor in the context of western terminology
Japan opens imperial tombs for research
Emperor of Japan's New Year Address 2017 (YouTube)
[show]
Links to related articles
[hide]
v
t
e
Japanese monarchs
Italics mark imperial consort and regent Jingū, who is not traditionally listed.
Years given as CE / AD
Legendary
Jimmu
Suizei
Annei
Itoku
Kōshō
Kōan
Kōrei
Kōgen
Kaika
Sujin
Suinin
Keikō
Seimu
Chūai
Jingū
Kofun
Ōjin
Nintoku
Richū
Hanzei
Ingyō
Ankō
Yūryaku
Seinei
Kenzō
Ninken
Buretsu
Keitai
Ankan
Senka
Asuka
552–710
Kinmei
Bidatsu
Yōmei
Sushun
Suiko
Jomei
Kōgyoku
Kōtoku
Saimei
Tenji
Kōbun
Tenmu
Jitō
Monmu
Genmei
Nara
710–794
Genmei
Genshō
Shōmu
Kōken
Junnin
Shōtoku
Kōnin
Kanmu
Heian
794–1185
Kanmu
Heizei
Saga
Junna
Ninmyō
Montoku
Seiwa
Yōzei
Kōkō
Uda
Daigo
Suzaku
Murakami
Reizei
En'yū
Kazan
Ichijō
Sanjō
Go-Ichijō
Go-Suzaku
Go-Reizei
Go-Sanjō
Shirakawa
Horikawa
Toba
Sutoku
Konoe
Go-Shirakawa
Nijō
Rokujō
Takakura
Antoku
Go-Toba
Kamakura
1185–1333
Tsuchimikado
Juntoku
Chūkyō
Go-Horikawa
Shijō
Go-Saga
Go-Fukakusa
Kameyama
Go-Uda
Fushimi
Go-Fushimi
Go-Nijō
Hanazono
Go-Daigo
Northern Court
1333–1392
Kōgon
Kōmyō
Sukō
Go-Kōgon
Go-En'yū
Go-Komatsu
Muromachi
1333–1573
Go-Murakami
Chōkei
Go-Kameyama
Go-Komatsu
Shōkō
Go-Hanazono
Go-Tsuchimikado
Go-Kashiwabara
Go-Nara
Ōgimachi
Azuchi-Momoyama
1573–1603
Ōgimachi
Go-Yōzei
Edo
1603–1868
Go-Yōzei
Go-Mizunoo
Meishō
Go-Kōmyō
Go-Sai
Reigen
Higashiyama
Nakamikado
Sakuramachi
Momozono
Go-Sakuramachi
Go-Momozono
Kōkaku
Ninkō
Kōmei
Meiji
Empire of Japan
1868–1947
Meiji
Taishō
Shōwa
Japan (Post-war Japan)
1947–present
Shōwa
Akihito (Heisei period; Reigning Emperor)
Imperial family tree
Imperial house
List
Category
Book
[show]
v
t
e
Japan articles
History
Chronology
Prehistory
Paleolithic
Ancient history
Jōmon
Yayoi
Kofun
Antiquity history
Asuka
Nara
Heian
Post-antiquity history
Kamakura
Muromachi
Azuchi–Momoyama
Edo
Modern history
Bakumatsu
Empire of Japan
Meiji
Taishō
Shōwa
Post-war
Post-occupation
Heisei
By topic
Economic
Education
Military
Naval
Imperial Army
Imperial Navy
Overseas actions
Geography
Addresses
Archipelago
Cities
Districts
Earthquakes
Environment
Extreme points
Islands
Lakes
Prefectures
Regions
Rivers
Towns
Villages
Politics
Constitution
Pre-war
Elections
Emperor
list
Foreign relations
Human rights
LGBT
Judiciary
Law
Law enforcement
National Diet
House of Councillors
House of Representatives
Political parties
Self-Defense Forces
Air
Ground
Maritime
Government
Cabinet
Fiscal policy
Foreign policy
Ministries
Prime Minister
list
Deputy Prime Minister
Economy
Agriculture, forestry, fishing
Central bank
International rankings
Labor
Manufacturing
Energy
solar power
Telecommunications
Transport
Yen
Society
Crime
Demographics
Education
Etiquette
Gambling
Housing
Languages
Religion
Sexuality
Smoking
Women
Kyariaūman
Culture
Aesthetics
Anime / Manga
Architecture
Art
Bonsai
Cinema
Cuisine
Festivals
Folklore
folktales
Gardens
Geisha
Games
Ikebana
Kawaii
Literature
Martial arts
Media
Music
Mythology
Names
Onsen / Sentō
Sport
Tea ceremony
Television
Theatre
Japan portal
Category
[show]
v
t
e
Heads of state of the Group of 20
Macri
Elizabeth II (Governor-General: Cosgrove)
Temer
Elizabeth II (Governor General: Payette)
Xi
Tusk
Macron
Steinmeier
Kovind
Jokowi
Mattarella
Akihito
Peña Nieto
Putin
Salman
Zuma
Moon
Erdoğan
Elizabeth II
Trump
Authority control
LCCN: sh85069411
GND: 4232704-0
NDL: 00572851
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emperor_of_Japan&oldid=818855677"
Categories:
Deified people
History of Japan
Japanese emperors
Japanese nationalism
Japanese Shintoists
Ceremonial heads of state
7th-century BC establishments
660 BC
Hidden categories:
Articles with Japanese-language external links
Use mdy dates from January 2015
Articles containing Japanese-language text
Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2011
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from July 2007
Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with no article parameter
Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers
Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers
Articles containing video clips
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Azərbaycanca
বাংলা
Bahasa Banjar
Bân-lâm-gú
Беларуская
Bikol Central
Català
Cebuano
Čeština
Deutsch
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
فارسی
Français
한국어
Hrvatski
Bahasa Indonesia
Interlingua
Íslenska
Italiano
עברית
Къарачай-малкъар
ქართული
Latina
Lëtzebuergesch
Lietuvių
Lumbaart
Magyar
Bahasa Melayu
Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄
Монгол
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk
Plattdüütsch
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Scots
Simple English
Slovenčina
Српски / srpski
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Basa Sunda
Suomi
Svenska
Tagalog
ไทย
Türkçe
Українська
اردو
Tiếng Việt
文言
吴语
粵語
中文
Edit links
This page was last edited on 6 January 2018, at 00:17.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

values:
/wiki/Tenno_(disambiguation)
mw-disambig
Tenno (disambiguation)

attrs: role class

values:
note
hatnote navigation-not-searchable

value: span

value: th

attrs: colspan class style

value: tr

attrs: lang xml:lang

values: ja ja

attrs: colspan style

values: font-family: serif; font-size: 90%; font-weight: bold; text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 125%; background-color: rgb(125,7,110); color: white;

values: Emperor Akihito cropped 2 Barack Obama Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko 20140424 1.jpg

values:
nofollow
external text
http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/eindex.html

values: font-size: 105%; padding: 0.2em 0px 0.4em; text-align: left; display: none;

values: Line of succession to the Japanese throne

values: List of Speakers of the House of Representatives of Japan

values: List of Speakers of the House of Councillors (Japan)

values:
/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Japan
mw-redirect
List of governors of Japan

values: Municipal mergers and dissolutions in Japan

values: Japanese House of Councillors election, 2007

values: Japanese House of Councillors election, 2010

values: Japanese House of Councillors election, 2013

values: Japanese House of Councillors election, 2016

values: Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan

attrs: alt src width height class srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values: padding:0.3em 0.4em 0.3em;font-weight:bold;border-top: 1px solid #aaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;

values: float:right;clear:right;width:22.0em;margin:0 0 1.0em 1.0em;background:#f9f9f9;border:1px solid #aaa;padding:0.2em;border-spacing:0.4em 0;text-align:center;line-height:1.4em;font-size:88%

values:
/wiki/Kamakura,_Kanagawa
mw-redirect
Kamakura, Kanagawa

values:
/wiki/Speech_from_the_Throne
mw-redirect
Speech from the Throne

values:
/wiki/House_of_Councillors
mw-redirect
House of Councillors

values:
/wiki/Yamato_dynasty
mw-redirect
Yamato dynasty

values:
/wiki/Kamakura_Bakufu
mw-redirect
Kamakura Bakufu

values:
/wiki/Nanban_period
mw-redirect
Nanban period

values:
/wiki/Japanese_titles
mw-redirect
Japanese titles

values:
/wiki/Allied_occupation_of_Japan
mw-redirect
Allied occupation of Japan

values:
/wiki/Emperor_Sh%C5%8Dwa
mw-redirect
Emperor Shōwa

values:
/wiki/Old_Japanese_language
mw-redirect
Old Japanese language

values: File:Emperor of Japan - Tenno - New Years 2010.ogv

values: <video id="mwe_player_1" poster="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv/854px--Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.jpg" controls="" preload="none" autoplay="" style="width:854px;height:480px" class="kskin" data-durationhint="28.828833333333" data-startoffset="0" data-mwtitle="Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv" data-mwprovider="wikimediacommons"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b2/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.480p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs="vp8, vorbis"" data-title="SD WebM (480P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 480P" data-transcodekey="480p.webm" data-width="854" data-height="480" data-bandwidth="1119424" data-framerate="29.97002997003"/><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b2/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.720p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs="vp8, vorbis"" data-title="HD WebM (720P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 720P" data-transcodekey="720p.webm" data-width="1280" data-height="720" data-bandwidth="4019024" data-framerate="29.97002997003"/><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv" type="video/ogg; codecs="theora, vorbis"" data-title="Original Ogg file, 1,280 × 720 (11.41 Mbps)" data-shorttitle="Ogg source" data-width="1280" data-height="720" data-bandwidth="11410089" data-framerate="29.97002997003"/><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b2/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.160p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs="vp8, vorbis"" data-title="Low bandwidth WebM (160P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 160P" data-transcodekey="160p.webm" data-width="284" data-height="160" data-bandwidth="250800" data-framerate="29.97002997003"/><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b2/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.240p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs="vp8, vorbis"" data-title="Small WebM (240P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 240P" data-transcodekey="240p.webm" data-width="426" data-height="240" data-bandwidth="345592" data-framerate="29.97002997003"/><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b2/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv/Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.360p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs="vp8, vorbis"" data-title="WebM (360P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 360P" data-transcodekey="360p.webm" data-width="640" data-height="360" data-bandwidth="593984" data-framerate="29.97002997003"/><track src="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=TimedText:Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.de.srt&action=raw&ctype=text%2Fx-srt" kind="subtitles" type="text/x-srt" srclang="de" label="Deutsch (de) subtitles" data-mwtitle="TimedText:Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.de.srt" data-mwprovider="wikimediacommons" data-dir="ltr"/><track src="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=TimedText:Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.en.srt&action=raw&ctype=text%2Fx-srt" kind="subtitles" type="text/x-srt" srclang="en" label="English (en) subtitles" data-mwtitle="TimedText:Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.en.srt" data-mwprovider="wikimediacommons" data-dir="ltr"/><track src="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=TimedText:Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.ru.srt&action=raw&ctype=text%2Fx-srt" kind="subtitles" type="text/x-srt" srclang="ru" label="русский (ru) subtitles" data-mwtitle="TimedText:Emperor_of_Japan_-_Tenno_-_New_Years_2010.ogv.ru.srt" data-mwprovider="wikimediacommons" data-dir="ltr"/></video>

values:
/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dwa_Tenn%C5%8D
mw-redirect
Shōwa Tennō

values: The text near this tag may need clarification or removal of jargon. (March 2011)

values:
noprint Inline-Template
margin-left:0.1em; white-space:nowrap;

values:
/wiki/Emperor_Akihito
mw-redirect
Emperor Akihito

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2007)

values:
noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact
white-space:nowrap;

values:
/wiki/Agnatic_primogeniture
mw-redirect
Agnatic primogeniture

values:
/wiki/Empress_Saimei
mw-redirect
Empress Saimei

values:
/wiki/Yoshida_Shigeru
mw-redirect
Yoshida Shigeru

values:
/wiki/Taisho_Emperor
mw-redirect
Taisho Emperor

values:
/wiki/Princess_Kiko
mw-redirect
Princess Kiko

values: display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.2em 0.3em;vertical-align:middle

values: margin:0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;border:solid #aaa 1px

values:
nofollow
https://www.ancient.eu/Amaterasu/
external text

values:
nofollow
external text
http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/1853

values:
/wiki/Japan_Times
mw-redirect
Japan Times

values:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/issn/0734-7456

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
nofollow
external text
https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4427686

values: Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition

values: s:The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Mikado

values:
nofollow
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16471340/
external text

values:
navbox-image
12
width:1px;padding:0px 0px 0px 2px

values:
/wiki/Post-war_Japan
mw-redirect
Post-war Japan

attrs: alt src title width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values:
navbox-abovebelow
3
background:transparent; padding:0;

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible autocollapsed navbox-inner

values: List of Japanese overseas military actions

values:
navbox-image
5
width:1px;padding:0px 0px 0px 2px

values: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing in Japan

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values: Template:List of Current Heads of State of G20

values: Template talk:List of Current Heads of State of G20

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: nowraplinks collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values:
nofollow
external text
https://d-nb.info/gnd/4232704-0

values: Category:Articles with Japanese-language external links

values: Category:Use mdy dates from January 2015

values: Category:Articles containing Japanese-language text

values: Category:Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2011

values: Category:All articles with unsourced statements

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from July 2007

values: Category:Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with no article parameter

values: Category:Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers

values: Category:Articles containing video clips

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Emperor_of_Japan
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values:
uls-settings-trigger
Language settings
0
button
true

values: إمبراطور اليابان – Arabic

values: জাপানের সম্রাট – Bangla

values: Імператар Японіі – Belarusian

values: Αυτοκράτορας της Ιαπωνίας – Greek

values: امپراتور ژاپن – Persian

values: קיסר יפן – Hebrew

values: Японияны императору – Karachay-Balkar

values: იაპონიის იმპერატორი – Georgian

values: Японы эзэн хаан – Mongolian

values: Император Японии – Russian

values: Цар Јапана – Serbian

values: จักรพรรดิญี่ปุ่น – Thai

values: Імператор Японії – Ukrainian

values: interlanguage-link interwiki-uk badge-Q17437798 badge-goodarticle

values: شہنشاہ جاپان – Urdu

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Emperor_of_Japan rootpage-Emperor_of_Japan skin-vector action-view