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is a title for an
Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...
who abdicates the Chrysanthemum Throne in favour of a successor. As defined in the
Taihō Code The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis ...
, although retired, a ''Daijō Tennō'' could still exert power. The first such example is the Empress Jitō in the 7th century. A retired emperor sometimes entered the Buddhist monastic community, becoming a
cloistered emperor A is the term for a Japanese emperor who had abdicated and entered the Buddhist monastic community by receiving the '' Pravrajya'' rite. The term can also be shortened to . Cloistered emperors sometimes acted as ''Daijō Tennō'' (retired emperor ...
. During late
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...
, cloistered emperors wielded power in a system known as
cloistered rule was a form of government in Japan during the Heian period. In this bifurcated system, an emperor abdicated, but retained power and influence. Those retired emperors who withdrew to live in monasteries (''in'') continued to act in ways intended to ...
.


List

A total of 64 Japanese emperors have abdicated. A list follows:


Abdication during the Empire of Japan


Emperor Kōmei and the Shōgun

Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his squadron of what the Japanese dubbed "the
Black Ships The Black Ships (in ja, 黒船, translit=kurofune, Edo period term) was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries. In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking ...
", sailed into
the harbor ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
at
Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
(now known as
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
) in July 1853. Perry sought to open Japan to trade, and warned the Japanese of military consequences if they did not agree. During the crisis brought on by Perry's arrival, the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
took, for the first time in at least 250 years, the highly unusual step of consulting with the Imperial Court, and Emperor Kōmei's officials advised that they felt the Americans should be allowed to trade and asked that they be informed in advance of any steps to be taken upon Perry's return. Feeling at a disadvantage against Western powers, the Japanese government allowed trade and submitted to the " Unequal Treaties", giving up tariff authority and the right to try foreigners in its own courts. The shogunate's willingness to consult with the Imperial Court was short-lived: in 1858, word of a treaty arrived with a letter stating that due to shortness of time, it had not been possible to consult. Emperor Kōmei was so incensed that he threatened to abdicate—though even this action would have required the consent of the shōgun.


Meiji constitution on abdication

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...
wished to allow a clause codifying the right to abdicate and the formal institution of Daijō Tennō in the new Meiji Constitution. The Prime Minister refused, stating that the Emperor should be above politics, and that in the past, the role of Daijō Tennō had most definitely been employed in the opposite fashion.


Emperor Taishō and regency

In 1921, it became clear that Emperor Yoshihito (later known by his reign name, Taishō, after death) was mentally incapacitated. In pre-modern Japan, he would have been forced to abdicate, but he was left in place and Crown Prince Hirohito (later Emperor
Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
) was made Sesshō (regent).


See also

*
Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
* Taishang Huang – retired Chinese emperor *
Taesangwang Ancient Korean institutions Taesangwang or Taesanghwang (literally "King Emeritus the Great" or "Emperor Emeritus the Great") is the title for a retired king or Korean Emperor in Korean history. Sometimes the term is called Sangwang or Sanghwa ...
– retired Korean ruler * Retired Emperor


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). /nowiki>Jien_(1221).html"_;"title="Jien.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien_(1221)">Jien.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien_(1221)_''Gukanshō.html" ;"title="Jien">/nowiki>Jien_(1221).html" ;"title="Jien.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien (1221)">Jien.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien (1221) ''Gukanshō">Jien">/nowiki>Jien_(1221).html" ;"title="Jien.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien (1221)">Jien.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien (1221) ''Gukanshō; "The Future and the Past: a translation and study of the 'Gukanshō,' an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219" translated from the Japanese and edited by Delmer M. Brown & Ichirō Ishida.'' Berkeley: University of California Press. * * /
OCLC 46731178
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869.'' Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society. * Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). iyun-sai_Rin-siyo/Hayashi_Gahō_(1652).html" ;"title="Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652)">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652) ''Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon.'' Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland]
--Click for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)
* Varley, H. Paul, ed. (1980). /nowiki>Kitabatake_Chikafusa_(1359).html" ;"title="Kitabatake_Chikafusa.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Kitabatake Chikafusa">/nowiki>Kitabatake Chikafusa (1359)">Kitabatake_Chikafusa.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Kitabatake Chikafusa">/nowiki>Kitabatake Chikafusa (1359) ''Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley).'' New York: Columbia University Press.


External links

* National Archives of Japan
Scroll showing procession of Emperor Kōkaku who abdicated in ''Bunka'' 14 (1817)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daijo Tenno Ancient Japanese institutions Japanese emperors Abdication