Japan’s new emperor, Naruhito, formally takes throne a day after his father abdicates
By Simon Denyer and Simon Denyer Tokyo bureau chief covering Japan, North Korea and South Korea. Email Bio Follow Akiko Kashiwagi May 1 at 12:36 AM TOKYO — Japan’s Chrysanthemum Throne has a new occupant.
Enclosed in cases, the sword and stone were then placed on stands made of Japanese cypress. A third treasure, a mirror — representing wisdom — is kept at Ise Grand Shrine, the holiest Shinto site in Japan. The treasures are only ever seen by the emperor and high priests, and no photographs or drawings of them exist: The ceremony to formally inherit the Imperial Regalia marks Naruhito’s accession to the throne.
In a further sign of entrenched attitudes and traditions, female members of the imperial family were not invited to attend Wednesday’s first ceremony, although they attended later when Naruhito returned to the throne room to make a brief speech. The lone woman attending the first ceremony was the first in modern history — a government minister, Satsuki Katayama.
“I sincerely pray for the happiness of the people and the further development of the nation as well as the peace of the world,” he said. “He is clearly a man who is respectful of strong women and a family man who adores his daughter,” said Shihoko Goto, a senior associate at the Wilson Center’s Asia Program. “Yet one of the biggest challenges he will face ... will be the question of succession.”“His only child will not be able to succeed him precisely because she is a girl,” she said.
After completing a history degree at Tokyo’s Gakushuin University, Naruhito became the first member of Japan’s royal family to study overseas, spending two years at Oxford University’s Merton College, where his research focused on transportation along the River Thames.
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