Lindsay Maizland

In Brief published on CFR.org in February 2019.

Despite strict limits on his political power, Japan’s emperor serves an important diplomatic role. Emperor Akihito has worked to repair relations with Japan’s former wartime adversaries. Once he takes over the throne in May, Akihito’s son, Crown Prince Naruhito, is expected to promote diversity in Japan and access to clean water worldwide.

The Emperor’s Changing Role

For most of Japan’s history, the emperor was revered as a divine figure and mostly performed a ceremonial role, rarely participating in politics. The 1889 Meiji Constitution granted the emperor significant new authorities, such as commanding the armed forces, but some historians contend that during World War II military leaders wielded absolute power. Emperor Akihito’s father, Hirohito, did however sometimes wear a military uniform, and he was the one to announce his country’s surrender to the Japanese public.

“The Meiji Constitution brought the emperor to the center of political leadership,” says Takako Hikotani, a professor of Japanese politics at Columbia University. “But that’s more of an exception rather than the rule if you look at Japan’s longer history.”

The emperor returned to his ceremonial status after the war. Under General Douglas MacArthur, the U.S.-led Allied occupation spearheaded the drafting of a new constitution in 1947 that stripped the emperor of all political power. This was in line with the United States’ twin goals of democratizing and demilitarizing Japan.

Since then, Japan’s foreign policy has been primarily crafted by the foreign ministry and prime minister, with the emperor acting as an unofficial ambassador who travels abroad and welcomes foreign leaders and diplomats.

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