The Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan has changed from one royal hand to another – father to son – in a generational shift after three decades. Crown Prince Naruhito has been installed as the new Emperor and his father Akihito, 85, stepped aside voluntarily for rest and relaxation. Akihito has, in his wisdom, acknowledged the need for rejuvenation of his land with new energy and new blood.
The emperor in Japan is a symbolic figurehead in terms of authority. Yet, Akihito has earned the love and affection of his people, and provided the moral authority to elected governments to take the nation on the right lines. Japan, as is famously noted, rose like a phoenix from the ashes of its World War II defeat and nuclear bombing disaster, which had left it limping and its people caught in serious health problems for generations. Yet, its positive attitude to life and sense of resilience helped the new generations of leaders make Japan the top economic power in Asia for decades. Its economy matched the strengths of the West, and rose to the level of the world’s third top economic power. Post WWII period also saw a nation that was constantly at war with its neighbourhood and the world at large adopting a pacifist constitution at the prompting of the US. This made it, eminently, a nation without a military and pursing the path of peace and progress with a single-minded devotion.
Akihito, who stepped down from power Tuesday, was known as a pro-people emperor, who firmly stood for the cause of democracy. He refused to give an ear to conservative sections who still nurtured the nationalistic, ‘Japan First’ spirit which had turned out to be the undoing for Japan during the period of Akihito’s father, the previous emperor. Notably, this is the first time in the past 200 years that an emperor has abdicated and handed over power to his new generation, it having happened last in a similar fashion in 1817. Japan shifted from its Heisei era to the Reiwa era. It is celebrating the occasion with a 10-day holiday, signifying the importance the nation attaches to this solemn moment.
India too shares the joy. The relations between the two countries are improving and Japan’s hi-tech presence is strongly evident in fields of infrastructure and bilateral trade. Japan occupies a central slot in India’s Look East policy. In diplomacy too, Japan and India are strongly linked vis-a-vis China’s attempts to dominate the waves and usurp the rights of others.