<Articles>The Problem of the Abdication of the Emperor during the Period of the Peace Treaty

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  • <論説>講和条約期における天皇退位問題 : 明仁皇太子の登場と講和独立を背景として
  • 講和条約期における天皇退位問題--明仁皇太子の登場と講和独立を背景として
  • コウワ ジョウヤクキ ニ オケル テンノウ タイイ モンダイ アキヒト コウタイシ ノ トウジョウ ト コウワ ドクリツ オ ハイケイ ト シテ

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Abstract

The problem of the abdication of the Emperor re-surfaced during the period of the peace treaty. There were two characteristic features of the reemergence of the problem. The first characteristic was that it would be a continuation of the effort to pursue the "moral" responsibility of the Emperor that had been consistently advocated since the defeat. The Emperor was considered the embodiment of the "morality" of the Japanese state, and it was thought that if the Emperor performed the "moral act" of abdication, the public would be impressed by his figure, and the symbolic emperor system would be strengthened. This move can be termed an attempt to create "an emperor for all the people, " ikkun banmin 一君万民 and to assure the "unity of emperor and people, " kunmin ittai 君民一体. The second characteristic involved the image of the "New Japan" 新生日本 which was linked to that of the Crown Prince, whose image was preferred to that of the emperor who was associated with the war. As a result the abdication was advocated. Behind this was the fact that the mass media reported extensively on the Crown Prince, creating a fresh and youthful image. The national image of a "New Japan" was welded to the image of the symbolic emperor, and abdication was advocated as the fresh start required of both the emperor system and the state. Although the abdication was not carried out in the end, the problem of the abdication during the period of the peace treaty became the cause of the emergence of the Crown Prince in the development of the system and image of a symbolic emperor.

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  • 史林

    史林 88 (4), 477-510, 2005-07-01

    THE SHIGAKU KENKYUKAI (The Society of Historical Research), Kyoto University

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