The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-11-10
The japanese Emperor.

million people are directly
lnterested in the event which takes
place today in the sacred city Of
Kioto. The Mikado Of Japan, or In
modern and borrowed phrase. "his
Imperial Majesty the Emperor" Of
Divine, Everlasting. Great Japan, will
be formally inaugurated. Born on
August 81, 1870, he succeeded his
father. MUTsuHIro, July 30, 1912. 70.
sHIHITo will be entrusted with the
three divine regalia. or sacred SYM
bols Of office and authority, the MIR
o r sword and crystal ball or sphere.
These in Japan take the place Of
crown, robe and sceptre, which are
usually put into the hands Of Euro
pean s~overeigns
The japanese have not. in American
eyes, made any progress by the change
from the august title Of "Mikado."
which suggests all things ancient and
venerable, to that Of Emperor" re-
calling institutions reckoned by us
40 decaying or moribund. "Mikado"
means Place Of Majesty, or possibly
Gate Of Honor. In either case, how
ever, the sound and imagery carry
with them a train Of associations Of
grandeur, which even after n millen.
MUM compel reverence. II JINGu
Koao, the Amazonian Queen Of the
third century. be reckoned In the i'm
psrial line-critical scholars not being
agreed on this point-YosHIHITo is
the n hundred and twenty .fourth in
the succession to one unbrOken dy.
Nasty. the oldest in the world, and In
which were nine women.
The instability Of the throne in
China. with a record Of over thirty
dynasties, soon. perhaps, to add an
other. as contrasted with apparent
immutability Of the black haired race,
10 one Of the striking phenomena Of
AGatic history. On the other hand.
the unique and unchanging dynasty
Of Japan. compared with the varia-
tions In the evolution Of the nation,
for the japanese are both composite
md youthful. Is a second matter Of
surprise. When, further. we compare
these Asian islanders with their con-
tinental neighbors, 50 different in Ian
suase. psychology. history. physique,
stature. taste, qualities and ambitions.
ths general subject involving much
discrimination, furnishes matter TO- 3
lifetime Of study.
The Mikado Is an institution as well
10 a person, for in old Japan the office
was far more than the occupant. The
individual ON the throne comes and
goes, but the structure Of the State
remains The modern renaissance Of
Japan 10, in native eyes, simply the
restoration in 1853 Of the Emperor to
supreme, undivided power, after long
eclipse, because OF the duarchy OF
Throne and Camp, Yedo and Kioto.
Shotgun and Mikado.
It 10 a fascinating question to raise
and answer: What Il the vital bond
which holds a historic race in soil
darity and permanence? What clamps
or cements the Slavs, Teutons, Gauls,
Britons or Chinese into an empire?
What il the dominant ideal, hope,
memory or prophecy that creates the
spiritual chemistry in the soul Of a
Hollander, Belgian or Pole. or pro.
jects before the Gallo mind an 'Tter-
nal France? However we may reply
TO these questions, all japanese his
tory is expressed in the word "Mikado-
tsm." This Is the centrum to which
the Limbs are attached, and in which
all vital organs receive their nourlsh-
ing blood. In mythology, at the dawn
OF history, In the great reformation.
wrought through continental inAu.
ences In A. d. 645, through II thou
sand years Of feudalism and through
seven centuries Of duarchy, Mikado-
ism was the n u~nlfying element.
The restoration Of 1868 was but the
century aloe's bloom, after generations
Of literary research and historic IN
v~sxtigation. Even without the com
ing Of PxnRY or the advent Of foreign,