The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-08-17
THE GOD-EMPEROR

II no ordinary mortal ruler like
the secular and political heads
of state in the West, including
kings who claim to rule by di-
vine right. He Is God himself, or
rather the human incarnation
Of an eternal God.
This unique position of the
japanese Emperor. which by a
historical paradox, is far more
firmly established in modern
than 1t was in feudal Japan, is
based on the national Shinto
faith which proclaims that he
Is the lineal descendant of the
Sun Goddess, the highest deity
in the Japanese Pantheon of
"eight hundred myriad" gods,
who rules the Heavens, and who
charged her descendants with
the rule Of the Japanese Islands.
This assumed descent Is accept
ed by the whole japanese ma
ton, barring q few intellectuals
long since silenced, as q literal
and fundamental truth, and it is
the basic maxim on which rests
the whole Japanese theOcratic
state. There is, indeed, no ruler
on earth able to command the
same kind of religious reverence
and fanatical loyalty and devo-
ton a. the japanese people free
" give to their Emperor.
It 10 not necessary that the
Emperor be good. or wise, or
strong. His title is his lineage
which makes him God; and as
God he is-in theory-the abso-
Lutte ruler, in fact. the absolute
owner of all Japan and all the
japanese people, above all hu-
man judgment or challenge,
above even the frailties Of his
own human incarnation.
LEGITIMACY QUESTIONED
There is no doubt that the
japanese dynasty is by far the
Oldest in the world-So old and
unique that it is without a fam
lily name. But it did not always
enjoy its present prosperity.
Within historic times it has suf-
fered many vicissitudes, and by
Western standards even its legit-
imacy Is more than dubious. BY
no means has the Japanese
throne been always transmitted
in direct succession from father
to son. The dynasty could be
sustained only because of the
very flexible Oriental concept
Of what constitutes a family-a
concept based not on the union
between husband and wife, but
on the relation between father
and children. The woman does
not account for much in Japan,
and the illegitimacy of the Off
pring on the mothers side is no
bar to inheritance. If there is no
heir by the legitimate Empress,
IN heir by a concubine is just as
eligible. The father of the pres
ent Emperor was himself the
offspring of such union be-
tween the Emperor Meiji and a
lady of the court. If there is no
offspring by the ruling emperor
1t all, the throne goes to the
next Of kin within the large I'm
perial clan comprising many
families. Only thus was the life
Of the dynasty stretched out
over many centuries.
The succession to the throne
Is now regulated by the Imper-
ial House Law which takes that
situation into account. 1t pro-
vides that the throne shall 60 to
the male descendants Of the
male line in the order of SEMI
ority and nearness of kin. But
this ordered succession is of re-
cent origin. Prior to it, the sue
cession was often decided by the
whims of individual Emperors
or Expresses, or by the in
trigues among the ladies-or the
gentlemen-of the Imperial bou-
doris, until finally the throne be-
came merely a pawn in the pow
er politics Of the strong men
who really ruled the country.
What Shinto has been able to
make of the Japanese Emperors
within living memory is shown
by the following:
According to Shinto, Japan
Is q holy land. 1t was made by
the Gods, whose lineal descend
ant Is the Emperor. Hence he
must be revered and worshiped
as a God" Constitutional De-
velopment of Japan, 1853-1881,
by DR.. Toyokichi Iyenaga, Johns
Hopkins University Studies,
1891.
1T is the duty Of every man
born on the Imperial soil to
yield devoted loyalty to his Sow
ereign, even at the sacrifice Of
his own life. Let no one suppose
for q moment that there is any
credit due him for so DOING
History Of the True Succession
OF the Divine Mnorachs, by Kit
abatake Chikafusa, 1293-1354.