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The
"Daijosai" rite, centred on the goddess Amaterasu Omikami, began
soon after sunset on Thursday and is the most overtly religious
of all the rituals around Naruhito's succession after his
father, Akihito, abdicated in April.
Amid flickering torchlight and chanting by priests, Emperor
Naruhito emerged from behind the white curtains of the shrine at
around 3:00 a.m., concluding a ceremony observed by Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe and 400 dignitaries in an outdoor pavilion.
"This ritual is basically a feast involving the sun goddess and
the emperor," said John Breen, a professor at Kyoto's
International Research Center for Japanese Studies, who added
that most coronations have mystical elements.
"The emperor is transformed by partaking of this feast."
Observance of the ritual has prompted lawsuits from critics
ranging from communists to Christians, who say it smacks of the
militaristic past and violates the constitutional separation of
church and state, as the government pays the cost of 2.7 billion
yen ($25 million).
Persistent rumours have held that the emperor has conjugal
relations with the goddess, a view dating from the era before
World War Two, when the emperor was considered divine.
Naruhito's grandfather Hirohito, in whose name Japan fought the
war, was stripped of his divinity after its defeat.
But the government and scholars say the ritual is a meal, at
which the emperor offers foods ranging from rice and millet to
abalone and persimmons to the goddess in the final ceremony that
seals his new status as emperor.
Preparations began months ago, with the construction of a
special shrine compound within the palace grounds and, later,
the harvest of rice from two fields chosen by heating a turtle
shell and reading the pattern of cracks.
DINING WITH GODDESS
Soon after sunset, in scenes broadcast live on television,
Naruhito was ushered through dark wooden corridors, shielded by
a ceremonial umbrella and preceded by courtiers holding torches.
Empress Masako followed, in 12-layered white robes.
After disappearing behind white curtains into a dimly-lit room,
kneeling by the side of piled straw mats draped in white, the
emperor, accompanied only by two shrine maidens, arranged
offerings for the goddess on 32 oakleaf plates.
Then he bowed and prayed for the peace of Japan.
Afterwards, they shared a meal of rice, millet and rice wine
before he left the chamber. An identical ritual began in a
different room around midnight.
Critics say that while a form of the ritual existed more than
1,000 years ago, its current shape dates from efforts in the
late 1800s to unite Japan around the emperor.
Koichi Shin, 60 and head of a group suing to ban the ritual,
cited the rite's nationalistic underpinnings as one reason for
its opposition. Another is the use of public funds.
Shin said there were fewer objections to Thursday's event and
other imperial rites than at Akihito's accession in 1990, with
less critical press coverage and fewer protests. Just 318 people
sued the government this time, down from 1,700 then.
"We don't expect good results," Shin said. "But we think it's
important to use everything we can to get across the idea that
merging religion and state isn't good."
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Gareth Jones and Clarence
Fernandez)
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