Japanese Emperor Naruhito was formally enthroned this week, in the second of three major ceremonies marking his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne. As Brexit chaos continues to paralyse Britain, impeachment roils American politics, and months of anti-China protests rock Hong Kong and flummox Beijing, Japan again offers an example of political and social stability regularly overlooked or dismissed. Even as the country recovers from a devastating super typhoon, it celebrates a new sovereign whose era name, Reiwa (beautiful harmony) is undoubtedly the envy of other great powers being tested at home and abroad. Some of Japan’s stability may well come from the symbolic role the imperial family plays, and its conscious appeal to the past.
The new emperor succeeded his father, Akihito, in May, after the first imperial abdication in over two centuries. Akihito’s decision was precipitated by poor health, yet after his three decades of faultless service on the throne, there were no serious movements questioning whether the imperial family was an anachronism in the 21st century, or demanding that this was the moment to end the monarchy.
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