Daijō Tennō

is a title for an Emperor of Japan who abdicates the Chrysanthemum Throne in favour of a successor.

As defined in the Taihō Code, although retired, a ''Daijō Tennō'' could still exert power. The first such example is the Empress Jitō in the 7th century. A retired emperor sometimes entered the Buddhist monastic community, becoming a cloistered emperor. During late Heian period, cloistered emperors wielded power in a system known as cloistered rule.

List

A total of 64 Japanese emperors have abdicated. A list follows:

Abdication during the Empire of Japan

Emperor Kōmei and the Shōgun

Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his squadron of what the Japanese dubbed "the Black Ships", sailed into the harbor at Edo (now known as Tokyo) in July 1853. Perry sought to open Japan to trade, and warned the Japanese of military consequences if they did not agree. During the crisis brought on by Perry's arrival, the Tokugawa shogunate took, for the first time in at least 250 years, the highly unusual step of consulting with the Imperial Court, and Emperor Kōmei's officials advised that they felt the Americans should be allowed to trade and asked that they be informed in advance of any steps to be taken upon Perry's return. Feeling at a disadvantage against Western powers, the Japanese government allowed trade and submitted to the "Unequal Treaties", giving up tariff authority and the right to try foreigners in its own courts. The shogunate's willingness to consult with the Imperial Court was short-lived: in 1858, word of a treaty arrived with a letter stating that due to shortness of time, it had not been possible to consult. Emperor Kōmei was so incensed that he threatened to abdicate—though even this action would have required the consent of the shōgun.

Meiji constitution on abdication

Emperor Meiji wished to allow a clause codifying the right to abdicate and the formal institution of Daijō Tennō in the new Meiji Constitution. The Prime Minister refused, stating that the Emperor should be above politics, and that in the past, the role of Daijō Tennō had most definitely been employed in the opposite fashion.

Emperor Taishō and regency

In 1921, it became clear that Emperor Yoshihito (later known by his reign name, Taishō, after death) was mentally incapacitated. In pre-modern Japan, he would have been forced to abdicate, but he was left in place and Crown Prince Hirohito (later Emperor Hirohito) was made Sesshō (regent).

See also

* Emeritus
* Taishang Huang – retired Chinese emperor
* Taesangwang – retired Korean ruler
* Retired Emperor

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). /nowiki>Jien_(1221).html"_;"title="Jien.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien_(1221)">Jien.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien_(1221)_''Gukanshō.html" ;"title="Jien">/nowiki>Jien_(1221).html" ;"title="Jien.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien (1221)">Jien.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien (1221) ''Gukanshō">Jien">/nowiki>Jien_(1221).html" ;"title="Jien.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien (1221)">Jien.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jien">/nowiki>Jien (1221) ''Gukanshō; "The Future and the Past: a translation and study of the 'Gukanshō,' an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219" translated from the Japanese and edited by Delmer M. Brown & Ichirō Ishida.'' Berkeley: University of California Press.
*
* /
OCLC 46731178
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869.'' Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
* Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). iyun-sai_Rin-siyo/Hayashi_Gahō_(1652).html" ;"title="Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652)">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652) ''Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon.'' Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland]
--Click for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)
* Varley, H. Paul, ed. (1980). /nowiki>Kitabatake_Chikafusa_(1359).html" ;"title="Kitabatake_Chikafusa.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Kitabatake Chikafusa">/nowiki>Kitabatake Chikafusa (1359)">Kitabatake_Chikafusa.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Kitabatake Chikafusa">/nowiki>Kitabatake Chikafusa (1359) ''Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley).'' New York: Columbia University Press.

External links

* National Archives of Japan
Scroll showing procession of Emperor Kōkaku who abdicated in ''Bunka'' 14 (1817)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daijo Tenno
Ancient Japanese institutions
Japanese emperors
Abdication