Japanese Imperial Rituals
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Japanese Imperial Rituals
Japanese Court rituals are rituals performed by the Emperor of Japan for the purpose of praying for the nation and its people's peace and prosperity. Rituals are held at the Tokyo Imperial Palace and the Three Palace Sanctuaries and include the 'Grand Service' in which the emperor himself performs the rituals and delivers the imperial proclamation, and the Minor Service in which the chief priests (shosokuji) and others perform the rituals and the emperor pays homage. The other is the Minor Festival in which the chief priests (shosoten-ji) conduct the ceremony and the emperor pays his respects. History Heian period Since the establishment of the Ritsuryo system, the formalization of rituals has progressed, and is summarized in the Engishiki. This is a list of various rituals, and does not take the form of a list of court rituals alone. Disasters such as disease, epidemic, earthquake, fire, and other natural disasters were thought to be caused by god's possession, and we ...
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Niiname-sai
The ''Niiname-sai'' (新嘗祭, also read Shinjō-sai and Niiname-no-Matsuri) is a Japanese harvest ritual. The ritual is celebrated by the Emperor of Japan, who thanks the Shinto deities for a prosperous year and prays for a fruitful new year. It takes place near the Three Palace Sanctuaries in the Tokyo Imperial Palace and at several large Shinto shrines. The first Niiname-sai for a new emperor is known as the Daijō-sai (大嘗祭), and is part of his enthronement ceremonies. In pre-modern Japan, the date of the Niiname-sai was moveable, taking place on the last Day of the Rabbit of the eleventh month of the old Japanese lunar calendar, but in the Meiji period the date was fixed at November 23, and this date became a national holiday, Labor Thanksgiving Day, in the Shōwa period after World War II. The Engishiki specified imperial involvement with four festivals, the Kinen-sai, the two Ōharae-shikis and Niiname-no-Matsuri for tribute. In ancient times, people held d ...
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Kamakura Period
The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans. The period is known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan. There are various theories as to the year in which the Kamakura period and Kamakura shogunate began. In the past, the most popular theory was that the year was 1192, when Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed . Later, the prevailing theory was that the year was 1185, when Yoritomo established the , which controlled military and police power in various regions, and the , which was in charge of tax collection and land administration. Japanese history textbooks as of 2016 do not specify a specific year for the beginning of the K ...
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Emperor Meiji
, posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ended the Tokugawa shogunate and began rapid changes that transformed Japan from an isolationist, feudal state to an industrialized great power, world power. Emperor Meiji was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan, and presided over the Meiji era. At the time of Mutsuhito's birth, Japan was a feudal and pre-industrial country dominated by the isolationist Tokugawa shogunate and the ''daimyō'' subject to it, who ruled over Japan's 270 decentralized han (Japan), domains. The opening of Japan to the West from 1854 fueled domestic demands for modernization, and when Mutsuhito became emperor after the death of his father Emperor Kōmei in 1867, it triggered the Boshin War, in which samurai (mostly from the Chōshū Domain, Chōshū and Sa ...
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Empress Kōjun
Nagako (6 March 190316 June 2000), posthumously honoured as Empress Kōjun, was a member of the Imperial House of Japan, the wife of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and the mother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito. She was Empress of Japan from 1926 until her husband's death in 1989, making her the longest-serving empress consort in Japanese history.Downer, LeselyObituary: "Nagako, Dowager Empress of Japan,"''The Guardian'' (London). 17 June 2000. Early life Princess Nagako was born in Kuni-no-miya's family home in Tokyo, Japan on 6 March 1903, into one of the '' Ōke'' branches of the Imperial House of Japan, which were eligible to provide an heir to the throne of Japan (by adoption). She was therefore a princess by birth, as the daughter of Kuniyoshi, Prince Kuni (1873–1929) by his consort, Chikako (1879–1956). While her father was a scion of the imperial family itself, her mother descended from ''daimyōs'', the feudal or military aristocracy. Nagako would become one of the la ...
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Kagura
is a type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. The term is a contraction of the phrase , indicating the presence of gods () in the practice. One major function of is , involving a procession-trance process. Usually a female shaman will perform the dance and obtain the oracle from the god—in the setting, the dancer herself turns into the god during the performance. Once strictly a ceremonial art derived from , has evolved in many directions over the span of more than a millennium. Today, it is very much a living tradition, with rituals tied to the rhythms of the agricultural calendar, thriving primarily in parts of Shimane Prefecture, and urban centers such as Hiroshima. Types of There are two major types of : and . consists of slow circular movement, stressing quiet and elegance, while consists of quick leaping and jumping, stressing activation and energy. The two types can be understood as two phases of : is a preparation process for trance and is the unconscious tr ...
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Vernal Equinox Day
is a public holiday in Japan that occurs on the date of the Northward equinox in Japan Standard Time (the vernal equinox can occur on different dates in different time-zones), usually March 20 or 21. The date of the holiday is not officially declared until February of the previous year, due to the need for recent astronomical measurements. Vernal Equinox Day became a public holiday in 1948. Prior to that it was the date of , an event relating to Shinto. Like other Japanese holidays, this holiday was repackaged as a non-religious holiday for the sake of separation of religion and state in Japan's postwar constitution. Pre-1945 State Shinto or Kokka Shinto is defined as the Shinto activities surrounding the support of government ideals that the government would have control over. These include day to day worship at public shrines and their messages, traditional ceremony (Kokutai Cult) and rites performed among the Imperial households, and shrines specifically symbolizing the d ...
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The Emperor's Birthday
is an annual public holiday in Japan celebrating the birthday of the reigning Emperor, which is currently 23 February as Emperor Naruhito was born on that day in 1960. It is enforced by the Emperor Abdication Law passed in 2017. History of holiday Ancient – medieval The name of is ancient, and derived from the birthday of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. It was changed to in 729 in the first year of Tenpyō, but it was renamed to in the 7th year of Tenpyo (748 in the first year of Katsuho) 19 years later. is taken from Laozi's . The earliest historical record of an Emperor's birthday celebrations relates to the 6th year of Hōki in Emperor Kōnin's reign (775 CE). The Emperor's birthday was already celebrated during the Heian period. This is recorded in the record of Hōki 10 (779). It is recorded that: This day being the ''Tencho'', a great drinking feast was held for all the ministers, fine ''sake'' that are favoured y the Emperorwere presented. After the feast, s ...
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Tarō Asō
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2008 to 2009. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance from 2012 to 2021. He was the longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Japanese history, having previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007 and as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications from 2003 to 2005. He leads the Shikōkai faction within the LDP. Asō was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1979. He served in numerous ministerial roles before becoming Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2008, having also held that role temporarily in 2007. After leaving cabinet, he's served as vice president of the LDP under Fumio Kishida and as senior advisor to the LDP under Shigeru Ishiba. He is a noted power broker inside the party, leading the Shikōkai. Asō has been attached to a number of cont ...
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Eisaku Satō
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972. He is the third longest-serving Japanese prime minister, and is ranked second by longest uninterrupted service. Satō is best remembered for securing the return of Okinawa in 1972, and for winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974, which stirred controversy. He was a former elite bureaucrat like his elder brother Nobusuke Kishi and a member of the Yoshida school like Hayato Ikeda. Born in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Satō was a member of the Satō–Kishi–Abe family and the younger brother of prime minister Nobusuke Kishi. Satō graduated from Tokyo Imperial University in 1924 and joined the Ministry of Railways. After the war, he entered the National Diet in 1949 as a member of the Liberal Party, and served in a series of cabinet positions under Shigeru Yoshida, including posts and telecommunications minister from 1951 to 1952, construction minister from 1952 to 1953, and chief cabinet secretary fro ...
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Prime Minister Of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, Japan Self Defence Forces. The National Diet (parliament) nominates the prime minister from among its members (typically from among the members of the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives). He is then formally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, emperor. The prime minister must retain the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office. The prime minister lives and works at the Naikaku Sōri Daijin Kantei (Prime Minister's Official Residence) in Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, close to the National Diet Building. List of prime ministers of Japan, Sixty-five men have served as prime minister, the first of whom was Itō Hirobumi taking office on 22 December 1885. The List of prime minist ...
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Constitution Of Japan
The Constitution of Japan is the supreme law of Japan. Written primarily by American civilian officials during the occupation of Japan after World War II, it was adopted on 3 November 1946 and came into effect on 3 May 1947, succeeding the Meiji Constitution of 1889. The constitution consists of a preamble and 103 articles grouped into 11 chapters. It is based on the principles of popular sovereignty, with the Emperor of Japan as the symbol of the state; pacifism and the renunciation of war; and Individual and group rights, individual rights. Upon the surrender of Japan at the end of the war in 1945, Japan was occupied and U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, directed Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara to draft a new constitution. Shidehara created a committee of Japanese scholars for the task, but MacArthur reversed course in February 1946 and presented a draft created under his own supervision, which was reviewed and modified by the schol ...
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