Emperor offers a regal critique of Japan’s drift away from pacifism - washingtonpost

TOKYO — Emperor Akihito is a man of few words. Japan’s American-written constitution designed it that way.

But the 81-year-old figurehead has increasingly found ways to skirt the constitutional limits on his role and has, in characteristically subtle language, appeared to voice his displeasure with the path that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is leading Japan down.

That thickly veiled criticism could be repeated this weekend, as Japan marks the 70th anniversary of its defeat in World War II.

Abe will issue a statement on Friday, and there is a great deal of anticipation, both here and in neighboring countries, about the level of remorse the conservative prime minister will show for Japan’s brutality during the war. Given that he is trying to reinterpret Japan’s pacifist constitution and put the country on a more “normal” military footing, there have been fears that he will seek to water down previous official apologies.

But Emperor Akihito will deliver his annual statement on Saturday, the actual anniversary of the day his father, Hirohito, announced Japan’s surrender. Given his recent statements and his advancing age, some analysts think the emperor may again obliquely criticize Abe’s attempts at constitutional revision.

Akihito occupies a unique place in Japan.

His father, Hirohito, was the wartime emperor who surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, but was allowed to remain in place as the Americans installed a new order in Japan. That order involved a new constitution that turned the emperor into a figurehead who should hover above the political fray.

Akihito took over the Chrysanthemum Throne when Hirohito died in 1989, making him the only emperor to have been sworn in under Japan’s constitution. For that reason, he probably feels a particularly strong attachment to it, analysts say. - Read More

Emperor offers a regal critique of Japan’s drift away from pacifism