“Celebration Ceremony” and “Daemon Festival” Two sides of the symbolic emperor November 20 18:49

The ceremonial ceremonial ceremony where nearly 120,000 people gathered along the road, and the main ceremonial ritual “Okuma Shrine ritual” of the “Okuma Festival”, a traditional ceremonial ceremony that accompanies the throne, were held. The series of rituals that accompany His Majesty's throne will all end in December. Hideya Kawanishi, an associate professor at Nagoya University who is studying the symbolic emperor system, discussed the two aspects of the symbolic emperor through the rituals, and continued to discuss the emperor and the imperial family in a temporary boom. Point out that deepening is important.
(Weekly Marugoku News Jiro Inoue, Yoshihide Yasuda)

The imperial family became closer to the people

(Inoue Caster) How did you see this celebration parade?

(Mr. Hideya Kasai) You have the impression that you are very close to the people. Compared with Heisei, the sense of distance with the people has changed over the past 30 years and has become closer. I think that is reflected in the parade.

(Inoue) Many people were cheering while holding their smartphones. How did you see that sight?

(Mr. Kasai) I think it's okay to copy because it's close. In the old days, it was a tale to copy the emperor. In Heisei, I was shooting with a camera, but there was a smartphone phone that was more familiar to us, and it was immediately uploaded on the internet. You can see that it ’s really close.

(Inoue) The distance between the people and the Emperor has changed over time.

(Mr. Kasai) That's right. In the days of Emperor Showa, there were quite a few elderly people who seemed prostrate. I was told that I should n’t look at it, or if I looked at the Emperor, it would be bad. But now I'm shooting with my smartphone. I feel that it's quite right now to raise a smartphone high and take a good shot anyway. It's an era when everyone can communicate, and it ’s not just “I want to burn it in my eyes”, but it ’s just “I want to keep it here” or “I want to upload it”. The You want to keep a record rather than a memory.

Celebration parade is an “interactive” opportunity for dialogue with the public

(Inoue) Where should we consider the significance of a parade?

(Mr. Kawanishi) I think that one big point is that the symbolic emperor is the symbol of Japan and the symbol of Japanese national integration. For us, a parade that will interact with the public will be an opportunity to reaffirm that the Emperor is a symbol.

(Inoue) The "celebration ceremony" is a parade that can be widely shown to the public and blessed. Do you mean that it's an opportunity to walk to the people and to get closer to the people?

(Mr. Kasai) That's right. When the symbolic emperor visits somewhere, it is a story that says “come” to us. Instead, I think that it is like a two-way catchball where the people “go” to the symbolic emperor and “come” from the symbolic emperor to the people. What is done in that space is one starting point for thinking about what a symbol is. I think the parade has that implication.

(Inoue) What impressed me was how the Empress was crying.

(Mr. Kawanishi) You may have felt the joy and encouragement that the people approached and that the people came for them. Visits to the affected areas took the form of coming to the people and encouraging them. In this case, the public knows that the Empress has been struggling so far, so the people went and cheered, the person heard it, and he was encouraged. Ne I think this is an unusual pattern under the symbolic emperor system. I think that it is a catch ball that encourages the people to sympathize with their suffering, but I feel that tears looked like that.

Deepen the discussion without a temporary boom

(Inoue) The “celebration ceremony” is positioned as a national act stipulated by the Constitution.

(Mr. Kasai) I think that is because it is based on Article 1 of the Constitution of Japan. It is not because the position of symbol has traditionally continued, but it has been decided that there is a position as the consensus of the people as in the Constitution of Japan. That is why it is a national act because the entire Japanese people will recognize and celebrate as the symbolic emperor.

(Inoue) It's a publicly meaningful event for us.

(Mr. Kasai) I think that it is not a private relationship, but a place for us to recognize that a new symbolic emperor was born. I think that it is an event closer to the character of today's symbolic emperor than a national act such as the “Ritual of the Throne Court” that can only be seen through a TV broadcast. However, some parts of the parade are fluffy. Some people may see it as a boom. Somehow people who come to the parade are also interested in going to some theme parks. Twitter and Facebook have taken photos as valuable experiences to get a “like”. You may need to consider a little more if you are really serious.

(Inoue) If it's a boom, it won't last long.

(Mr. Kasai) This alternative has been booming somehow since the series of events has been seamless since May. In this parade, the events are basically separated. Since there will be no events that will raise interest in the future, there is a possibility that interest will fade if we do not tackle it seriously. I think that is dangerous. The boom can be consumed or forgotten. I think the point is not to consume this growing interest. We think that we have finally started this time, and we need to think about how it should be in the future.

(Inoue) There are issues such as succession to the throne.

(Mr. Kawanishi) If that issue is also a boom, interest will fade. It will be postponed without being discussed. If we continue to have an interest and deepen our understanding of what this public affair is and what to do with the succession of the throne in the future, I think there is a possibility of further discussion. From the Heisei period to the reign of the world, it was a divided society with a very sense of blockage. It is well understood in the general public that when there is a time when something goes wrong, you want to seek such a fun and uplifting event in society. However, the masses are fast-moving while riding on soft things. If you are interested in it, I would like you to deepen it in order to maintain it.

Celebration procession and Daegu Festival

(Inoue) So what should we think about the significance of the “Otsuki Festival”?

(Mr. Kasai) The Otsuki Festival has an aspect that is somewhere mysterious because it is authoritative or not visible. In that sense, it is the opposite of the parade, and I think it is just two aspects of the symbolic emperor. The "celebration ceremony" is a European style that is close to us and shown to the people. On the other hand, I think that some mysterious aspects, such as having authority and history, are rooted in Japanese tradition and are symbolized by the “Okuma Festival”.

(Inoue) The “Oyodo Festival” has been debated over its consistency with the constitution.

(Mr. Kasai) It's quite difficult to see, so I don't know what the event is. I think this is one of the things that everyone has a hard time agreeing with. It can be said that it is an event as a private faith that is contrary to the so-called separation of politics and religion. Since there is no such thing, it is an honest place that is extremely difficult to balance.

(Inoue) In the midst of something that is quite happening and difficult to bite, what do we think the sovereign citizens should pay attention to and watch the “Otsuki Festival”?

(Mr. Kawanishi) Even if you keep the tradition, I think it is necessary to look at how the tradition is used today. However, I think that traditions are not something that should be preserved, but will be handed down while taking advantage of changes in society, so look at how the “Okuma Festival” should be facing the world today. I think I need to go.

(Inoue) There is also a very open parade “Greeting ceremony”, an invisible “Grand Palace”, and I have the feeling of standing at the precious moment of seeing the Emperor statues in both poles. did.

(Mr. Kawanishi) It's hard to think and see many things through such events. I think that it is necessary for us to continue to think about what the symbolic emperor is, triggered by seeing these events.

What is a symbol? What is public service? The opportunity to think

(Inoue) What does Mr. Kasai think about the symbolic emperor?

(Mr. Kawanishi) It is difficult to answer a very difficult question, but if you look at that person, I think that it is possible to understand Japan or the current state of the Japanese people, and that is the symbol of Japanese national integration. It is difficult to say, but as a sort of unity, I think that the presence of the Japanese people can be understood by looking at the Emperor. In Heisei, various symbolic emperor statues have been sought according to social changes. So I think there is now. I don't think that the world of Ryowa will go the same way as Heisei. Perhaps society is still changing. If we do the same thing, we are not responding to changes in society, so as society changes again, it will change, including public affairs and the succession of the throne. I think it is possible.

(Inoue) Some point out that the Emperor's public duties were excessive.

(Mr. Kasai) I think we must be aware of the problem of having a considerable amount of public affairs in the first place. Even at the end of the Heisei period, I think that there was a time when there was public service in a situation where there were almost no holidays. Including that, if you increase it according to changes in society, I think it will probably puncture. I think it would be required to increase while reducing.

(Inoue) We need to think about what we should do.

(Mr. Kawanishi) If you return to Article 1 of the Constitution, you must be able to create a symbol. Up until now, there was a place where I had tossed to the symbolic emperor. I just accepted my job like "Please do it" or "Please do my best". However, as a result of that, public affairs have increased tremendously, and if the people say “likes”, they must do it. However, since it will be punctured, we would like to say, "I don't have to do it here" or "I want you to do it from here." I think I need to do it while catching the ball. I think that it is necessary to think slowly about what the symbol should be, including how it should be in public service.

Weekly Marukan Newscaster Jiro Inoue Joined in 1998 News of many accidents and disasters, in charge of relay from the Imperial Palace at the celebration ceremony

Weekly Marukan News Desk Yoshihide Yasuda Created News 7 for introductory heads in 2005. He was also in charge of special news such as ceremonies for the throne.