Let's think about the “Emperor of the Symbols” now

On the 22nd, the imperial imperial majesty, who was newly crowned with the succession of the throne, was declared at the Imperial Palace on the 22nd. I asked Mr. Takashi Mitsugi, an emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo who served as the chairperson at the government's expert meeting that considered the resignation of the Emperor, how the sovereign people should think about the symbolic emperor.
(Interview Weekly Comprehensive News Jiro Inoue Nobuo Kondo)

Participating in the ceremonial ceremony

(Inoue Caster)
First of all, how did you see the ceremonies of the imperial court?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
I attended this event and it was a ritual from 1 pm to 1:30 pm, but the rain just stopped and it became brighter. Although it is a strange story, my first impression was that His Majesty had a great aura.

I've been watching the Majesty for a long time. It may be bad to say, but that kind of person becomes more and more emperor when he follows that position. After all it is different from the time of the Crown Prince. My eyes are standing and looking forward, there is a dignity, and it feels like "the era of reign has finally come."

(Inoue Caster)
I felt that it was the turning point of the times.

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
The first is about the era called Ryowa.
I was worried about how much this era was used in this country even in Heisei. Meiji Taisho Although it was good until Showa, but I thought that after that, when I came here and thought about various things about Japanese history, the Emperor Makoto embodyed it, in a sense different from Western history, the original name I felt that everyone had come to think about it.

How do you read "words"?

(Inoue Caster)
Here are the words of His Majesty the Emperor who were mentioned in the ceremony of the throne. Where is the point?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
First of all, the Emperor has come out, saying that “The Emperor's Majesty has been in office for more than 30 years”.

Moreover, "I am deeply thinking again that I have shown my will in his own form while having a hard time with the people at any time." You can see that you will succeed to what the Emperor did.

This time, we talked about “the happiness of the people and the peace of the world,” and it is said that this is important, but it is “constitutional”.

And what I said was "I will serve as a symbol of Japan and Japanese national integration." That is exactly the symbol “Otome”. This is what the Emperor told me during the Emperor period, but I think that I want to do it as the Emperor, taking over it and thinking with the people. Therefore, I did not say anything different from the Emperor, but I received the Emperor and played the “Ototome” point. I think that the feelings of the emperor are very active.

(Inoue Caster)
What is active?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
It ’s a lot of things, and it ’s not that the wording is staggering, but that you ’re always saying “I ’m this.” I felt that the aura was coming out of this word.

(Inoue Caster)
Is the word “world” different from the time of the Emperor?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
I think this “world peace” is the newly added part of the current Emperor. “World peace” is a heavy word. Japan was declared to follow this path amidst the ongoing war. I think this is one point.

This is a declaration for domestic as well as outward. While the symbol “Ototome” is played in Japan, I think you will be thinking about how to make a peaceful contribution to the world.

From the standpoint that opened the way to abduction

(Inoue Caster)
Mr. Mitake was in the position of acting as the chairperson of the expert meeting for the abduction. In August three years ago, the Emperor expressed his feelings in a video message.

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
“Abduction” itself is neither a national act nor a symbol “Otome”. Moreover, since it is premised that no political action will be taken, it is a very difficult thing because this “delegation”, that is, retreating from that position, is a highly political act, and the person himself has said it. I thought.

But after all, we never thought of it. In the video message, the Emperor said that the work he had been doing was a symbol of “a maid” in addition to the act of national affairs.

We realized for the first time at that time. It was a real tsutsukuri, but the Emperor is also getting older, aging. And as you get older, it's natural, but as before, your body doesn't move and you get sick. I realized for the first time that it was a terrible thing to have been a maid. I thought it was a collapse. I thought it was natural that the “Motome” would not go away forever because of His Majesty. Many of the people soon went to the public opinion survey, and the Emperor said, “Did not notice, please take a rest.” That's why the flow was decided at once, and of course it was a matter of constitutional problems and some sort of scrutiny, but there was support for the people who just shed it.

(Inoue Caster)
As a conclusion, it became a special case method only for one generation. What do you think of this decision as the chairperson's position?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
Originally, there was a revision of the imperial court norm, and it was natural that we were allowed to write abate by recognizing the abduction freedom, but if we tried to do that, it would probably not be legal in one year. thought. That's because a law can't be done in a year.

So, “This is a special method”. However, as I said at that time, when that time comes again, I will refer to the background of this abduction, and if it is repeated several times, it becomes a kind of customary method. In the end of the customary law, there might be a story about “Let's revise it”, and even if it was opened in the future, it was a feeling that it would be realized from His Majesty first.

Issues left over

(Inoue Caster)
Is there anything that you left behind in the discussions of experts, or that you couldn't do this?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
There are two.
One is that the Emperor wants to think about the symbol “Ototome” with the people. Up until now, it was an act of praying to the disaster area, an act of praying to the battlefield overseas, and so on, this was "Otsutome as my symbol, but this together "Let ’s think about it." The next Emperor has said many times that he wants this to be done, and that he wants it to be new and added to it.

Now is the time when the people have received it, and now we have to think about what the symbolic emperor is and what the symbol is “relieving”.

Another is that the number of royalty has decreased. I can't put off this problem any further.

So I want to solve this as soon as possible. Prime Minister Abe will eventually overtake Katsura Taro and become the first in the history of constitutional government. I don't think it's just a long time, but if you're doing just that, the Prime Minister knows that you're pushing and pulling, so I'd like you to do this issue during the Abe administration. That idea is stronger now.

Exploring the symbolic emperor statue

(Inoue Caster)
I would like to look at the issues one by one, but first about the symbol.
In Article 1 of the Constitution, “The Emperor is a symbol of Japan and a symbol of the integration of the Japanese people, and this status is based on the consensus of the sovereign Japanese people”.

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
This “symbol of Japanese national integration”.

This is probably the point that the Emperor thought the most, so go to the disaster area and join hands. When I put my hands together, I was told that there were still various problems, but when I prayed with the people's eyes, that is, kneeling and praying together. By doing such an action, the affected areas are rough, but a bond or a bond is created. That's why it has been realized that it is a symbol.

Moreover, since this position is just the consensus of the Japanese people, do you agree that the people are doing such a thing, or that the Emperor will do the next action? What the Emperor did was the realization of Article 1 of the Constitution.

(Inoue Caster)
Indeed, I have spent my life facing this Article 1 of the Constitution. You can visit the stricken area or the memorial of the war dead, and you can come to the media repeatedly. Is this significance significant?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
I think it ’s big. There is a theory that His Majesty should be praying in the Imperial Palace, but it is not transmitted to the people in this world. After all, the public sees the prayers always coming out and praying to confirm the existence of the symbol.

So don't forget everyone. As for your Majesty, when you say something, you'll come up with something like that.

(Inoue Caster)
It ’s the TV era and the media era.

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
I ’m an emperor in the media age. I think that it was very important to be a visualized emperor and the emperor in the eyes. That's true since getting engaged and getting married. That was the first time that black and white TV was in the public. It is strong in the media.

(Inoue Caster)
On the other hand, there is an opinion that it is only necessary to do national affairs, and I think that it was a very difficult road how to seek a symbol.

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
I think that the Emperor and his wife had come up with the idea, but anyway, it was divided among the people, and that feeling, that is the word “cuckling”, is often used. Retreating inside doesn't mean "cuddling". It is said that it will be notified by the physical act of doing something concretely. That's exactly what I pray for. I think that was very important.

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake is especially true, and the Great East Japan Earthquake is decisive. Recently, there are many natural disasters, but there is no other person than the Emperor to come and pray there.

I was also a member of the Reconstruction Initiative Conference during the Great East Japan Earthquake, but I met the Emperor at that time, like a lecture. At that time, what I thought was amazing was that we only saw and knew some parts of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
However, the Emperor and his wife immediately said, “It is the same scene that the earthquake saw that they saw.” I thought that as a symbol, it means that you always walk around the field.

(Inoue Caster)
I was very impressed by the words of the Emperor ’s reign 30 years that “the way to seek the symbolic emperor statue is endlessly far”. How difficult was it to find a symbol?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
There will be no completion on that road. In other words, although I did so far, the next emperor who took over to the next emperor will deepen it further.

In a sense, it is not concluded that this is a symbol, but if you deepen it further in your daily activities and the situation in the world changes, the symbol “Otome” I have to make it again. In that respect, I think it's just that kind of story that makes you feel distracted.

(Inoue Caster)
The new era is like internationalization and diversification.

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
It ’s hard to keep up with it. That's why it's okay for the times when the people's existence is unified, but now that's not the case. In such times, not only the greatest common divisor but also each of them should be shown as a symbolic act as a whole, shining light on each one.

Avoiding the "double symbol"

(Inoue Caster)
By the way, this time the Emperor was abducted, but with that, there are many indications that the duality of authority where the Emperor and the Emperor line up, the “double symbol”, arises. How do you see it?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
That's right. So, at first I used to say, “The Emperor is going to be a retirement of the Imperial Palace”, and as much as I could do nothing, it was the image of retirement, but I am looking after it The Emperor is strange to say “Otsutome” like the Emperor, but it is no longer a public service, but he will think something for this country.

And “Otome” as a symbol of the Emperor may be confusing at first. However, as I gradually segregated, the Emperor said this as the Emperor, this is what the Emperor will do, and when the Emperor does something, I think there is a way that I don't think is a “double symbol”.

The Emperor is a new “Otome”. This is not a “double symbol” when it comes to a new “Otome” that the Emperor cannot do.

(Inoue Caster)
Was that area discussed in the “Scientific Conference”?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
I didn't go to the point of discussion. I wanted to discuss it, but for the time being it was harder. I think that it was the part left without discussion.

The old Emperor was pulled by the politics and it was natural. Then, it is a story that there is some confrontation, but I can not say that this is not, but the emperor thought so much that the act as a symbol was, I don't think you would ever think of anything that could interfere with the act as a symbol of the new Emperor. I think you can think of something new and different.

What about the throne Beyond "man or woman"

(Inoue Caster)
Regarding the issue of the succession of the throne that I had to do now, I pointed out that it will be an issue at the experts' meeting, “It is necessary to conduct a quick examination, and in the future, including the government, I hope that discussions will be deepened in all layers of the nation. ” What are your thoughts here?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
It was the feelings of all the members of the intellectual meeting at that time that it would be a problem if His Majesty was abandoned, and it wouldn't be a problem to feel like this for a while. This is the first step, and the next thing you can see from here is the story of the succession of the throne, so you must continue to discuss it.

(Inoue Caster)
However, as with the discussion about women and women, there are places where they will disappear once they are lifted. How should this be considered?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
Whether to go male or to accept a female emperor and go to a female line, the story line has been decided from the beginning, and it cannot be solved by saying “yes” or “no”. Everyone doesn't change their opinions. It's like a belief.

So, after all, thinking about what the future image of the Emperor is like, it's not just a story about whether it's a man or a woman, but something like the meaning of the Emperor being a symbol of this country, the future of Japan, We should start by discussing the future image a little, thinking about the future of the emperor as a symbol.

Focus on the future of this country and the future of the country's emperor. Because it's an era of peace. It would be a start from the point of looking at the Emperor's statue. It ’s no longer a man or a woman. If you do this, it stiffens from the beginning and does not move. How the emperor should be is closely related to the future of this country, so we have to discuss it from there.

Let's talk about the Emperor

(Inoue Caster)
What do you think about the future Emperor?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
I think it ’s good to see in the long run You don't have to think about doing it in a short period of time. I feel like there was a time when I was thinking what I should do for a while after I became Emperor after Showa. So don't be impatient, think about any problems one by one, and go step by step. Isn't it okay?

(Inoue Caster)
It is important to think about the people who are sovereigns, right?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
That's what I think. However, even if you say "Let's think about it with the people", there are no clues. That means media and researchers have to pose problems.

What is a symbol and what do we think it is? When it is thrown, I think that the people will think like that, and I will feel like this if I am.

Therefore, it is irresponsible to just think about the people. It is important not to make the Emperor far away from us, but to repeatedly revitalize the questions that make it closer.

(Inoue Caster)
Have you ever had a chance to think?

(Mr. Takashi Mitake)
Before the war, the Emperor was designated as a "Governor of the Governing Authority" under the Constitution of the Imperial Japan.

Everyone wondered what the “Governor of Governance” would be, but I would n’t discuss it at all. It is the same after the war and is said to be “symbol”. I'm not sure about this. No discussion. This is often called a laughing thing.

In other words, as for the Emperor, in the modern 150 years, I didn't define it so much and said, “You can do it.”

However, this time, the Emperor clearly said that it was not that time. If you don't think carefully about your existence, you will be in trouble. there. This is the first time in 150 years. I think we have to bear that.

Weekly Marugoku Newscaster Jiro Inoue

Weekly Marubun News Social Program Director Nobuo Kondo