Opinion: Japan’s emperor is abdicating. He leaves behind a powerful legacy.
Japanese Emperor Akihito, left, leans in to speak with an evacuee from Futaba in Fukushima prefecture, at their makeshift shelter in Kazo, Saitama prefecture, in 2011. By Yoichi Funabashi April 29 at 12:57 PM Yoichi Funabashi is chairman of the Asia Pacific Initiative, a Tokyo-based think tank.
After Japan surrendered in 1945, when Akihito was just 11 years old, the very existence of the imperial system looked to be in peril. Emperor Hirohito was seen as responsible for World War II, and there were calls for his resignation both from within and outside Japan. In the United States, according to a Gallup poll in 1945, 70 percent of the public favored prosecuting the emperor for “war crimes, execution, imprisonment or exile.
He has also showcased his commitment to memory and reconciliation. In 1994 and 1995, the imperial couple visited Iwo Jima, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Okinawa to pay respect to those killed on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. The couple would later visit Saipan in 2005 and then Peleliu in 2015.
For Akihito’s predecessors, mere existence was often enough to ensure the survival of the Imperial House. He, on the other hand, had to earn his legitimacy. During this process, Empress Michiko also played an invaluable role. But the very fact that the three decades-long Heisei Era is the first in modern Japanese history to pass without a war is a testament to their legacy.
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